Polishing dilema

[rkanaga]

Calling all Formula Red Owners - Help needed please!

At the risk of sounding obsessive (so many posts for advice and I have only just got an NSX!) I have a question about polishing.

My 1991 Red/Black has micro swirls over the original panels (not the panels that have been repainted - that's another story and I have a plan in place to gets these redone properly)

The paint finish is a base red and then a tinted top clear coat. On NSX Prime there are dire warnings about not polishing these cars as it can alter the thickness of the tinted clear coat and lead to an unevenness in the perceived paint colour. I find it a bit hard to believe that you can't polish these cars AT ALL without ruining the finish. I suspect that the warnings are from people who have polished their cars way too often. I'm pretty sure mine hasn't been polished very much if at all so the lacquer although oxidised and scratched should be pretty much the original depth. But I wanted to check before makig a potentially expensive mistake!

Has anyone polished their Formula Red car to remove micro scratches and swirls? And if so did it look ok, or was there some blotchiness or unevenness to the colour afterwards. Did you do it by hand or by machine, and what type of polish did you use?

I would much rather tolerate the swirls (which after all can be much reduced by waxing (even if this is only temporary and needs frequent redoing) than mess up the basic colour and make it blotchy!!


Also any advice on how to polish the black plastic B piller covers (esp around the door handle recesses where they get scratched)?


thanks as always

Robin

(PS found my self being shadowed by a 360 modena today wanting to look at the NSX. NSX's are MUCH rarer than Ferrari's in Surrey - HE HE HE!)

[Steveycaz]

I have a '91 Red and have polished it all over the red and black paintwork using Zymol Polish & Clean. smells lovely and looks lovely. Small swirls / scratches caused by previous cleaning have been reduced all over and the black looks significantly better. Come out to play in Basingstoke tomorrow (see events thread!) and you can see it! Don't know anything about clear top coats!

[Papalazarou]

Hi Robin,

I have a red 96 targa and have gone through the same issues with polishes etc..
The tinted clearcoat you refer to is obviously the part you remove onto the cloth if you use a polish with cutting agent in it. This includes polishes like Autoglym super resin polish.

My feeling is that some of the guys on Prime are a little retentive when it comes to paint and that as long as you follow the important guidelines when cleaning, you should be able to polish swirls out successfully.

My car's just had a bit of paintwork done to get rid of some stone chips from the front and get it looking 100% and the guys finished by very carefully machine polishing it to get rid of any surface scratches and swirls.
As you stated, it is hard to know exactly how much a car has been polished during its life, so this job should be done by an expert!!

The benefits of this kind of work however, is that you get even coloured bodywork, no blooming which is a common problem with all red cars and if done properly, it should look fantastic, even under strip lights!!

Back to important guidelines; when cleaning (you probably know this already)

1. Use two sponges, one for wheels one for bodywork. (rinse out before and after use and keep in separate bags).

2. The same goes for the chamoir or flunky.

3. Always wash the car down thoroughly with a hose before using the sponge.

4. when washing, use the sponge lightly to start and use lots of soapy water. (obviously use a good quality shampoo - I've been using the Maguiers gold class, it seems to work really well.

5. When polishing, always use good quality soft cloth. It's a good idea to wash it first, so you don't attract too much static.

6. If you drop the sponge/flunky or polishing rag, buy a new one or if it's a good one, wash it thoroughly.

With regard to B-pillar covers, the problem for me was always the door handles which tend to get scratched. However, something like autoglym's resin polish will sort this out.


Cheers,

James.

[AR]

Zymol works wonders for me, all the other stuff works too, but Zymol lasts longer.

Cheers,

AR

[NSXGB]

Zymol works wonders for me, all the other stuff works too, but Zymol lasts longer.

I'll second the fact that, Zymol outlasts everything I've used before.

[rkanaga]

Thanks.

Which Zymol (the expensive stuff or the really expensive stuff) by the way?

And do you really have to use the fancy sounding HD clense stuff or does a good wash followed by some wax do the job?

[Nick Graves]

Red's like crucifixion; a doddle. You should try berlina black!

Tips:

http://www.meguiars.co.uk/

There is a good explanation of the processes at the knowledge centre.

