How to Remove Swirls & Scratches from Your Paint

Junkman2008 · 11-14-2009, 12:32pm

The title says it all folks. In this 10 video series (1 hour and 18 minutes), you will witness me using various Adam's products to restore half of the hood on my 1979 Chevy El Camino. This car has not been washed in over two years. I usually let the rain take care of the dirt and it shows. This car is my daily driver and usually sits outside year round in the elements (that's 4 seasons in the state of Kentucky).

I have used the hood of this car for everything including cleaning my Corvette floor mats, various bench projects and as a storage area for my bar-b-que cook outs. It works as a good ladder in the garage too! Basically, every kind of abuse that a car's finish can see has been seen by this hood. If I can bring the shine back from the dead using Adam's products on this finish, your cars should be a walk in the park.

One important thing to note. This is the way I do things and is not a set in stone template of what you have to do. This is more of a documentation for folks who have little to no experience in professional paint care, and are looking for a direction to go in order to get started. You should use this as a foundation to learn about the products used in the video, but feel free to deviate as you become more familiar with the Adam's line. As you become more experienced, you may want to add to or take away from my process to make it more that of your very own. You can also feel free to do just as I do, as you will witness from the videos is a very effective method in restoring a superb shine.

I will add some text before each video which will be very important for you to read before watching the video. This should clear up any confusion that may occur from watching a particular video.

With that said, get your 3D glasses on and sit back in your easy chair. A "Junkman in His Garage Production" is about to spill onto your screen.

Hide the women and children.

Video 1: Introduction - Just what is says!

Video 2: The Porter-Cable 7424 - In this video, I go over important information about the PC. If you are using the Adam's Second Generation pads, I stress the importance of making sure that you have the correct counter weight installed (for 5" pads). Although the Adam's pads measure 7" across, they are designed to fit the 5" backing plate. Thus you must ensure that you have the 5" counter weight along with the 5" backing plate to use with the Adam's Second Generation pads. Using the 6" counter-weight will work but you may or may not experience a little more vibration when working at a speed of 6. Normally, a setting of 6 is not a speed I work at very often. I find that going at a speed of 5 with 9-14lbs of pressure does a lot more than using the PC at a very high speed where it is harder to control.

Also stressed in this video is the use of the flat washer that comes with the Porter-Cable. From my experience, you cannot tighten the backing plate onto the PC sufficiently and remove the provided flat wrench. What you end up doing is having to slightly loosen the backing plate in order to remove the wrench. The backing plate will stay on for a while but will eventually loosen just enough to strip and come off in the middle of your polishing. This of course ends up in you possibly doing some nasty damage to your paint. By using the washer, you will be able to sufficiently tighten down the backing plate and remove the wrench with no problem. The washer allows for the needed extra space to do this. Although the backing plate may have a washer attached to it, you still need to use the washer provided with the PC! Not using the washer is is a common mistake made by folks who are eager to get at their paint and do not bother to read this information.

I also stress the importance of using a large enough gauge of extension chord if necessary. This is the number one reason why so many people experience their PC's getting hot. This is also the quickest way to burn up your PC. Also, make sure that you are providing sufficient current flow to your polisher. If you plug your 1000 watt halogens, your PC and a air condition unit into the same outlet, you may NOT be delivering the amount of current necessary to safely run your PC. This will be evident by the polisher getting very hot. Ensure that your work area can support the running of all that equipment. If a circuit breaker trips, that's your warning that you're doing it wrong!

Video 3: Vehicle Rinse and Paint Inspection - In this video, I rinse off the big dirt and dust. This is the very first thing you should do when washing the car. As I inspect the paint, you will actually hear the grit in the paint as I rub my hands across it. Normally, you never want to do this to your finish as any kind of rubbing on the car with your hands will cause immediate scratches. Since the paint on this car was in such bad shape, I did it for demonstration purposes only. Once your paint has been corrected, never do this or allow folks to do this to your paint.

