Well as of right now my only option is OTC(over the counter) Products, so I stopped off at Target and Autozone to buy some stuff. This is what I plan on doing tomorow.

1. Wash with Dawn, Dry
2. Claymagic
3. Wash with Dawn again, Dry
4. Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish
5. Zymol Cleaner Wax

My other materials include various MF towels (for drying/taking off excess polish/wax), MF mitt, Terry cloth Applicator Pads. What should I use to buff? And will the Deep crystal polish be able to take out some swirls, or should I return it for something else? I will be polishing by hand.

Also it says on the bottle that zymol 'repairs swirl marks and minor scratches'. How accurate is this? should I just skip the Deep Crystal Polish,(since the zymol should remove swirls and pretty much remove the DCP, or will it further help to remove swirls?

Feel free to suggest any helpful tips, or reccomend a product that I may be missing, however remember that I am on a budget and limited to OTC products. Thanks! :)

I would use a Porter Cable. Doing it by hand is a byatch.

You have an Dakar yellow M3, an absolutely gorgeous colour in a spectacular model of car and I salute you. Your desire to make it perfect and the admiration of mortal men is admirable and I salute you a second time.

Your question about buffing with what is easy to answer. Buff with the most plush MF towels you have.

You're doing things by hand and I salute you again. You must be a tough SOB. Most of us scrimp and save our shekels and get a PC at Lowes, $109, or a rotary, but manual is an option if you have limitless energy and 32 inch pythons like me. Just kidding, my pythons are actually 3.2 inches. You've heard of Conan the Barbarian? I'm Conan the Librarian so I use a PC.

I'd go the Zymol first and see what it looks like. If it fills swirls that's good. It may take 3 - 4 coats of Zymol to fill them so don't be afraid of multiple coats, but since it's a 'cleaner' wax, it may not fill swirls in a progressive way.

If not, I'd go back and add the 3 - 5 coats of the crystal polish. These don't do the job properly with only one coat so don't worry if you have to add more than one coat to fill swirls.

Don't forget to lube properly when you clay,
and remember that 'filler' waxes take a few coats to fill adequately.

Post a pic or two when you're done, and if I remember correctly the translation for 'dakar' in German is 'gorgeous'. Oops, I made a mistake, actually 'Imola' translates into 'gorgeous'.
-John C.

You have an Dakar yellow M3, an absolutely gorgeous colour in a spectacular model of car and I salute you. Your desire to make it perfect and the admiration of mortal men is admirable and I salute you a second time.

Your question about buffing with what is easy to answer. Buff with the most plush MF towels you have.

You're doing things by hand and I salute you again. You must be a tough SOB. Most of us scrimp and save our shekels and get a PC at Lowes, $109, or a rotary, but manual is an option if you have limitless energy and 32 inch pythons like me. Just kidding, my pythons are actually 3.2 inches. You've heard of Conan the Barbarian? I'm Conan the Librarian so I use a PC.

I'd go the Zymol first and see what it looks like. If it fills swirls that's good. It may take 3 - 4 coats of Zymol to fill them so don't be afraid of multiple coats, but since it's a 'cleaner' wax, it may not fill swirls in a progressive way.

If not, I'd go back and add the 3 - 5 coats of the crystal polish. These don't do the job properly with only one coat so don't worry if you have to add more than one coat to fill swirls.

Don't forget to lube properly when you clay,
and remember that 'filler' waxes take a few coats to fill adequately.

Post a pic or two when you're done, and if I remember correctly the translation for 'dakar' in German is 'gorgeous'. Oops, I made a mistake, actually 'Imola' translates into 'gorgeous'.
-John C.

:rofl, quite a post there John, thanks for the helpful info. Will the deep crystal polish remove the swirls or simply cover them up? Also would it be a bad idea to layer the Zymol cleaner wax on top of the Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish? Would it help to wash inbetween them? Or are they compatible for layering? Thanks again.