I use a Porter Cable random orbital and prefer Poorboy's super swirl remover SSR1. But Meguiar's 83 DACP does the trick, but you just get white stuff running out of the shutlines in the wet & once dry, it sticks like **** to a blanket.

www.autogeek.co.uk is another good site for stuff!

[DamianW]

Another vote for Zymol. I use the cheap cleaner wax, as mentioned on this thread, and its brilliant stuff.

As for two sponges etc, I can't be bothered. I use one and just rinse the thing out.

Since we have a hosepipe ban I have now rigged up a pressure washer to use our 210L water butt. This has the added advantage of not blasting the car with calcium deposits and whatever else they put in drinking water, its just pure (filtered) rain water. I only mention this as I'm so pleased with my ingenuity :D

[TheQuietOne]

I'm a New Formula Red owner if that counts ;) and I've been using the Maguiars (sic) products for a while now and am very, very pleased with the results. Dan at DTA (See his section in the forum) has some good prices on all their stuff too at the moment and I'm sure he would do a good price aon a selection if you wanted to get off on the right foot, he has their micro-fibers too which are great. Greybloke (Nick) has used their 3 step system too with amazing results on his '91 Red/Black...

Cheers, Matt.

[Nick Graves]

Good one, Damian.

Actually, if one primes a Kaercher off the mains, one can wash a car well with merely two buckets & the Kaercher drawing off them. For those whose butts are not where they ought to be (!)

Takes at least five buckets to do it without - shows what a load of old bollocks this ban is!

[AR]

Thanks.

Which Zymol (the expensive stuff or the really expensive stuff) by the way?

And do you really have to use the fancy sounding HD clense stuff or does a good wash followed by some wax do the job?

I use the Titanium which I use on my 4X4s and the NSX is about £ 60 quid for the wax. The HD is needed as it will not be wise to put the wax on a dirty paint. If starting on a car for the first time claying it is the way to go IMHO to get a good base where to work.

Cheers,

AR

[rkanaga]

Thanks guys. I've decided to let Plans do the initial machine polish and then I will maintain it with Zymol HD clense and wax

I will let you know how it looks afterwards!

Sorry to be so anal about it, but while I was very happy to take the T cut and then Zymol to my Caterham (with fantastic results) the NSX somehow just seems a bit more precious!

[rkanaga]

Update on my polishing dilema.

Guys, I was firmly of the opinion that Clay Bars were snake oil.

But then I tried a Bilt Hamber Clay Bar (http://www.bilthamber.com, about £12, doesn't even need lube, you simply use tap water from a plant mister) on my 1991 Red/ Black.

Wow! The paint came up glassy smooth, and when followed up with the Meguiars 3 step polish system (cleaner/polish and then wax) looks simply amazing. Before this it was scratchy and oxidised after being serioulsy neglected. It now looks like the exotic car that it is.

I was considering getting an expensive machine polish etc, but really it looks great already!

The clay bar took about an hour for the whole car, the 3 step about 4 hours in total and job done! I'm converted.

Coupled with a new bonnet badge to replace the worn old one (removed without taking the bumber off after advice from 'prime), some struts from Dali and a new clutch and it's like new. Just waiting for my new bass amp from Dirk and I'll be sorted.


Robin

[Senninha]

Robin,

Well done and I'm sure very satisfying!! Any pics of your restored exotic?

regards

[DAVEMAT]

Just thought I'd give a plug on this thread to Glyn who Zymoled my car, as his website is now up and running, for anyone who may be interested.

www.elitedetailer.co.uk

Worth a look, can't fault the effort he puts in to his work, and not that expensive, especially as he comes to you.

[DamianW]

I used Carbon Zymol on mine at the weekend, looks great. Pictures to follow should we ever get any decent weather.

[mcibuk]

I can also vouch for Zymol wax - especially good on black roof.

There are many good tip in the thread about washing/waxing but there are occasions when i don't have the time to leather down the car following a wash so i bought a deionising water filter from Halfords that is use following the final rinse and the car is left to dry without any leathering. I thought it was going to be a gimmick but it's quite effective and saves some time!