Advice on door scratches

supafamous said:

Hi,

I've managed to "acquire" a couple relatively deep scratches on my front doors which I'd like to try to fix myself but I'm not sure how I should approach them. Hoping I could get some tips on how to tackle it.

Not so great photos:





The strongest pad I have is an orange and the strongest polish I have is Poorboy's SSR2.5. I'm thinking this might require wet sanding or something stronger than SSR2.5

Thanks in advance!

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The good news is that some of it can be leveled out. The bad news is that some of the deeper areas are more than likely "keepers". However you can greatly reduce their obvious appearance with a heavy polishing to round out the edges which reduces the scratch's reflectiveness. Wet sanding may reduce the time it will take to correct what can be corrected but you wouldn't want to cause CC failure by sanding too deep trying to level out the deeper scratches .

The general guideline is, if you can feel it with your fingernail; it cannot be buffed out effectively.

Start with the least aggressive method 1st. Try the orange pad with Poorboy's SSR2.5.

You didn't mention which machine you will be using.

Start with the white pad and work your way up the polishing scale from least aggressive to most aggressive of the polishes. Maybe 6-8 passes with each, in a 1 foot square section around the scratch. Then step up the orange pad if needed and work your way up the scale again. If you get to the most aggressive compound with the orange pad and there are still scratches left, you would probably have to wet sand to completely level. Might not want to do that and risk going all the way through the clear. If you get it mostly leveled out with the polishes and then fill in with some wax, it will probably be tough to see unless you are looking for it.

supafamous said:

Thanks - I'll be using a porter cable. I've got white and orange pads and have Poorboy's SSR1, SSR2 and SSR2.5.

In the past I've done a single pass with SSR2/white pad and also SSR1/white pad. The latter was a bit too gentle for even light marring but the former was good enough to clear light/moderate swirls.

I've received the suggestion to use Megs 105 and plan to take several passes at - would it be worth going down that route considering what I already have on hand?

thanks,

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M105 is not very beginner friendly.

If it were my car...I would read everything Mike.Phillips has written and then...

-White pad
-SSR2
-Prime the pad properly
-4 passes with moderate pressure (15-20 lbs of down force), overlapping by 50%
-Wipe SSR2 off with a clean microfiber
-Evaluate your results

If that is not removing the defects to your satisfaction

-Orange pad
-SSR2
-Prime the pad properly
-4 passes with moderate pressure (15-20 lbs of down force), overlapping by 50%
-Wipe SSR2 off with a clean microfiber
-Evaluate your results

If that is not removing the defects to your satisfaction

-Orange pad
-Meguiar's Ultimate Compound available OTC
-Prime the pad properly
-4 passes with moderate pressure (15-20 lbs of down force), overlapping by 50%
-Wipe SSR2 off with a clean microfiber
-Evaluate your results

This combination will likely require that you follow-up with a polish to get the best finish. I would try Meguiar's Ultimate Polish on a white pad with lighter pressure (10 lbs).

These two Meguiar's products are very user friendly, available over the counter and inexpensive.


Good Luck

Have Fun