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Well that didn't take long. Some ass monkey leaving a piece of paper under my windshield wiper (for parking in the wrong area - which wasn't true) apparently put down his little Barney Fife clipboard on the bonnet and put numerous scratches in what I believe to be only the clear coat - not the paint.
What's the best way to get these out. Polish and wax?
Does anybody else get scratches in the clear coat easily? I'm quite surprised by this.
I just had to get my bonnet repainted and reclearcoated because i got a nasty lil boo boo on it. What sucks is the dude gave it to me before the clearcoat had time to fully set, so I have numerous lil scratches on it when i tried cleaning off some fresh bird doo that got on it that day. but since the dude that did the body work messed up, he said he would buff out the scratches and reapply the clear coat.
i posted a question about the reapplying of clearcoats, but no one responded, so i'm guessing the buffing out the scratches and reapplying will make them go away. i'm not sure if you can just buff the scratches out and be done with it or not...
guess, my post wasn't much help at all, but at least it's a response
I had the same scrathes on the clear coat and I used a very very small amount of Turtle wax rubbing compound and it too care of it. Be carefull with rubbing compound as you can always add but can't take off if you put in too much.
Usually a good wax will fill minor scratches. I use Zaino. They have something like 12 steps but I just use two of them - one for filling swirlmarks and scratches and one to make it very, very shiny. If a scratch is deeper (like the ones I have from some clumsy person who walked by my car and scratched it with a ring or a briefcase or something) you can buff it with a fine cut polish and then wax it. This will at least take down the whitish edges of the scratches and smooth it out if not level out the scratched area completely. Unfortunately, scratches will happen and rock chips will happen. You have to remind yourself that you still love your mini, blemishes and all. :smile: Zaino Bros Website - This stuff is crazy shiny. On old cars and new cars it just makes the paint look liquid. Meguiar's Online - this is the stuff I already had in the garage. Says it's for a rotary buffer only but I use it to buff by hand and it works just fine. Much slower process but I'd be too chicken to use a rotary buffer.
Sheesh, I post the same question in the detailing forum, and get nada for response.
I was thinking that a good wax would probably take care of it, but I'm unfamiliar wih this rubbing compound of which you speak (and wary of any Turtle-brand products, truth be told). I'm also ignorant when it comes to Zaino's 500 different finishing products, so if there's one in particular that fits this task, can someone in the know post it?
My dull, scratchy area is from rubbing out some bird poo before getting it soggy enough first. (We really need a barfing emoticon on this site!)
__________________ "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy." - Tom Waits
I saw a show on Speedvision where this guy took some steel wool to a Porche Racer, it messed up the finish royally. Then he mentioned this rubbing compound. He took one of those polishers and it was back to normal in about ahlf an hour.
>>I saw a show on Speedvision where this guy took some steel wool to a Porche Racer, it messed up the finish royally. Then he mentioned this rubbing compound. He took one of those polishers and it was back to normal in about ahlf an hour.<<
I'm always very suspicious of these kinds of demos. Oxy-Clean, magnetic bracelets, that stuff that repairs torn leather, etc. Thanks for the info, though, I hope it's legit stuff. Anyone know?
I'd feel more convinced if one of those "enthusiast" (i.e., borderline psycho) detailers would chime in here. You know who you are...
_________________ 2003 Cooper, Borla exhaust, Moss intake, Magnecor plug wires - Brookline, MA
>>This wasn't a commercial, it was a show on detailing...so it must be good.
Ummmm..... I disagree. Did you notice that those shows on detailing always showcase 1 brand at a time? They say "Well, Golden Eagle has a great product for this, too". These are usually sponsored promos, essentially infomercials disguised as legitimate shows
Thanks for all of the reponses. I was just sick to my stomach after owning it for 2 full days and then seeing all the scratches on my beautiful paint job.
At any rate, I took it to a professional detailer this a.m. in Denver. They work on a lot of nice cars & antiques, etc... The owner quickly tried a compound wax (that's what he called it) and it did remove some of the lighter scratches. However, it didn't remove the deeper scratches.
He said he had some Griott Garage (sp.???) at his home that he will bring in tomorrow and give it a try. He'd rather not buff, just remove by hand if at all possible. I think he feels bad for me so he's really trying his best to take care of it for me. Nice guy.
I'll let everyone know how it goes tomorrow. Let's Motor!
It sounds like he knows what he is doing, don't worry, your baby will be back to new in no time! I thought my car would never be the same after my accident, to the naked eye, you can't even tell that I had $8000 dollars worth of damage done.
