Removing brush scratches?

[twahl]

Hello all I have a few questions that I hope you can help me with. I have a 2005 ford truck that is Toreador red and a 2007 Ford Expedition Limited that is dark charcoal grey. This last deer hunt i got a lot of brush scratches from sage brush and oak brush and such, the truck much worse than the SUV. I tried buffing out the truck with my porter cable 7424 with a yellow smart pad and Meguiars Ultimate Compound. It made the truck shiny but didnt remove the brush scratches. I then tried using my Porter Cable 7428 rotary with a wool pad and Meguiars Heavy Cut cleaner. Again it made it shiny but didnt remove scratches. Im thinking now of buying Menzerna Power Gloss compound and using my rotary with yellow foam pad and chasing with Menzerna final polish. My question is is how agressive is this combo and can i use my same 6.5" pads on my rotary that i use on my orbital (with the proper backing pad of course)? Or should i try the meguiars 105-205 combo? Some of my scratches are pretty deep and can feel them with my finger nail. I know i wont be able to get rid of those but would like to at least get rid of most of the others. I wet sanded one section with 1200 grit followed by 2000 and that kinda worked but was a lot of work and I worry about going through the clear coat. I appreciate everyones help.

 

[OhTwoGT]

Sounds like alot of those wont be able to be improved without doing paintwork, posting some pics might help to see the actual severity of it though

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

First,

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:

Friendliest and most helpful detailing discussion forum on the Internet...

This last deer hunt i got a lot of brush scratches from sage brush and oak brush and such, the truck much worse than the SUV.

I tried buffing out the truck with my porter cable 7424 with a yellow smart pad and Meguiars Ultimate Compound. It made the truck shiny but didn't remove the brush scratches.

Chances are very good you removed all the shallow scratches and this highlighted or revealed all the deeper scratches that remain and now they stand out like a sore thumb. See this article,

RIDS - The Definition of RIDS and the story behind the term...

I then tried using my Porter Cable 7428 rotary with a wool pad and Meguiars Heavy Cut cleaner. Again it made it shiny but didnt remove scratches.

That's pretty aggressive.

Im thinking now of buying Menzerna Power Gloss compound and using my rotary with yellow foam pad and chasing with Menzerna final polish.

My question is is how aggressive is this combo and can i use my same 6.5" pads on my rotary that i use on my orbital (with the proper backing pad of course)?

The compound is aggressive but the foam won't be near as aggressive as the wool pad. This combo is probably about as aggressive or less than the #4 with the wool pad on your rotary that also didn't work.

Or should i try the meguiars 105-205 combo?

M105 and M205 are SMAT products and the M105 is a very good compound in that it's aggressive but finishes out like a polish.

Some of my scratches are pretty deep and can feel them with my finger nail. I know i wont be able to get rid of those but would like to at least get rid of most of the others.

Factory paint is thin and hard. Hold a 3M Post-it Note between your fingers and imagine the clear layer of paint being thinner than this...

I wet sanded one section with 1200 grit followed by 2000 and that kinda worked but was a lot of work and I worry about going through the clear coat. I appreciate everyones help.

#1200 grit paper is really aggressive, especially if it's just an regular automotive wet/dry paper.

Sanding, then sanding again and then buffing with a compound and a polish, all these steps are taking the clear layer off the paint. Be very careful anywhere you've sanded with #1200 at this point.

All the UV protection is in the clear layer of paint, the more you remove the less protection you have. You might remove the scratches only to have these vehicles suffer clearcoat failure down the road due to too thin of paint.

No easy answer as to how to undo the damage safely and without risk.

See these articles,

Wetsanding - Fresh Paint vs Factory Paint

The practical differences between single stage paints and a clear coat paints


See my comments on page 2 of this thread

Beginning Clearcoat Failure

 

[RCC]

Those are great tips, Mike. I've never thought about the only uv protection being in the clearcoat, it makes sense though. Goodluck with your scratches, it sounds like a bear of a job.

 

[twahl]

Wow thank you so much for your fast responses! I read the articles you referenced and they are awesome. RIDS sounds like exactly like what i have going. Im thinking at this point i will order the Meguiars set and finish with the Wolfgang sealant and call it good. Come this next hunting season Im sure I will end up getting more of them again anyways. The panel I sanded on is one that i had previously had repaired due to a T bone so im hoping its a little thicker but if it fails its a lot smaller to have repainted than the whole truck. Im glad i stopped at that panel before i did the whole truck side. The wifes expedition is mostly scratches from using the automatic carwash with the thousands of spinning paint scratchers so Im assuming the meguiars will fix those up nicely (I hope Im right). Again thanks so much for everyones help and advice. Now off to the ordering page to get my stuff!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

The wifes expedition is mostly scratches from using the automatic carwash with the thousands of spinning paint scratchers so Im assuming the meguiars will fix those up nicely (I hope Im right). Again thanks so much for everyones help and advice. Now off to the ordering page to get my stuff!

The rental car I used in my last Boot Camp Detailing Class had zillions of the same type of car wash scratches and they were easily removed using the Meguiar's Microfiber DA Correction System but even the M105 or UC with a foam cutting pad on a PC Style tool will do the job.

Pictures & Comments from May 5th & 6th Detailing Boot Camp


If you look closely you can see straight line scratches running from front to back, there are actually very few circular swirls and mostly straight scratches.

:xyxthumbs: