Can deep swirls be corrected by hand?

[Blue_Thunder]

I have a 1998 Ming Blue S4 and the paintwork is far from perfect.

Pretty much every panel seems to have swirls that are very visible when it's cleaned up. Some look really bad, i'd be terrified to see what they are like under the lights the detailers use!

Can anyone recommend some products and techniques which will help clear the swirls up on a budget of less than £50, or am I being a dreamer?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[james b]

it will probly need wet flatting ad that is a big job for a pro, post some pics if there not to bad i may be able to sugest some thing to cover them up

 

[marms]

You need to check out the sticky post in the detailing section.

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=50080

Detailed write-up there on what can and can't be achieved without a machine polisher.

Hope that helps.

 

[WX51TXR]

As above... working by hand will do very little, and trying to hide serious swirls with glazes rarely works that well. So, your options are to follow the method outlined in the sticky post linked above, or else call in a pro to do the correction work for you.

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Excellent sticky. Sorry I missed it before, I was looking for a more specific title.

I'd say the swirling on mine is much worse than on the car used in that write up, but it is 9 years old. Even seeing the improvement after the hand working on that sticky has given me hope. I know I won't be able to get i perfect, but i'm sure I could make a very noticable improvement.

Looks like a quick visit onto PolishedBliss is my next step!

Out of interest, what is a ballpark figure for paint correction from a pro detailer?

 

[james b]

that is a good sticky

Out of interest, what is a ballpark figure for paint correction from a pro detailer?

price ?? average 200-300 paint corection alone 300-400 for a full on balls out detail it dose depend on what needs doing and the condition of the paint work, if it where a full wet flat job that can take as long as a week to finish and cost a fair amount, but saying that any car that warents that kind of work resale values would increase 2X the detail cost any way,

people will offer cheaper prices for details like the guys who buy a PC do there car and think well i can do this one too, but its like any thing you gets what ya pay for and IMO it worth doing once properly rather than twice half assed

 

[WX51TXR]

Agreed - we charge £395-£495 for the full works over 2-3 days, but in many cases at least this much is added to the vehicles value as a result. In fact, our record is adding over a grand to the book price of an Elise... the owner was well chuffed! :icon_thumright:

 

[Blue_Thunder]

Cheers for that guys. The prices for detailing always seem to be shrouded in secrecy!

Have a few other bits and pieces to sort out on the car, but hopefully come the summer, i'll be able to book myself in for the works.

 

[jr001]

It's worth getting a price from Matt at Off Your Marks near Warrington bearing inmind it's a ming S4 you own. Great colour and car so might be worth the investment overall. He is currently wet-sanding by machine on whole areas of the car as long as the paint thickness allows it.

Compared to the price of some of the mods you can buy, it's going to give the biggest overall improvement for the money IMO.

:icon_thumright:

 

[SteveTDCi]

£500 to rectify the problems can sound like a lot, but when you compare it to the cost of a respray it seems good value.