Minor scratch repair?
Minor scratch repair?
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 188
Likes: 0
From: Orange County CA
Leon,
you might want to post this question in the General Care Forum and maybe ask for Intel's help. He's the Detail Guru and on his way to being a saint.
My experience with scratches is once it's down past the clear coat and into tha paint you are screwed. You may be able to buff it out with a polish and make it look a lot better but the scratches will always be there until you paint over them....
you might want to post this question in the General Care Forum and maybe ask for Intel's help. He's the Detail Guru and on his way to being a saint.
My experience with scratches is once it's down past the clear coat and into tha paint you are screwed. You may be able to buff it out with a polish and make it look a lot better but the scratches will always be there until you paint over them....
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Ocala, FL
Maguires
Maguires has a three step process for minor scratches and it works well.
I stupidly backed into my wife's RED CR-V and glanced her with about a foot of my drivers side rear quarter panel --- nearly cried--
a friend told me about the Maguires and it got the red out better than Visine.....
My truck looks perfect once more..........
Mike
I stupidly backed into my wife's RED CR-V and glanced her with about a foot of my drivers side rear quarter panel --- nearly cried--
a friend told me about the Maguires and it got the red out better than Visine.....
My truck looks perfect once more..........
Mike
Last edited by mikebike; Jun 3, 2002 at 09:12 PM.
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 10,511
Likes: 10
From: Under the flightpath of old ORD 22R
Leon,
My best care of a scratch hidingis to use the 3M swirl mark remover ( you would need the light paitn version for the white ), to minimize the hard edges of the scratch.
It is true that any scratch you work on you are not removing the scratch ( that takes paint to do <g> ), but you are actually softening the edges of the scratch.
Think of it as a canyon ( as in Grand canyon <g> ) when you look at these areas from the top, with the edge at a 90 degree angle at the top, the more pronounced the opening looks.
Look at an areal shot of the grand canyon where the sides are not sheer drop offs, but more so a 30 to 45 degree incline, it does not look as drastic, but it is still the same depth.
Same applies to scratch hiding on paint, the swirl mark remover is not as harsh as the white rubbing compound, so you don't have to worry as much as clear coat removal.
If you take your time, go at it easy with this you will feather the edges of the scratch back, and minize the scratch.
I never try to hid a scratch ( even if it cannot be flet with a fingernail ) 100%. To do this you need a area about 2 times the size of the scratch ( circle around the scratch ) to feather back the clear coat, and in my opinion...this is not a good thing.
Just minimize the scratch, and wax over it. Unless you go looking for it, you will never see it.
Try this in stages, a little here and a little there over the course of the summer. You might find that 1 time will do, expecially one you put a good coat of wax over it.
The more wax on it ( i.e. using Show Time instant deatiler or Mirage microwax after a wash ) the part of the scratch that is left will fill with the wax, and become even less noticable.
Long story short...........don't ever try to buff back or completly remove the scratch, just hide it.
Time and care will make it less noticable, and after 2 times of swirl mark remover over 30 days, plus wash and wax & detailing wax you might not be able to see the mark anymore...unless you go after it with a magnifying glass<g> ( and if you do that on a everyday driver.....maybe you need a new hoby <g>).
Good luck
sms
My best care of a scratch hidingis to use the 3M swirl mark remover ( you would need the light paitn version for the white ), to minimize the hard edges of the scratch.
It is true that any scratch you work on you are not removing the scratch ( that takes paint to do <g> ), but you are actually softening the edges of the scratch.
Think of it as a canyon ( as in Grand canyon <g> ) when you look at these areas from the top, with the edge at a 90 degree angle at the top, the more pronounced the opening looks.
Look at an areal shot of the grand canyon where the sides are not sheer drop offs, but more so a 30 to 45 degree incline, it does not look as drastic, but it is still the same depth.
Same applies to scratch hiding on paint, the swirl mark remover is not as harsh as the white rubbing compound, so you don't have to worry as much as clear coat removal.
If you take your time, go at it easy with this you will feather the edges of the scratch back, and minize the scratch.
I never try to hid a scratch ( even if it cannot be flet with a fingernail ) 100%. To do this you need a area about 2 times the size of the scratch ( circle around the scratch ) to feather back the clear coat, and in my opinion...this is not a good thing.
Just minimize the scratch, and wax over it. Unless you go looking for it, you will never see it.
Try this in stages, a little here and a little there over the course of the summer. You might find that 1 time will do, expecially one you put a good coat of wax over it.
The more wax on it ( i.e. using Show Time instant deatiler or Mirage microwax after a wash ) the part of the scratch that is left will fill with the wax, and become even less noticable.
Long story short...........don't ever try to buff back or completly remove the scratch, just hide it.
Time and care will make it less noticable, and after 2 times of swirl mark remover over 30 days, plus wash and wax & detailing wax you might not be able to see the mark anymore...unless you go after it with a magnifying glass<g> ( and if you do that on a everyday driver.....maybe you need a new hoby <g>).
Good luck
sms
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Member
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 56
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From: San Diego,Ca. USA
I also had scratches on my rear qp. (two about 6" long).Went to an auto paint store and the guy removed them with this stuff he called 'paint reducer'.They came off with just a little pressure.All I had to do was replace the Zaino and it looks good as new...
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