My 97' F150 has probably seen better days, but as I've started to clean it up and I'm also (hopefully soon) going to be getting my tunes from Troyer Performance, I wanted to shine her up a bit and see if I can't get some of these deep scratches out.

I have quite a few scratches in on the hood in an akward pattern that looks like a bird was walking on it while scratching it with its nails. I'm sure it was the fat "Dumpster Chickens" aka Ravens that we have here who love to sit on cars and trucks while eating trash from nearby dumpsters or the back of someone elses vehicle. The other concern is that i've got some form of raised and dried sap on the third (back) door that refuses to come off after a few years of trying to wash it out.

So here are the questions... Opinions of actual products...

Wash Soap: ?
Tires/Black Tonneau Covers: ?
Interior Carpet Cleaner: (I've been using Spot shot, works great.. curious if there is better for some reason)
Chrome Bummer/Exhaust Tips: I've never cleaned them and think now is a good time...

I've seen something about using these new "Clay" products to get things out of a clear coat, is that even worth it for a 13 year old truck or would it be noticeable?

Thanks for any advice.

 

Really never hurts to clay... The sticky at the top of Forum has a lot of good advice to get started. I'm a fan of the Meguire (Megs) line of products, however what product is best is a highly subjective and personal choice.. you will get a wide range of answers. I would start with basic price stuff and worry about high end stuff later..
Soap: Megs gold (don't use dish soap..)
For chrome and such, I'm odd and like Never Dull wadding polish instead of other chrome polishes

If you do some reading and your clear coat is not full of spider webs or other type of clear coat failure, you can pretty much bring that back to like new.
Prep at each stage is the key along with patience...

Good luck!

BTW.. we need pics of the scratches so the guys here can give you more detailed advice

 

I agree with everything he said. Definitely use clay.

Your questions are pretty broad and more info is needed...
For example how much time, effort and money you want to invest?
Do you prefer over the counter products versus mail order?
Where are the photos of the truck?


The easiest route is to clean it up with simple products, correct techniques and then decide what needs more attention.

For the limited info you gave the actual products I would recommend for you to start out would be to get Meguiars Gold Class soap, Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay Kit, Meguiars Deep Crystal 3 Step System.

I use many products but Meguiars products are all reliable (quality), easy to find for a decent price over the counter and very easy to use.

Once you clean things up you may be satisfied...or maybe you fall down the Rabbit Hole of OCD detailing.

 

I agree with the 3 Step, but for a lot less work doing it by hand, I follow step 1 with NXT 2.0 instead of both polish and wax.

 

I will grab some pictures once I get a moment, unfortunately its raining and dark outside so getting the proper lighting for a photo is going to be hard, luckily enough I've got a nice DSLR that should give you some really detailed pictures. I'll take some detailed shots of areas of concern to see what you guys recommend.

Is that clay reusable or does it slow become consumed/eventually reach a point where you have to toss it.

I'm trying to stay quite cheap on cost if I can, but am willing to make up for it in work and patience. When I do detail the truck its an all day affair and I sometimes do go into OCD mode. I'll get some pictures of it but I've also got scratches on the car that I believe go down to the primer. At one point I had some mothers or turtle wax that had red coloring to cover it up, it did decent through a few washes but the little line of a scratch was still visible, yet it didn't make it very obvious from a distance like it is now.

 

Claybar is pretty economical. You should cut a piece in half or even thirds (2 bars come with the Megs kit) and depending on how you keep it and the condition of your paint, you could do a truck 2 times or more or a car 4 or 5 times. Clay cleans and catches paint surfaces contaminates and as the clay gets dirty you knead it until the dirt disappears and keep going. Once you cant knead it clean, it's done. If you drop it on the ground, it's done. Once your paint is clean and waxed you should clay at least 1 time a year.
Some always clay prior to waxing.

Scratch Rule #1: If you can feel it with your fingernail, it's too deep to completely fix.
Reason for scratch rule #1: Deep scratches can be pretty well hidden or made to look better but if you try to get it out, you will also take off too much clearcoat/paint.

 

Given the proper techniques you can do it!

