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molecularmann

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Hey guys and gals, I'm kind of under the gun and need some opinions on how to correct some deep scratches on my car. I believe I will need some heavy duty compound and a medium grade compound. I'm not 100% sure what I would follow them with. Would it be a swirl remover or how do you go from an aggressive scratch remover to clean and shiny wet paint?

There are some pictures of the car in my garage.
 
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How deep are the scratches? Can you feel them with a finger nail? What tools, compounds and pads do you have access to?

You may just need a compound followed by polishing to get them out, but there is a chance if deep enough that wetsanding will be the next option. If the scratches are through the clear coat you will need to have the area painted.
 
Some scratches can be felt with a finger nail, others are just whiteish. I have a dark blue car. I have a portacable(their newest model) a whole bunch of lake country pads. I don't have any compounds or mf towels, our mf applicator pads, or swirl removers, or waxes or paint sealants.
 
Here's a little quote that fits this thread,


"Sometimes you're better off to only attempt to improve deep scratches than to try to completely remove deep scratches"
​

Improving them will make them less noticeable to the eyes and will often times be more than good enough for a daily driver.

Trying to completely remove them may turn into a whoops and then there will be noticeable problems with the paint that only spraying new paint will fix.


Meguiar's M105 or Ultimate Compound are as aggressive as you want to go and aggressive as you need to go by hand or machine.




:)
 
I guess my next question would be, how would one go from M105 to lets say a paint sealant. I take it that compounding its like sanding, in that there are steps you ned to make to get the scratches and swirls to be no more.
 
molecularmann said:
I take it that compounding its like sanding, in that there are steps you need to make to get the scratches and swirls to be no more.
Click to expand...


Compounding use to be like sanding, abrasive technology has dramatically improved. The Ultimate Compound is a SMAT product and besides providing really aggressive cut it also finishes out like a polish.

Getting it to polish out like a polish does require some skill, you can't just rub on paint in any old way and get show car results. That said, it's also not rocket science.

I'm pretty sure I go into great detail on how to do a multiple step rub out to black paint including finishing out with a show car finish on a clear coated black finish in this thread,

Man versus Machine


It's a long read and not the kind of thing you scan...


And of course the tips and techniques I share in the article will work for a small area or an entire car.



:)
 
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