Video 4: Claying and the Foam Gun - This video shows the technique used to determine if your finish needs to be clayed. A vehicle that resides in a garage is NOT going to have to be clayed as often as one that sits outside all year. Thus, claying is not a necessary step of paint correction unless it fails the clay bar test.

This video also discusses and demonstrates the use of the foam gun. As stressed in the video, the foam gun is not a high pressure device that blast dirt off the car. It is a device that soaks the car down with foam, which loosen the dirt and makes it safe to remove without scratching the finish.

Video 5 - The Two Bucket Wash and Claying - In this video, I discuss the practice of using 2 buckets to wash your car, utilizing the Grit Guard system. I also demonstrate and talk about the proper way to clay your finish.

One thing that I forgot to show in this video is my drying technique. What I usually do after washing the car is disconnect the spray nozzle and turn the water down to a slow flow. I run that over the car which causes all of the water to pool and run off the car. Once most of the water has done this, I use a leaf blower to blow it dry. I then finish up with a microfiber towel if necessary.

Junkman2008 · 11-14-2009, 12:33pm

(con't)

Video 6: Claying Inspection and the PC & Swirl and Haze Remover - In this video, I inspect the results of my claying. I also assemble my PC and discuss the use of the PC and Adam's Swirl and Haze Remover (SHR) as compared to Adam's Fine Machine Polish (FMP).

Important Note: In my experience up to this point with using both the SHR and FMP, I have found that FMP did more to remove swirls and scratches than SHR. This is in direct conflict to what is stated in the Adam's website, and in the makeup of both products. In fact, the SHR is actually the more aggressive compound when you look at the molecule makeup. You should thus ALWAYS follow SHR with FMP. The reason I may have experienced different results could have been due to a multitude of factors including temperature, the condition or hardness of the clear coat that I was dealing with, or the amount of damage that I perceived was on the car.

With that said, you should follow the posted information on the website and assume that the SHR is more aggressive than the FMP. If in your comparisons you experience something similar to what I did, post your experiences here. Normal use according to the posted instructions will have you follow SHR with FMP, in order to lessen the damage done by SHR. You can try my technique, but you should follow Adam's instructions if you don't have the success that I did. Remember, Adam knows his products in a whole lot more detail than I do! The more I use them, the more I learn and thus my process will constantly evolve and improve.

Another thing that I did in this video which is not the norm is the amount of product that I used. Normally, I would have used half of the amount that you will see in the very last shot of the video. If I was in direct sunlight or if the surface of the car was hot, that amount of SHR would have created a stubborn mess. However, I was indoors on a cool night which are the conditions where I have had the most amount of success when correcting paint on a car. Because of those conditions, I was able to use more product and work the product longer which cut down on the amount of passes that I had to make. Do not use that much product unless the conditions are ideal for you to get away with it. Outside in your driveway on a hot summer day IS NOT the right condition.

Video 7: Applying Polish with the PC - In this video, I address how to apply polish with respect to technique and pressure. Working with polishes using the PC should be done at no higher a setting than 5. If you go higher, you need to be experienced in knowing when the product has completely broken down, which it will do much faster. If not, you will end up doing more damage to the finish than correcting. Working at a speed higher than 5 also makes the PC vibrate quite noticeably.

Video 8: Polishing Inspection and Discussion - In this video, I inspect my polishing and discuss my results. I also recap my process thus far.

Video 9: Laying and Inspecting the Machine Superwax - Just what it says. I apply the machine Superwax, let it dry and wipe it off. I then inspect it in detail. One thing to note, I used more product than normal because of the condition of the paint. You will probably not be restoring paint on a car in this condition and thus, should only use as much product as the instructions call for. This was a unique situation that called for a little bit of an unorthodox approach.

Video 10: The Conclusion - I recap the entire process as I do it. Again, my way is NOT the only way, nor is it set in stone. As I improve and become more familiar with Adam's products, my technique will probably change. This however, should give you a foundation to start creating a process that works for you. Experience is the key. The more you use these products, the better your results will be.

Some photos from the experience:

That's it boys and girls. Feel free to give me your input and question anything that you saw. All suggestions or questions are welcome so ask away!

The Junkman

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