MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring

mcdbrendan · #1 04-23-2007, 03:51 PM

I'm bored out of my mind today so I figured I would try to repair some "small" scratches on my mum's car. I say "small" because although they were small, they were big eyesores. Alright so process and photos as follows:

Heres the scratches before:

Taped off and ready to go:

The other scratches on the left bumper (sorry a bit out of focus):

The tools used (pads in the back):

The results:

All in all, Cut did the best job, Swirl cleaned up the tiny bit of marring Cut made, and Epic sealed the deal! Looks good to me! Total time: 20 mins and time for Epic to cure.

MiniMaybee · #2 04-23-2007, 04:22 PM

Now you're just showing off Brendan!

mcdbrendan · #3 04-23-2007, 04:23 PM

Haha. I'm bored and showing off, and showing that you can actually take care of scratches with a PC. But yes I am showing off

kenchan · #4 04-23-2007, 05:58 PM

looks good.

which panel did you take the first pict?

mcdbrendan · #5 04-23-2007, 08:40 PM

All of those are off of the rear bumper. The top 2 pictures are of the same scratch, just differant angles.

kenchan · #6 04-23-2007, 08:50 PM

^^ hummm.. cause the first pict has rubber stripping...the last pict
doesnt

mcdbrendan · #7 04-23-2007, 08:51 PM

Oh the last pic is to the left of the first pic, not the same place. Differant scratch altogether. Sorry.

o4amini · #8 05-31-2008, 05:13 PM

I had a dog with wet muddy paws jump on my MINI this week here's the before and after pics after some professional buffing.

Before:

After:

**OctaneGuy** · #9 06-01-2008, 12:18 AM

Great results--but hard to compare when the before and after pix aren't in the same place---original pix are taken to highlight scratches and after pix highlights the reflectivity. The scratches appeared to be pretty light to begin with, glad you were able to get them out successfully! Just keep the dog away cause you probably won't be able to do a second repair in the same place.

Richard

Quote:

Originally Posted by o4amini

I had a dog with wet muddy paws jump on my MINI this week here's the before and after pics after some professional buffing.

Before:

After:

jwardell · #10 04-24-2007, 11:52 AM

Great job!

I just had similar results yesterday on my mini with scratches like that that I made ..on purpose!

Last week was the first step in my spring detailing...wash and touch-up paint. Tired of the blobs that are left behind from touch-up spots, this year I thought I would try a Meguiars K1000 unigrit sanding block as any attempt on using the PC with polishes in the past failed to reduce those blobs.

I soaked it in water overnight as instructed, added a high concentration of car wash soap to lubricate. It made very quick work of any raised areas. But it did leave scuff marks, small scratches, on the surrounding area, similar to what is pictured above.

I do plan to do a full PC polish in the next week but I didn't want to leave it that way. So I took my SFX Pro Applicator along with a small amount of SFX-1 polish and with 30 seconds of hand scrubbing the scratches were gone. I was very impressed with myself.

It's the first time I used that pad and you can tell just how strong that yellow foam is. I finished with some ScratchX and it looks like I never sanded a thing.
I only wish I took photos.

MiniMaybee · #11 04-24-2007, 12:55 PM

I agree that the SFX Pro Applicator is a great pad. The yellow is stout enough for adding mussel to ScratchX or Swirl and the gray side is great for applying wax. Pretty versatile tool for detailing.

**OctaneGuy** · #12 04-24-2007, 02:40 PM

That's cheating!!!! But good work nonetheless
This is NOT a BEFORE and AFTER since it's on a different panel!!

mcdbrendan · #13 04-24-2007, 04:03 PM

Haha. I didn't cheat I promise.

OG, I know you get asked this constantly, but when is the Trim ReNew coming out???

**OctaneGuy** · #14 04-24-2007, 04:52 PM

I know I was just teasing. Reminded me of this series of pictures that a participant took of a car sitting in the parking lot of my shop

And it was fixed with just a bit of buffing

re: gel
Keep your eyes peeled on the Vendor Announcements this week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcdbrendan

Haha. I didn't cheat I promise.

OG, I know you get asked this constantly, but when is the Trim ReNew coming out???

mcdbrendan · #15 04-24-2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OctaneGuy

I know I was just teasing. Reminded me of this series of pictures that a participant took of a car sitting in the parking lot of my shop

And it was fixed with just a bit of buffing

re: gel
Keep your eyes peeled on the Vendor Announcements this week.

Holy crap where do I get one of those buffers!!!

I will for sure keep my eyes peeled.

kenchan · #16 04-24-2007, 07:19 PM

^^ i think he just flipped his before and after picts around.

mcdbrendan · #17 04-24-2007, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

^^ i think he just flipped his before and after picts around.

Low blow!

kenchan · #18 04-24-2007, 08:25 PM

here is before... check out the nice finish.

here is after... ooops, i think octaneguy grabbed the wrong sander...

jk jk.

**Detailers Paradise** · #19 04-25-2007, 05:05 PM

Excellent work, Brendan!

I'm glad to see that someone is posting about using the aggressive polishes, like Prima Cut, and the aggressive LC pads, with the PC.
It's an important illustration that the PC and the right tools/products can really do *almost* anything!

It appears that some of the white in the photo was probably some kind of paint transfer, which likely came off fairly easily. (I mention that in case someone sees it and thinks it's a series of scratches through to the primer, which couldn't be fixed like this!)

Granted, if you had to fix that kind of mess all over an entire car, then you'd be doing it for several hours (like 10-20!)... but it would be possible. Still, it's a great example of just how much the PC is capable of.

Thanks for the post! I think the NAM community will benefit from your boredom and lack of fear in trying anything.

-Heather

Benja0901 · #20 04-25-2007, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Detailers Paradise

I think the NAM community will benefit from your boredom and lack of fear in trying anything.

-Heather

But remember, it wasn't his car....he didn't have to live with the screw ups if he'd made any

But excellent work!

**Detailers Paradise** · #21 04-25-2007, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benja0901

But remember, it wasn't his car....he didn't have to live with the screw ups if he'd made any

But excellent work!

Yes, very good point!!

-Heather

mcdbrendan · #22 04-25-2007, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benja0901

But remember, it wasn't his car....he didn't have to live with the screw ups if he'd made any

But excellent work!

Haha yes I do! It's my mum's car! The consequences would be far worse!

seigmann · #23 04-25-2007, 08:47 PM

Where do you get the Prima products?

kenchan · #24 04-25-2007, 09:01 PM

www.detailersparadise.com

LynnEl · #25 07-19-2007, 07:17 AM

A few weeks ago, I removed a moderately deep belt buckle scratch from my right side mirror housing (I suspect a belt because it's about the right level and I park at a lot with fairly narrow spaces). Anyway, I initially tried Scratch-X without success. I then tried the Quixx kit, which involved first sanding the scratched area with wet 3000 grit supplied sandpaper. I then applied the abrasive polish #1 and rubbed it in, then wiped it off. I examined the area and only a very slight remnant of the scratch remained, which could only be seen upon very close inspection. I didn't want to abrade any more, so I then applied the polish #2, which made a very nice shine. The scratch was virtually invisble. Well, yesterday, the scratch reappeared! WTF???

I doubt it is a new scratch since it is exactly the same as it was in terms of appearance and location. Plus I now park where people are not likely to squeeze between my car and another. I re-did the removal as above, and it is gone again. Can I expect to re-emerge yet again??