Stroker87

i resently bought a 01 c5z its was buffed before i bought it and has buff marks all over how can i get rid of them?

DUB

Not being able to see the severity of the swirl scratches...it is hard to give you an exact answer....way too many variables.

Unless you have some specific tools and polishes.....the reason being....if you do not know what you are doing with power buffers/polishers...you can actually do more damage than good. NOT WRITING that you can not learn and do it like myself....but using you Corvette as the test guinea pig is not advisable.

I would possibly take it to a reputable car detailer and see if they can do a small spot on the car and achieve the results you are looking for.

DUB

Stroker87

I have some skills not a "PRO" though

I do have puffers and orbiters with foam pads but was wondering if theres a method i can try by hand?

on a scale from 1 to 10 i'd say these are about a 6.5, I've seen worst but this car being black they show pretty good

DUB

For you and others who care to read this 'stuff'

I can not say for sure if doing it by hand would work. I know it would...but it will darn near kill your arms.....which is why...even if using a buffer on the slowest speed is still faster than doing it by hand.

Now at my shop I have wool pads for buffing and the foam pads and a cotton pad that goes on my orbital. Because I have so many different grades of compound and the glazes I have...I could do a test spot and see how it would come out....BEFORE I jumped into the cars finish. That way...I would know my process to get it back without and swirls.

Black is FUN to say the least. SO even when you sue a compound...you MUST make sure that when you are done with that step...you get ALL of the compound off. Because if you are shooting for a flawless black finish...the grit in the compound can actually cause swirls if it gets back onto the paint and picked up by any foam or fine wool pad or towel.

NOT knowing if you know this or not...but one thing you really NEVER want to forget if you are using a circular buffer.....IS THE ROTATION OF THE PAD. Because one SURE WAY to ruin your paint job is to allow the buffer pad to be able to rotate INTO and edge of a panel...and not OFF the panel. SO...trying at all costs to have the pad roll off the edge of panel will greatly prevent burning paint off or wearing paint off of an edge of a panel. ANY adjacent panel...unless you get really good...it is wise to mask off the edge of the adjacent panel so the pad does cut cut into the leading edge of that panel....while you are rolling the pad off the edge of the panel you are buffing. Sometimes raising up the hood a little will help when buffing the hood...so it will not effect the fender....so it is up to the person buffing in what techniques work for them....and....COMMON SENSE APPLIES HERE!!!! So just because you are allowing the pad to roll off the edge of a panel...if you have the pad angled so greatly...it will eat the paint right off versus basically keeping the pad flat with a slight angle to it. I can not help if a person can not figure some things out.....if a person can not figure it out...take ti to someone who KNOWS what they are doing.

DUB

Stroker87

i figured the hand thing was not really the solution but thought i'd see to make sure, I also know about running the buffer so the rotation runs off the edge, use different pads with different compounds but just really feel 100% comfortable buffing it

i'm going to be swapping to a after market hood though so was figuring on testing on my stock hood

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply Dub!

thanks!

DUB

I agree...practice carefully on the hood .

DUB

Stroker87

what pad and compound should I try? I am a amateur so dont want to use any thing that will cut fast, also I'll probably be using a low speed