Body paint detailing help? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Good day... I am in the process of getting my 99' Boxster back to as close to new as I can. I am looking around at detailing shops, but getting mixed messages on what is best. First.. the front bumper had some road rash, so I had that professionally repainted. the rest of the cars is good, no dings or dents / heavy scrapes... but being a 1999 it has those swirl marks and some surface scratching. Locally my options are 'Claybar", ... High Speed Buffing, and Water Sanding at an autobody shop. The problem is each of the 3 shops, claims their process is the best process.... the HS Buffer guy says... his process is the best. The 'Claybar" guy says.... his is the best..... and the Autobody shop says the other two are wrong, it should be watersanded ( I know nothing about watersanding ) any thoughts or suggestions? BTW... none of the three has actual seen the car. Any suggestions or thoughts?... IMACMAN Newfoundland

Wet sanding is extremely aggressive. I would not do that unless my paint were completely faded (which your isn't) and I did it as a last ditch effort to avoid painting. Clay bar is not going to be aggresive enough to get rid of swirl marks. When you get it back, you won't see the swirls because he used a wax that fills the swirls temporarily, until after a couple of washes. The way to get a good finish is progressive abrasives. Start with a mild rubbing compound, then a medium polish and then a fine polish, so it looks like high speed buffing is the one to chooes.

As Renshou said, paint treatment is a process with multiple stages depending on your current paint condition. Water sanding or wet sanding even with 2500 or 3000 grit is very abrasive and can cause permanent damage to your paint if not done right. This is normally the starting step for parts of the car with very bad paint damage. Then you would step for a polish that would remove the scratches caused by the wet sanding process ( as well as other swirl mark on the car ). Then you would step up to a less aggressive finish polish or glaze. After the polishing, your car should be looking beautiful already, and wax / sealant only protect the surface. Clay bar is used to remove surface contaminants and should be done after washing your car before wax / sealant / polish to get rid of any larger dirt particle that can cause more scratches during these steps. So I'm surprise each shop offered you only a one stage solution. I would suggest that you misunderstood. The watersand guy is probably saying .. hey your paint is bad enough where I have to start at wet sanding. The polish guy is probably saying .. nah .. those scratches are not that bad, I can polish them all out. And the claybar guy just wants to get paid to wash your car. What I would do is find the worse ( deepest ) scratches on your car, and run your fingernails on it. If it catches, then you'd need wet sanding at least in that area ( assuming its didn't go all the way through paint and is still fixable by wet sanding ). Good luck !

Thanks guys, much appreciated, what you're saying makes sense, The paint on the car is actually pretty good, to the touch ( after a good wash ) the finish feels very very smooth... much smoother than any other car ( including brand new ones ) that I've ever owned. So I assume it's the method and type of Finish Porsche puts on them in the factory. Might be just me, but it actually feels diffrent than other brands... it almost feels slippery, even though it's completely dry...weird huh? lol So it ironically enough it sounds like High Speed buffing it will be.... Thanks...cause the whole Idea of any kind of sanding of the car creeps me out abit... I hand no choice with the front bumber, it had a lot of road rash, so I had it painted at CarStar Collison Centre, cost $1000 for just the bumper but was worth it. I will post some pics when I get it back. I think the wheels are from a 911?... very very easy to clean & shine... now I understand why people spend that kind of $$$ on Chrome wheels.

Thanks for the advice guys, just picked my car up from the detailer.... all I can say is wow...the guy did everything....inside & out...the car looks like new it was high speed buffed... not a swirl or spider mark to be seen..amazing... and the interior is showrroom. The guy even sprayed the inside of the of the wheel wells with black protectant ( after cleaning them... looks amazing... it's pouring rain here today...so.. not a great day to pick it up.... but he told me the coating / wax coats he did will protect the car through the summer..... I'm really impressed... and even experiencing the "Placebo Efffect"...ie the car seems to ride smoother...lol The job took 2 guys almost 2 days to complete. Imacman

Glad it workout for you. Sucks that you had to pick it up in the rain though. Be careful next time washing it to not put back in the micro scratches that was just polished out.

A quick word of advice, instead of washing it next time, pick up a bottle of quick detailer. Although you can't wait to the point where most people wash their car's because you will bring back scratches... But if you do it once a week if the car is garaged, it keeps that "just-detailed" shine. Just spray it on, wipe it off. Once VERY gently to get off all loose dirt, and then again to smooth, and even out the shine. Happy detailing!!

Thanks for the advice..... now I need to know how to wash it? I would never go through any kind of automatic car wash..... anytime i've washed it was in a U-Wash Drive in bay type operation.... but the high pressure water and the "Public Foaming Brush" always kinda spooks me. What would be the procedure for washing to avoid the swirly & fine scratches ( for as long as can be avoided? And is there a particular brand for the spray on detailer that you can recommend? PS... I've never heard of cleaning then spray blackening the wheel wells? Anyone else?... it was a protectant.... and it is very dark dark black.... it looks amazing makes the wheels visually "Pop" off the car.... i had no idea the guy was doing it.... I went in and asked for the "Full Meal Deal" of which, this was included... it looks fantastic. Thanks Imacman Newfoundland

Congrats on your detail. It is a good idea to have a prefessional do it every few years. In the mean time let me suggest this website: Car Care, Detail Supplies, Garage Organization, Car Accessories - Griot's Garage [phone removed] They have all sorts of high quality products and I can reccomend them. One item I got last year was a random orbital polisher. If you look at that page there is a video on how to use it properly!! Griot's Garage Video: 6" Random Orbital, Polishing Basics There are several how to videos on their site that are useful for the enthusiast. Good Luck!

1) I would thoroughly wash the car and clay bar to remove contaminants from the paint. 2) I would use Mothers Fine Cleaning Compound and then the Swirl Remover 3) I would hand wax at least 2 coats of Mothers Carnuaba Wax.

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This is my less than half hour car wash that I do weekly. First the equipment, a soft brush on a 4 foot pole, car squeegee (don't use a household window squeegee), car wash WITH WAX (many brands out there) and a microfibre towel. First, rinse the car thoroughly with a hose. Then mix a very strong batch of car wash, about 2 ounces per gallon of water. Then use the brush to apply the car wash. With the brush on a pole, I can even clean the wheels without having to bend down. Now the rinse, its very important. Take the nozzle off the hose and hold the hose a couple of inches above the car. Very quickly flood all the panels with water. Less is more here. By using the open hose, the water comes off in large sheets, leaving very few blobs of water on the surface. At this point, you can just leave it as it is and let it dry, you will have very minimal waterspotting. I then use a squeegee to get the water off. Don't worry about scratching. A squeegee is much cleaner than a chamois that picks up all kinds of abrasive crud. Next, use the towel to wipe down the windows, any spots on the body and finally, to wipe down the wheels. There, you're done.