Black Scratch Woes

[Vspec]

Ok, so I was being nice and let my father use my nice clean, waxed car and he used it for a day. He also got it quite dirty and took it the car wash. Unforutantly it was a carwash with bristles and automatic.

The car was scratched the living **** out of my car. Very fine scratchs. I've talked with the owner of the wash and he is going to lend my a high speed buffer and some new buffing pads. If that fails to work then he said he would get it professionally detailed.

I being 17 dont want any enemys, and I would like to be as nice about this as possible. I came home today and thoughly washed my car with Eagle One Car wash, and a sheep skin cloth.

From there I brought it inside, dried it and then proceeded to use 3m Professional Forumla "Perfect It" show car Paste Wax.

I applied the first coat just 15 minutes ago, I figure i'd wait 30 minutes and buff it off by hand, then apply another coat and let it sit for a hour and then buff it off. With Microfiber towels.

My question is what else can I do to remove these scratchs, there not bad at all, very very fine almost impossible to see without direct sunlight on them.

So until tomarrow when I get a high speed buffer what can I do now? I also have Mcquires Gold Class liquid wax. Should I take turns with the wax's?

How many coats should I do?
How long should I let it sit on?
Can I leave a coat on over night?
Etc?

 

[JustinH]

if its your first time with an orbital buffer than do not do it yourself.

its very easy to burn clear or burn a panel and totally screw up your paint job.

Take it to a detail shop and let them buff it out then tell the owner you will split the bill with him.

Thats the honorable thing to do and he won't be mad at you.

JH

 

[bretfraz]

quote:

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Originally posted by JustinH:
if its your first time with an orbital buffer than do not do it yourself.

its very easy to burn clear or burn a panel and totally screw up your paint job.

Take it to a detail shop and let them buff it out then tell the owner you will split the bill with him.

Thats the honorable thing to do and he won't be mad at you.

JH

---

I'm sure you misspoke when you used the term "orbital" when you meant the word "rotary" or "circular". An orbital polisher is almost foolproof while a high-speed rotary polisher can easily damage paint in the hands of an inexperienced user.

At this point I'd try to remove the scratches by hand before using a machine I wasn't familiar with. A light polish might do the trick. Check out something like 3M Swirl Mark Remover or the Meguiar's equivalent. Both are available at auto parts stores everywhere. If there are a few spots where the scratches are more severe, try a product like Meguiar's Scratch X or Mothers Scratch Remover.

Another tactic is to hide the marring by using a glaze, then topping with wax. 3M Imperial Hand Glaze or Meguiar's #7 are fine choices. Glazes take some elbow grease to get the best results as they are heavily loaded with oils and fillers that hide minor paint blemishes.

You could try the Gold Class first and see how well it works. GC has fine cleaning agents and might remove or hide some of the light marring. Worth a try on a small spot just to see.

Multiple coats of product usually do little to improve the looks or protection. Typically a second coat will even out the areas where you applied the first coat too thin but there isn't much benefit beyond that.

Follow the directions for removing the wax. Most waxes are ready to be wiped off within a few minutes. Swipe your finger across a waxed area and see if the wax comes off easily. If it smears, it needs a little more time to dry. If it swipes off cleanly, remove it. No reason to leave any wax on longer than necessary.

Good luck!!

 

[robbobster]

I've had good luck with a claybar and 4 coats of Zaino Z-5 three times per year. Plus Eagle One Wax As You Dry every week when I wash my truck. (Prior to the Eagle One stuff, I would apply an extra coat of regular Zaino every month. Also, I just used regular Zaino until the Z-5 came out). That Eagle One stuff is really easy to use, which is the main reason why I use it. When your car is wet, you just spray it on, then dry normally. And there's a buy one, get one free coupon in those Pep Boys calendars, so it's dirt cheap.

When my wax wears off (a rare occurance), you can really see tons of swirls and scratches. When it's fully waxed (almost always) you really can't see any.

I've got a black 1997 truck with 115K miles on it, and it really looks nearly new. Here's some pics:

http://homepage.mac.com/robbobster/PhotoAlbum12.html

Lots of other companies make good waxes, too. This is just one example of what you can do. The best wax is the wax that you regularly use. It does no good sitting on a shelf

 

[1 FMF]

it doesn't sound too bad, I had a stray cat get in my garage one evening and spend the night. I had paw burns and claw stratches in the hood.
I had been using zaino at the time, and I'm pretty sure I tried Z5 but had little or no affect. I asked for opinions on the web and ended up trying meguiars scratch x as a result and was glad I did. For only $5 from the auto store, it worked darn good. I will recommend the same thing, for $5 you can't go wrong. It's real easy to use, it's such a light polish you can't really hurt anything. I'd recommend using a foam pad not terry cloth or cotton since it's black paint, and also that you check your paint first for any contamination and if there is then use a claybar.

If the scratchX doesn't work, then consider using a more aggressive polish by hand. The 3M show car paste wax you mentioned is not a polish, so it will do nothing, nor will any other wax, for the scratches other than possibly fill them in temporarily.

Check out www.autogeek.net/exteriorcare.html for a decent listing of polishes. Quite a few can be found in local stores, especially the 3M ones. The deal with those is you want the least aggressive to get the job done, so it may be worthwhile buying both a light polish and a medium polish, using the light one first of course then judging by the results wether the more aggressive one is needed.

I'd be careful borrowing the buffer. If it's a high speed rotary buffer, don't use it! Only use an orbital with foam pads. If he is lending you a rotary buffer, pass on it. Read up some at www.autopia.org forums to get some general knowledge before using the orbital if that's what it is. For that you will want a polish that is for use with an orbital buffer, key word here is polish, or swirl remover. Same principle applies with the buffer for using the least aggressive polish to get the job done.
The polish will cut the clearcoat or round the edges of the scratches in the clearcoat so they become invisible. After that is when you can use a wax or sealant for protection, or first a glaze for extra hiding of imperfections followed by sealant/wax. Autopia.org and propercarcare.com have good writeups on detailing, check them out.

 

[Zac]

deeper scratches need a rotary buffer which is the ultimate compounding tool. do not use it yourself without experience; you will destroy your paint.

a random orbital buffer is relatively easy to use, is pretty effective and hard to damage paint with.

for what you can do on your own, i would try meguiars medallion premium paint cleaner or meguiars swiril mark remover with an orbital. GS27 may work if you have very light scratches. do not leave compounds on your car overnight.

if they are very deep, you are probably going to need to cut your paint with a fine cut cleaner (maybe medium); a polish, and a wax. at least 2 of the steps are going to be needed to be done on a rotary buffer for effectiveness.

don't even bother with a claybar.

your worst enemy is your paint. owning an SE-R myself, I can vouch our paint sucks.

 

[Dr. T]

Mothers' 3-step.