I don't know if you can remove anything but light swirls by hand. I have used polishing pal with Poorboy's 2.5 by hand and it did remove the lightest swirls but it was an insane amount of work and the results were only so-so. For defect correction you really need a machine. you just cannot duplicate the speed and heat that is generated by a machine with your hands. That said you may do better to get a glaze to fill in your swirls until you can afford a machine buffer. The Meguiar's line is a good OTC line and their #7 glaze will fill in minor swirls nicely. Another line that you can get OTC that is very good is Duragloss. I actually know of a gentleman who just one best of show using on the Duragloss line on his black car. :)
Lots of luck to you. Please post pics. :)

:rofl, quite a post there John, thanks for the helpful info. Will the deep crystal polish remove the swirls or simply cover them up? Also would it be a bad idea to layer the Zymol cleaner wax on top of the Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish? Would it help to wash inbetween them? Or are they compatible for layering? Thanks again.
I haven't actually used either of those two products but I did go and read the fine print about the Megs DCP.
It says it removes 'fine scratches/swirls', and since it mentions nothing about machine use, it's intended to be done by hand. That means it fills the scratches, it doesn't remove them by buffing them flat.
This means you may have to put multiple layers of the DCP onto the car and as you add more layers, the swirls will be filled more and more until they are hard to see and virtually invisible.

My concern with the next step is the 'cleaner' wax. It's designed to 'clean', and all of them do that with a petroleum base and/or microfine abrasives. They'll have carnauba in the mix too of course. Either way, I'd gamble the zymol cleaner wax may remove some or all the filling work you've done with the DCP.

Cleaner waxes can't be layered either because the new layer sort of removes what was under it, so the net effect is always 1 new coat.

I'd be tempted to return the zymol cleaner wax and get a traditional non-cleaning wax. (Your DCP is going to do the cleaning and filling anyway.)

Wash between applications? I'd do it if there was dirt/dust present. A california duster, an instant detailer/quick detailer like QEW or ONR etc. are options for a little dust. With a full wash, a mild car soap/shampoo is important so you don't remove your DCP work.

Jen's advice about removing the swirls, not filling them, is accurate and pretty much requires a machine. Jen knows her stuff and her product knowledge is greater than mine, she's a professional, I'm just a schlump. :)
-John C.

Well after considering what you guys said I changed up the lineup a bit, but still have some Q's? about ScratchX and ColorX, if any of you have experience with them.

Should ColorX be used before or after the scratch X ? Will ColorX remove any of the fillers from scratchx? Will ColorX make it look deeper/darker/wetter? And for my final lineup how does the following sound?

1. Wash
2. Clay
3. Wash
4. Scratch X
5. Color X (not sure if it should be before ScratchX)
6. Gold Class Paste

Will I need a paint cleaner before the Polish with ScratchX or will the clay be enough?

I haven't actually used either of those two products but I did go and read the fine print about the Megs DCP.
It says it removes 'fine scratches/swirls', and since it mentions nothing about machine use, it's intended to be done by hand. That means it fills the scratches, it doesn't remove them by buffing them flat.
This means you may have to put multiple layers of the DCP onto the car and as you add more layers, the swirls will be filled more and more until they are hard to see and virtually invisible.

My concern with the next step is the 'cleaner' wax. It's designed to 'clean', and all of them do that with a petroleum base and/or microfine abrasives. They'll have carnauba in the mix too of course. Either way, I'd gamble the zymol cleaner wax may remove some or all the filling work you've done with the DCP.

Cleaner waxes can't be layered either because the new layer sort of removes what was under it, so the net effect is always 1 new coat.

I'd be tempted to return the zymol cleaner wax and get a traditional non-cleaning wax. (Your DCP is going to do the cleaning and filling anyway.)

Wash between applications? I'd do it if there was dirt/dust present. A california duster, an instant detailer/quick detailer like QEW or ONR etc. are options for a little dust. With a full wash, a mild car soap/shampoo is important so you don't remove your DCP work.

Jen's advice about removing the swirls, not filling them, is accurate and pretty much requires a machine. Jen knows her stuff and her product knowledge is greater than mine, she's a professional, I'm just a schlump. :)
-John C.


Ay John!! You crack me up! I was drinking water while reading your "schlump" comment and it almost came out my nose! lol Too funny! As for me being a professional, I am not. I know a few things, but I am by no means a pro, just a lady who likes shiny cars. ;) :redspot

Venom, I would go with just the Scratch X. This product has cleaners in it as well as fillers so the ColorX won't be necessary. :)

Ay John!! You crack me up! I was drinking water while reading your "schlump" comment and it almost came out my nose! lol Too funny! As for me being a professional, I am not. I know a few things, but I am by no means a pro, just a lady who likes shiny cars. ;) :redspot

Venom, I would go with just the Scratch X. This product has cleaners in it as well as fillers so the ColorX won't be necessary. :)

Thanks for the kind words again Jen, and I apologise for the water in the honker.
-John C.

Thanks for the kind words again Jen, and I apologise for the water in the honker.
-John C.


ROFL! Fortunately for me the water was on the desk when I read this one! lol