Okay. I broke down and bought a Porter Cable the other day. Last night, I put it to the test with some Meguiars Swirl X and a foam pad made for cutting/swirl removal. Well, it was too dark to see if the swirls were completely gone, but it looked like it was working well. I didn't have any time to do anything else.

The next day... swirls are reduced by %50 on hood, and %25 on boot lid. There is some hazing because I didn't get a chance to do anything else.

I suppose I'll get some Ultimate Compound and attack the swirls again tonight, and hopefully they will be gone! Pictures will come when I've finished removing ALL the swirls.

 

what kind of pads are you using? and what size?
i wouldn't have high expectations with swirl x, you will end up doing lots of passes per panel to get ok results, step up to ultimate compound do one pass and than get rid of the hazing with the swirl x again with one pass.

 

What color pad are you using? You can affect your aggressiveness just by changing the pad. Orange is a good all around swirl remover pad, but if it isn't cutting your swirls, you could move up to yellow before changing products.

Also, what size pad are you using? For meaningful correction, you really need to use a 5" or smaller. A 6" pad won't do much real correction with a Porter Cable even if it's a 7424xp.

Rather than Ultimate Compound (not that there's anything wrong with Ultimate Compound), you might try Menzerna Super Intensive Polish, or Megs 105/205 combination. The 105 drys very quickly so you have to work in small sections, but it corrects very quickly. The 205 is a finishing polish and you can work it for a long time before it dries on you.

Good luck!

 

I am using an orange Cobra Cross Groove pad, with the buffer set on 1 to spread it evenly, and kick it up to 6 for a good several passes. Pads are 6.5 with 6 backing plate. I had to go for the larger side because I'm sharing the buffer with my father whose using it to detail boats (he wanted something larger).

I would try the 105/205, but due to availability, I'll probably just try the UC, unless I can find something else at the store.

I'd have to say, one of the harder parts would be making sure the swirls are all gone.

 

I was going to recommend the orange too. My first attempt at the PC 7424XP was with Meguiars 105 compound and the white pad. After 2 attempts at a panel, swirl marks were still there. Went to the orange, and another 2 passes took out 95% of them. I didn't feel like getting a heavier compound out or using another pad since my car is silver and I had to really look for the leftover marks.

Detailed Image has the best price I could find when I went crazy shopping for my detailing kit. shipping is pretty darn fast.

 

I got the 205 (but it's not labeled as 205, but has the same cutting ability and labeling) at PepBoys, and it did well to remove some more swirls, but some still exist. In a month or so when I decide to detail again, I'll go through the motions once more, with 105. The car does look very nice, but it could be better.

Since I was tired, I just finished up with some Gold Class. If I can, I'll get a few pictures up tomorrow.

*correction. I have been told that I didn't use anything like 205, rather M09. I will be attempting this again with Ultimate Compound.