Well, it took long enough, but I finally got a shine out of the 'ol paint. I had been using the Meguiar's 3-step Crystal system (cleaner, then polish, then wax), and could only get a shine for a day or two. Then, somehow, the shine would disappear...

This weekend, I added a fourth step. It's a Meguiar's "professional" bottle (tan bottle), called "swirl remover 2.0". I used it after the polish, and before the wax- and damn, it worked great!

What I liked about it was that you don't have to really work to wipe it off- the bottle says "work until almost dry". Then, you slide a towel over what's left, and it falls right off. It helped take down the scratches I had left from my first experience with an electric random-orbit buffer.

For those interested:

Like I said, I used an electric random-orbit buffer. It's an old Black & Decker 8" model. I used a separate buffing pad for all steps -except- for applying wax. The bonnets were all foam, but the one I bought for the "swirl remover 2.0" was supposed to be a high-density foam, meant for polishing. (All foam bonnets were from Pep Boys, made by NicSand. Two were yellow, the high-density one was blue.) I hear the wool ones cut aggressively, and I didn't want to buff right through my paint!

I use light pressure on the machine, and let it do the work. I try to hold it so the pad is flat against the surface, so it manages to spin instead of just vibrate. Also, I work the buffer in straight lines- I hear that by going in circles (like my first attempt), you create swirl marks. I was told to "let the machine do the circling for you!" Also, I don't think I removed much paint from the car. I have some dried-on shoe polish flakes (from the racetrack) on my roof. The buffer wouldn't remove the thin layer of shoe polish, so apparently I wasn't digging into the paint as badly as I thought.

Unlike my first attempt, I made sure the foam was wet with the step I was about to use. Originally, I put the liquids on the car, and used the dry foam to work it in- can you say "scratches"? When the bonnet was wet, I'd work it into the car, and periodically splash some more of the polish onto the car as needed.

Also, unlike my first attempt, I didn't use the buffer to remove any compounds. I used a little terry cloth (Pep Boys, pack of 3 = $4). When the cloth couldn't "wipe off" any more, I'd turn it to a new side.

Next time, I might try applying the "swirl remover" by hand after applying it by machine.

I applied the "final" wax by hand, with a foam pad. I used the "solid" wax, in the can, instead of the squeezable wax-in-a-bottle. The foam pad came with the wax.

When I was completely done, I soaked the bonnets in some HOT water in the basement sink. Then I used some dishwashing detergent (and my hand) to wash each bonnet clean of all polishing material. This is a step I never did before. (remind me to throw out all those old bonnets!) I hung 'em to dry, then I did the same with the towels I used to wipe off the polishes with.

I also bought new cotton bath towels from K-mart, $2.50 each, to use for drying the freshly-polished areas of the car for future washes. I think my old, OLD (falling apart) towels might've been scratching my paint and removing the wax from the car. They're so old that they don't feel soft at all!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)