Being Black, my car is pretty hard to keep clean. THe paint is getting a bit shabby and my mate and i cut it back last year which was a bit of a mistake as you can see swirl marks in certain lights.

Are there in good products or techniques to rectify black paint?

Also being the owner of a black car ( actually in for respray due to scratches) ive found that removing LIGHT swirls is not impossible but does take time, cutters on black paint is not good and a bit harsh in my opinion, i have used mothers swirl reducer and an electric buff for hard stuff but lighter marks will come out with a good hand polish.
Wash your car well with 2 BUCKETS of water , one for the soap and one to rinse your sponge in so you dont transfer the dirt youve just washed off back onto your paint ( another way of creating swirls is dirt transfer).
Dry your car and put it in a nice shady place, grab a block of detailers clay and give the mini a good rub with that with a squirty bottle to lubricate the clay bar turning and remoulding the clay as you go when one side becomes dirty, the clay bar will remove all contaminants from your paint basically leaving it raw but smooth as glass and will remove a few swirls to boot.

Apply the swirl reducing polish to one panel at a time with a good quality cloth and wipe off buffing lightly BY HAND.... hopefully just a good hand polish with that will remove most of your swirls but if not pepeat it again by hand and if still no sucess grab a buff and give it a polish with good quality polish( not any sort of cutting polish or swirl reducer), if that works bung on at least 3 coats of wax to protect your nice shiney paint.
polish will make the paint pop but the wax will lock in that pop

Mate, it may work and it may not, it all depends on how the car has been looked after as a whole and how deep the swirls are.

Hope this helps and hope it works for you

thanks for the info, the wax does seem to help.

I'll give it a go on the weekend

Where are you getting the spray done? we should do them both at once haha

i've heard of these clay blocks before and they sound great.

do i have to go to a crash supplies place? or do any of the supercrap repco autobahns keep them?

also is it just a matter of damp rubbing with the clay then mashing it in your hand to "re-mould" it? sounds a bit like a scene for demi moore?

Yup theyre great

Yup you can get em from Autobarn or supercrap ( meguires from memory)

Yup damp rubbing, never let em dry out and mash n fold when its dirty

Yup the Ghost thing

When i had my lotus (which was metallic) black, to make sure i didnt show scratches in the paint, i used to take it to the local high pressure car wash place, high pressure it, drive home slowly, then hose it again at home, use sponge and bucket one to clean the car (always moving the sponge in one direction WITH the paintwork), then hose, then clean with second sponge once again with the bodywork, then hose, then wax and then polish using lambs wool buffer.

all told it took me about 2 hours and a bit to clean my car.

I sold it pretty quickly. Paintwork was immaculate, but FMD it was too much effort.

It now takes me 15 mins to hose, scrub, hose and leave to dry my moke.

if its dirty throw it out.

NEVER knead it. rub with it, fold it so the dirt is in the middle. fold it so the dirt is in the middle. Dont use a HUGE chunk, and throw away the blob as soon as you feel ONE bit of grit on the outside.

and hold a hose in one hand and rub with clay in the other, only need a dribble of constant water to wash away the crap

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Aussie Leyland, Aussie Factory, Aussie Mini S.

I love clay, the paintwork feels so nice once you have clayed it.

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ANY SEA ANY TIME

True Drexxle, I spose kneading is not the best description,and if your going "Ghost" style dont make a pot out of it...<mod edit>Maxx, refer ausmini rule 1 & 5. In future, do not intentionally bait members of this forum. If you do not understand why you were moderated - PM Nick

Well Nick, ive P.Md you numerous times and you cant give me a reason or PROOF, you say above i was baiting someone and yet you tell me in a P.M. that i was modded for being racist. MAKE UP YOUR BLOODY MIND

I will be clay blocking my important car at work on Saturday, the XR6 of course, looking forward to it, will be a bit theraputic me thinks.

Doogie

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I won Hay once, here's the pic to prove it..


Hay, it's not about the car, it's not about the venue, it's about the people that come here. Peter Dwyer, Mayor of Hay NSW.

We did my mates XR, it's a big job haha

Felt great though!

Bowdens are sellers of car care stuff, clay bar included. I hear their stuff is good but haven't tried it myself.

http://www.bowdensown.com.au/

I know there are people on here that have bought it, how good is it

Cheers
Steve

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1964 998cc Cooper
1971 Mini K x 2
1972 Clubman GT

Don't know about their products but their car collection would have to be one of the best, if not, the best in the country.

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I would agree, we went there earlier in the year, it was fantastic, but tiring. We had 4 hours walking from one car to the next, and then standing listening, the whole time being given a run down on each by Dan.

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1964 998cc Cooper
1971 Mini K x 2
1972 Clubman GT