Yes, Zaino will work pretty well in filling scratches, if you use their Z5 filling wax. Unfortunately, the scratches are always still there, lurking beneath the surface. Contrary to some comments made in this thread, Zaino's process is really pretty straightforward; I would rather get superior results from a combination of a few products than mediocre ones from using just one product. I had a few scratches on my hatch door that simply look gone now after using one coat of Z5 on it.
If you really want to truly remove the scratches, a polish will "even out" the clearcoat around the scratch, effectively leveling the area so that a scratch is now level with the clearcoat around it...that's really the only way to get rid of scratches, and it sounds like this detailer is going to get his Griot's polish (I've heard it's good...from Griot's website anyway) to try the method I just described.
If you want to learn more about the science and art that is detailing, visit the insane mother(*&$ers at http://www.autopia.org. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on the site, because there's so much knowledge to be gained from it.
Well, I got it back from the detailer and I noticed in my garage a dull area where the detailer was trying to get the scratches out. Any idea why it's so dulled. Does it just need a complete polish and wax. Any ideas from the experts???
I'm also ignorant when it comes to Zaino's 500 different finishing products, so if there's one in particular that fits this task, can someone in the know post it?
use the Z5 swirl remover and polish. excellent for dark cars as well. don't forget to dawn wash and claybar prior to application. good luck
_________________
Quietly Making Noise - J. Buffett
Just a word of advice for anyone following this thread: you do NOT want to use RUBBING compound! If you want to try to buff out a clearcoat surface scratch, use a POLISHING compound. BIG difference between the two.
Rubbing compound is what you use on an old dull paint finish. It actually takes the top layer of dulled paint off. Much too harsh to use on shallow scratches - you'll make it worse.
Polishing compound has much finer abrasives in it. The goal is to smooth out the scratches by blending them in with clearcoat material around them, and NOT get down to the paint (which rubbing compound will do).
If you don't know what you're doing, spend the $50 to have the professionals buff it out for you. But if you must try it yourself, use polishing compound NOT rubbing compound or I guarantee you will be VERY unhappy with the results!
Just a tip from your friendly neighborhood scooterboy...
Rule of Thumb: It's the clearcoat that gives the shine. The light bounces though the clearcoat, off the paint and back through the clearcoat. Muck up the clearcoat and you really dull the shine. Dealing with clearcoat is a very deliate process! Don't treat it like acryclic/lacquer paints of yore. Good advice on letting the pros do it if you don't know what you are doing.
Darn scratches, darn bird poo!
Watchout Squigi - new cars seem to be big bird targets! Who did you take it to in Denver? I need to get some waxing/scratch help myself.
You seem to know a lot about scratches, etc... You responded to my recent post regarding scratches in the clearcoat. I do believe the guy first used some sort of compound. Which is why I believe I have the dulling in that area. He called in his detailer who then buffed it and does look better. However, I can still see an area of dullness compared to the rest of the bonnet.
Do you know of anything I can do to get this to be as shiny as the other parts of the bonnet?
Thanks. Unfortunately, this has been a very bad week for me and the new MINI. I'm freaking out and I'm hoping there is not serious damage that has been done. Thanks.
Karen
Well, I'm not a professional by any means, but I have buffed out a few scratches in my time.
If your guy used a "compound wax", that sounds like he was trying to blend the scratches away while waxing it up. Doesn't sound like a bad solution. If the scratches are gone but the area is duller than the rest of the bonnet, I would try the following:
Wash and wax the entire bonnet with a good carnuba wax. After buffing the bonnet to a shine, pay special attention to the dulled area with an extra application or two of wax (buffing each time of course), but expand the waxed area by an inch or two with each coat. Hopefully you can bring the shine back to the dulled area while blending the area into the rest of the waxed bonnet.
Hi Squigi! This really sucks you already have 'damage' to the MINI
You can never really "remove" the scratches, you can only thin out the clear coat around it to level out the scratches. There are fillers out there that will smooth out the sharp edges around the scratches, but these are just band-aid's really. Your best bet for longetitivy is to freak out for a bit, and accept the existence of the scratches.
hmmm, what would I do? I would use Wizards Finish Cut, followed by Zymol HD Cleanse, and then a few layers of your favorite Zymol Caranuba wax. Here's some links: Wizards Products Zymol
Cheers, and good luck (and if I was a Mod I'd move this to Detailing 101, hint, hint)
Ryan
2003 Cooper, Borla exhaust, Moss intake, Magnecor plug wires - Brookline, MA
