Removing Scratches

[et0609]

Hi

The week after next I have a week off and I intend to spend a couple of days detailing my car. I am about to order a load of decent stuff to clean the car.

I have noticed today some scratches on my boot lid. I havn't been able to take any photos to show everyone as Im using an ancient old Nokia, but they are quite light and theres no feeling of penetrating the clear coat, so Im thinking polishing them out would work.

My question is, before I place my order for the stuff I want, can someone recommend a really decent product that I can use to polish the scratches out. In the past I have tried this for scratches to reappear once the car is washed again. So im looking for someone that is quite long lasting. I have a machine polisher, so could try something that maybe needs machine polishing for the best result.

Thanks for the help.

 

[mikec32]

Hello

Its a difficult one, as German paints are pretty hard. So without a picture I would be able to tell if you would be able to take out by hard for a perminant fixture.

If its anything like this......

Then its time for rotaries, wool pads and 105 compound. Get some photo's up and i'll head you in the right direction

atb

Mike

 

[et0609]

Thanks, Ive taken these with the old Nokia, they are quite poor quality, but give a bit of an idea. You can see where Ive rubbed the dirt away a bit, at first I thought it was just a mark, but its definately a scratch.

 

[2WHEELJUNKIE]

I have used Quixx to great effect, or Meguiars Scratch X ( Larger bottle and a little more effort needed)

 

[magic qcs]

Hey, I've just taken a look at the photo's - they look quite deep, but hard to tell (quality isn't great as you mentioned, and always difficult to tell from a photo anyway). Can you feel it with your fingernail at all? If so, you'll never fully remove it, but you could round the edges off to make it look better. If you can't feel it with your nail though, it should go with some effort and a good polish.

Before going into product advice, which polisher is it you have? DA, or Rotary? and what pads/polishes do you already own - as you may not need to buy any new stuff, since you might already have adequate products

Hope this helps,
Matt.

 

[et0609]

Hi Matt
Thanks for the reply. I have run my finger nail over both scratches and I cant feel anything so I think they are very light. They look worse because the car is pretty dirty just now. I have a Porter Cable 7424 DA polisher and a selection of foam pads. I have no polish left, just a pot of Pinnacle carnuba wax.

 

[magic qcs]

Hi. Ok that's cool. If you can't feel them and they are just visual, then theres a high chance you can fully remove them with your porter cable. You will need to purchase a polish - since Merc paint is typically tough I would suggest a small (250ml) of Scholl S17+. Use this on one of your cutting foam pads. A light cut may suffice if you have one, and you may need to give it a couple of goes. If you're having no joy after the 2nd attempt, up the pad to a medium or heavy cut.

 

[et0609]

Brilliant, thanks for the advice, will give that a go.