For those who like it shiny

You are what you drive. Everyone is impressed with a well kept, clean, shiny car. It goes beyond just not having dirt on it. It’s the same thing as seeing some in a cheap suit versus a fine Italian suit. The overall image is just a little different, it might be more subtle to some than others, but the people who appreciate a tailored suit will also appreciate a finely detailed car.

A primary goal of detailing is to have no swirls. You want your paint finish to reflect a point source of light, i.e. the sun, without any sense of scratches or swirling. Most of these swirls are in the clear coat. Thankfully these swirls can be removed with the proper skills and equipment. The workhorse of this is the Porter Cable 7424 Random Orbital Sander. Initially developed for furniture finishing, you can find it in all the best detailing shops. If your detailer is still doing everything by hand, he hasn’t made it to the modern era.

With 3.7 amps of power, the Porter Cable allows you polish out the swirl marks, with minimal risk to the paint. It isn’t hard, but it is surprising how many dealers tell customers that swirls are a natural part of car paint.

$120

Along with the Random Orbital Sander, you’ll need a selection of polishing pads and polish. These will only set you back a bit more, and thankfully there is a plethora of information on the web, check out www.autopia.org for more information. You can always go with Zaino, which is four times as expensive as anything else and takes about twice as much time to use, but many good alternatives are now available. For your beater car, a good starting point for a wax would be Collinite #845 Liquid Insulator Wax. It was engineered for use on high voltage wires to preventing arcing, fires, and explosions. The gloss is better than most off-the-shelf waxes you can find at Wal-Mart, but the durability and protection has to be seen to be believed. Even Dawn detergent won’t take Collinite #845 off!