# These damn water marks!



## pushin400 (Jul 18, 2011)

So i have a black gto and i cannot get rid of these water marks....what should i do?:willy:


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Clay bar system. :cheers


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## pushin400 (Jul 18, 2011)

Thats what i was going to ask.....I want to fully detail my car!....what should i start out with? of course a good wash and then clay bar and then wax?


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## pushin400 (Jul 18, 2011)

And what compounds should i be using when doing this?


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## Falco21 (May 11, 2010)

Go to the autopia forum and search around there. There is so much info on there that it becomes overwhelming.


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

You clay bar with the bar and detail spray. Mother's makes a kit for it but the bar is extremely small. You can get bigger ones if you look at eBay or somewhere like that. One thing to keep in mind is if you drop it you throw it away and get a new one as any grit in the bar will sand your car. It takes a while to clay but you don't have to do it very often at all. Follow that with a good wax and if there isn't grit on the car I use detail spray and micro-fiber towels to get rid of water spots on mine.


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## Braz (Jul 19, 2011)

Clay bar will get rid of the spots follow it up with a cleaner wax then a polishing wax to have it showroom.


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## BRZN (Jan 31, 2011)

Black is a tough color to keep looking perfect and requires a great deal of care.

Water marks could be clayed off if they're sitting on top of a layer of protection like a couple coats of a good quality wax or sealant. Otherwise what you're seeing are marks etched into the clear coat and clay will do nothing to them. Water is the universal solvent and generally has a slightly acidic ph and includes minerals that damage paint: read "eat clear".

Wash the car well and clay it to start with a wax free surface to see what you're dealing with. If your happy throw a coat of wax on it, if not you'll need to try and polish them out.

To polish them you're really going to need a machine like a Dual Action (DA) Random Orbital Polisher like the Porter Cable 7424XP. These are relatively safe machines in the hands of a novice and will allow you to level the clear down to the etching at 5,000/6,000 OPM (Oscilations Per Minute) without damaging the paint. If you're working a few minor marks you could get away by hand, but not for water marks all over the vehicle. By hand you'd have a tough time to just maintain 60 OPM for very long.

What polishes? That'd be another whole thread. Basically you need to start with the least aggressive you can find and work your way more aggressively until you find what works. Then back down the aggressiveness scale to remove the damage the the previous polish incurred. I moved away from the over the counter products a few years ago and right now use the Adam's line of products. I'm really satisfied with what they offer and their customer service and folks that answer the phone is second to none. Oh, and they offer a 110% money back guarantee, how could you go wrong?

Good Luck!


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## svede1212 (Nov 1, 2005)

I use Adams Americana when I do the big detail but I found that Eagle 1 NanoWax works really well at covering up the appearance of the tiny swirl marks in black. One time I tried half the hood in that and half in the Adams product and the "cheap" stuff stood up really well to the higher end wax.


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## pushin400 (Jul 18, 2011)

WOW!  alot of info! Thanks guys! ill do my research and i think i will start with a good wash then go with the clay bar. After that if im happy with the outcome throw a good wax on it and if not ill be polishing the car....i have my hands full...ill research more on Adams and see what i can come up with....Thanks again!


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## Braz (Jul 19, 2011)

BRZN said:


> Black is a tough color to keep looking perfect and requires a great deal of care.
> 
> Water marks could be clayed off if they're sitting on top of a layer of protection like a couple coats of a good quality wax or sealant. Otherwise what you're seeing are marks etched into the clear coat and clay will do nothing to them. Water is the universal solvent and generally has a slightly acidic ph and includes minerals that damage paint: read "eat clear".
> 
> ...


:agree


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