Polishing metallic paint
 

Hi I hope you can help!!
I've now got a portofino blue Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo and have got quite a lot of swirl marks similar to the black leon you polished in another thread.
What precautions do I need to take with metallic paint when attempting to polish them out as I don't want to destroy the paint and clearcoat itself.
I will try and take some pics of the marks to show you what I mean, most are on the bonnet.
At the moment I use Zymol and have been thinking of getting a clay bar to go over the car too.

A pic of the car to give idea of the colour.

Attachment 49224

Thanks in advance

Dave

Hi Dave, if you use a dual action polisher there's virtually no chance of doing any damage. Most paint systems are around 140 microns thick - primer is ~25, colour layer is ~50, rest is clearcoat. A moderately aggressive polish on a light cutting pad will only remove 2-3 microns at most. Fine grade polishes will remove almost nothing, but will instead burnish the surface to an awesome lustre.

Professional rotary polishers are another story. One pass of these with a cutting pad and an aggressive polish can knock off 10+ microns, so my advice is to stick with the dual action - the best by miles is the Porter Cable 7424 Have a read of this link for basic advice about about polishing...

How to polish your paint safely by hand or machine

I'm not a big fan of Zymol, and on your colour car I would definitely choose another set of products. What springs to mind straight away is a thorough polishing with Poorboy's Super Swirl Removers (2.5 then 1), followed by a basecoat of Klasse All In One, topped with multiple coats of Optimum Car Wax. This would give a very glossy and reflective finish - see the thread on the Lotus Elise 135R detail for pics of this finish, on a similar colour.

When you get chance put up some pics of the swirls - would be good to see what you are up against. :)

I've got one of those electric buffers you see for sale in Argos etc, would that be ok to you or should I do it by hand.
Which is safest with the super swirl remover.
The car is having it's calipers refurbed at the moment so is in the garage but will try and get some pics tomorrow if the light is OK.
Thanks for the advice.
Dave

Hmm, I'd shy away from cheaper buffers - they often don't have the oomph needed to break down the abrasives properly... meaning that you put as many swirls in as you take out. Working by hand would actually be better, but there is a limit as to what can be removed by hand. Fine swirls yes, more serious defects no. Let's have a look at some pics before moving on - I have a product in mind (Clearkote Vanilla Moose Glaze), but it would be good to see the extent of the problem first. :)