Here's a 97 farm truck I did a couple years ago for inspiration.

Before


After


.

 

OK..... As per the request, here are the photos of the scratches/dents and scuffs on my truck that I'm looking to fix. I'm not wanting to have it professionally done unless it were really cheap, but I'm willing to put a few days worth of elbow grease into it if need be.

This is from the Ravens who love to chill out on peoples cars and screw them up... Man if these birds weren't on the protected list I'd have weekend hunts for them.


Where the previous owner had it parked under a tree/drove through some of them that eventually scratched it.


Some more loving from the trees.


Not a clue what caused this one or when it got on there, been there since I remembered.


This is on my driver side door in the middle of the panel. Not quite sure how it got on there, it was before I owned the truck.


You'll notice some little round chips in the paint all over it, thats also thanks to the fact that for winter traction the cities up here in Alaska throw down rocks, as you can imagine they turn into projectiles that ruin paint jobs not to mention it leaves chips and cracks in everyone's windshields..... I can't win to lose

 

If you can feel it with your fingernail, it's not coming completely out.

After you claybar...
Many waxes, sealants and glazes will either improve the look of or sometimes even hide some of your defects. To save money try Meguiars 3 step system but use NXT 2.0 instead of the Deep Christal Wax.

Anything down to the metal will need some touch up paint (do a site Search for proper technique) but if you can live with the look after the 3 step system you will save hundreds of dollars...or at the worst buy time to save money for a paint job. My truck is primarily a 6 year old work truck so I can live with what I have for now but it does look it's best.
What is good enough for you is up to you...
Good luck.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to give a look into that. Yes, almost all of the scratches (minus the scuff on the back quarter) you can feel with your fingernail, they are well below the clear-coat and paint and down to the primer. The only one that is down to bare metal is that large "Gash" on the driver side door. To prevent it from rusting and causing further damage, would it be best to use touch up paint and then seal it somehow?

 

There are many topics on the subject if you do a search but this one is pretty simple...and it's a red truck.
Touch up 101

 

Here is a better post...
Touch-Up Painting

 

My god, that is one hell of an evolved paint repair post... I can see that being very useful for a few of my larger more prominent chips but otherwise I could see myself spending a year trying to fill in all of my chips. If I were to add them all up I'd say I have well over 50 thanks to the age and lack of care of the prior owner.

Thanks Again Old Dogg

 

You may just want to do it the quick old school way - clean out the dent/scratch with isopropyl alcohol then use a standard Dupli-Color touchup bottle.

If you are doing all this by hand with products you can buy at parts stores, you can try using Megs ScratchX 2.0 on the problem areas. You should get "some" improvement.

 

I'm disappointed that none of the car/parts stores in town have the red colored Turtle Wax that I used to use. It would fill it these gaps a pretty good amount and then all I'd have to do was polish it off nicely and then put another coat of clear wax on top of it.

http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Wax-T-3.../dp/B00062ZIOU
According to the first user review, this product was discontinued

I used to use this stuff... works awesome for covering most of these up if your not looking for a permanent fix... only would have to apply is say.. twice a year, and as long as you kept a good coat of wax over it, it would stay really well.

@Old Dogg
Got some of that Migs Claybar set, comes with the spray to "lubricate" the target area (i'd bet purified water would do the same thing) some liquid wax and a microfiber cloth. I already have some of the good (brand new) Migs hard wax, always like it much more than that liquid crap. I only did the hood tonight as thats all I could fit in before clouds rolled over and made it too dark to see where the wax is on the truck. Its a weird feeling using that clay bar, pretty much like sticky tack and suddenly you can feel the gritty bits catch under your fingers in the clay. After going over the hood I could seriously FEEL the difference. I also noticed that the applicator pad for the wax didn't get dirty at all like it normally does even after washing the hell out of the truck. If my paint job was in fairly new codition, I could see a dire need for this stuff, otherwise its icing on the cake. You were also right about how far that stuff goes. I took 1/5 off of 1 bar (the kit comes with 2) and that did the entire hood. I can imagine it would take roughly an entire bar for the whole truck.... great stuff.