Question re: tar spots / swirls

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~dadam02~

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Afternoon all, I'm knew to the world of detailing (in fact I've never cleaned a car before now - lazy!) but last week gave our new A3 some much needed TLC. Our car is black and had a lot of swirls from the previous owner which were extremely noticeable particuarly when the sun shone on it. After a good going over with Poorboys Black Hole Glaze its looking alot better but upon close inspection I can still see visible marks. Question to the group, is it a case of giving the car anther wash and repeat with the Poorboy's to remove these further or do I need to take more drastic action?

Secondly, when I was cleaning the front I noticed alot of tar spots so a quick read around and some Tardis has been ordered. Question, is there anywhere on the front section that I should avoid getting this stuff on?

So far I've been impressed with what can be done with a little bit of elbow grease but can't wait to get the remaining crud off the car.
 
Congrats and welcome to detailing haha.

As for the swirls... you wont be removing them as suck with blackhole.
you will need some cutting compound to remove a very thin layer of clear to remove them. Using a DA polisher will work best but read up on it first.
to remove the bits of tar I bought AUTOGYLM tar remover. works a treat but will leave a small amount of scratches so need to use cutting compound
 
For tar spots i use good old WD-40,works a treat.
 
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Yep WD-40 here too. Obviously sprayed on after the car has been washed so no grit is wiped across the paint. I very rarely use clay bar anymore because if the car is loaded with tar you have a massive chance of scratching the paint with the remnants of tar held on the clay bar. Leave the WD-40 on for afew minutes then carefully wipe off then wash the car again to remove residue. Voila
 
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So how does the WD-40 work? Melting the tar? Interesting, never thought of using that so will give it a try. Anyone else used Autosmart Tardis?
 
Could use a clay bar for tar spots too, if ur willing to spend the time to clay the front end. does take a while to do properly, and will take even longer if its never been done before. In fact that would be better prior to using ur black hole stuff.
 
WD-40 contains petroleum which breaks the tar down and kind of melts it so that you can just gently wipe it away. If your going to use this method ensure you wash the car again to get rid of all residue from the paintwork. I know alot of detailers use WD-40 as its safe, quick and easy to use.
 
Interesting, thanks chaps. Sounds like the tar spots are easy to remove so that's good. Some fun to be had at the weekend then.

Assume once I've removed the tar it's worth giving the whole front end a polish and re-wax? Not sure I can be bothered to do the whole car again so soon so could I get away with a quick Detailer for the rest?
 
~dadam02~ said:
So how does the WD-40 work? Melting the tar? Interesting, never thought of using that so will give it a try. Anyone else used Autosmart Tardis?
Click to expand...

I always use Tardis, brilliant stuff, removes all tar and other contaminants that have bonded to the paint, reducing the need for claying. I do a panel at a time, spray on, leave for a minute or two and then wipe it over with a cloth, rinse panel with cold water. I then rewash the car after. Never used WD40 so can't comment on that one.

Mark
 
I used Tardis or ObliTARate. Both very good at it. Occasionally ill use Trix which also removes iron contaminants which more obvious on light cars.
Never tried WD40 but have heard it works. Saves buying a specific product I guess!
 
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