scratches, how to fix?

[mikedev10]

bro picked up ebay car from boston, hasn't been in any accidents on carfax, i think the seller said none either. oddly though hood, front 1/4 panels, and front passenger doors seem ok, while most/all other areas have scratches. they are kind of odd though, i thought maybe improper drying, my brother thought car wash, my friend thought maybe sandstorm... in any case it's in these areas, many small scratches, and i think all are in the same direction. no swirls, just a bunch of minute horizontal scratches. strange. anyway, ideas on the best way to buff them out ? any products ?

[Tiger]

How about salt/sand spreader in winter?

[bfd]

bro picked up ebay car from boston, hasn't been in any accidents on carfax, i think the seller said none either. oddly though hood, front 1/4 panels, and front passenger doors seem ok, while most/all other areas have scratches. they are kind of odd though, i thought maybe improper drying, my brother thought car wash, my friend thought maybe sandstorm... in any case it's in these areas, many small scratches, and i think all are in the same direction. no swirls, just a bunch of minute horizontal scratches. strange. anyway, ideas on the best way to buff them out ? any products ?

Try claying your car. Three step process, but works wonders:

1. wash and dry car
2. clay it
3. apply polish/wax

Takes about 3+ hours to do above, but car will come out wonderfully smooth...

[Russell]

Try Roadfy detailing forum- great info.

[632 Regal]

sounds like a clearcoat breakdown, looks like a sheet of plastic that was twisted and left lines/scratches? I hear you can cover it up kinda with wax and buffing but in reality I believe that the clearcoat needs to be removed and resprayed. This was a topic about 4 months ago and I do not remember the exact conclusion. was quite a debate tho!

[Jon K]

sounds like a clearcoat breakdown, looks like a sheet of plastic that was twisted and left lines/scratches? I hear you can cover it up kinda with wax and buffing but in reality I believe that the clearcoat needs to be removed and resprayed. This was a topic about 4 months ago and I do not remember the exact conclusion. was quite a debate tho!


I had this on my car... only the front two doors. It ended up requiring a respray.... so i did the whole car.

[mikedev10]

thanks for the info so far guys... might consult a pro, am downstate now but will try and get a pic from my bro so you can see it exactly. :)

[Mr. BILL]

Claying won't help your problem. It will clean what's ON the paint, not what's IN it. Try a scratch and swirl remover. Meguires make a good one. If it's really bad, you might consider taking the car to a pro and have it "color sanded" They sand the clear coat with 2000 grit sanpaper and polish it back up.

BTW, bfd, I don't understand how it takes 3+ hours to clay a car. I do it in under 30 minutes.

[AllanS]

That was me I think- I got decent results using a high speed polisher with compound and then meguiars scratch remover, but the problem is like Jeff says, the clearcoat is shot. When I get around to it, I'll be repainting the whole car, but for now, the polisher was a decent band-aid.

[andyman32]

I tried a porter-cable orbital buffer on some rather deep scratches on my car's deck lid and passenger-side rear fender, but it did almost nothing. A good long languorous hand buff with Meguiar's also did very little; the scratches are just too deep. I've been considering getting the clearcoat re-sprayed, since there are 2 small spots where the cc has "rashes" (small quarter-sized spots that just appear to be cracking in very small intricate patterns).

What I'm most worried about is durability: how long could I expect an aftermarket clearcoat to last before it starts to get dull?

[632 Regal]

a decent job should last the life of the car. What needs to be done is the clear has to be stripped down to the color so that it doesn't re-crack and the factory brand finishes and mixes applied for compatability.

BUT if its taken down to the color coat it will probably alter the way the metallic finish appears.

So... what do you do here now? sounds like a repaint may be the only option and the reason that they charge so much is they usually take the finish down to the metal/primer and start over.

The main reason that the original clear coat cracked in the first place is it was applied too thick or was a clearcoat applied over a clearcoat.

[mikedev10]

how much is a respray of clearcoat? paint the whole car? how much of it could we do ourselves? if i had it painted i would say f doing the engine bay and other parts you can't see. yah i'd change the color... she's gold now and i'd probably go for black.

[TTyMiller]

I have one side of my car that has similar problem. I think its a paint defect because I can't feel the scratches when I run my finger over the paint. Can you actually feel the scratches?

[632 Regal]

bend it till you see tiny cracks...its IN between the inside and outside.

[mikedev10]

here it is - only 2.0 MP but didn't compress it at all, should be able to see it..

http://www.developer10.com/~mike/DSCF0008.JPG

[kjbcpa]

It is problem with original finish: Same thing on both my 90 BMW bronzit and 85 VW flash silver. I bought the VW new, never repainted, always carefully hand washed and regularly waxed. It still shines beautifully, but the fine scratches show. Thus I am convinced it is problem with original paint or clearcoat. Wax helps for only a short period. Professional job was no better. Someday, maybe, I'll repaint. For now, it helps to think of it as "patina", like an old piece of fine furniture.

[andyman32]

Mine's not a defect like those fine scratches, mine are just the results of the last momo who owned the car backing it into mailboxes and bushes and so on. The scratches are of various sizes, various directions, they are too deep to buff out, and you most certainly can feel them with your finger. Is there any clever trick to fill them in with touch-up paint then buff it over really well? I really want to make this thing look perfect (anal-retentive side rearing its ugly head), but if it is at all possible I'd like to avoid putting a $3000 paint job on a $8000 car...

[Tiger]

Poor man's paint job... you prep it... you paint it well... then you wet sand it down with 1000 grits paper...

[632 Regal]

Mine's not a defect like those fine scratches, mine are just the results of the last momo who owned the car backing it into mailboxes and bushes and so on. The scratches are of various sizes, various directions, they are too deep to buff out, and you most certainly can feel them with your finger. Is there any clever trick to fill them in with touch-up paint then buff it over really well? I really want to make this thing look perfect (anal-retentive side rearing its ugly head), but if it is at all possible I'd like to avoid putting a $3000 paint job on a $8000 car...

[Mobius]

Mine's not a defect like those fine scratches, mine are just the results of the last momo who owned the car backing it into mailboxes and bushes and so on. The scratches are of various sizes, various directions, they are too deep to buff out, and you most certainly can feel them with your finger. Is there any clever trick to fill them in with touch-up paint then buff it over really well? I really want to make this thing look perfect (anal-retentive side rearing its ugly head), but if it is at all possible I'd like to avoid putting a $3000 paint job on a $8000 car...
http://www.langka.com/

I've never used it myself, but it's been reccomended to me.