Still a newbie!

[kink]

Ok, I'm back and better prepared today I have washed the truch and clayed the front end. I have spent the better part of the last three hours going over the hood and front panels with scratchX and a DA. I have removed a fair amount of scratches but have stumbled onto a bigger problem...Orange peel. And it's everywhere! I want that mirror finish you all seem to get but with this problem I don't see me getting it. I know I could spend a weekend wetsanding but how am I going to acomplish this with the decals on the truck. There are white stripes from front to back as well as door decals stating the Indy race the truch was bought at. Here's the hood:

And another angle:

Any help with this problem will be very appreciated. Here is one last shot of the side of the truck:
Isn't wet sanding going to kill these decals?
Thanks in advace!

[kink]

Anothe rQuestion...

Will meguires colorX work better for consealing my scratches than normal ScatchX... Some are down to the point of being non-existant. Should I keep going at them with the X or move onto a different product?
Thanks Again.

[Murr1525]

Dont want to wet sand decals, and really dont want to rush into wet-sanding at all without proper practice and preparation. A DA probably isnt going to be powerfull enough to remove wet sanding marks either, witch then means learning to use a rotary properly, so you dont damage your finish with it. But others will chime on more on orange peel I am sure.

ColorX is a medium strength (by hand) cleaner/polish/wax. ScrathX is a strong (by hand) paint cleaner. So for working on scratches, ScratchX will work easier.

Following up with polish and wax will tend to fill leftover swirls a little, esp Nxt wax.

[kink]

OH ****!

Ok, i just realized it...as soon as i stood up to go back to work I remembered something...Your supposed to put scratchX on by hand...Tell me I havn't just srewed something up. Ok, I'm off to buff and make sure I didn't mess up my paint...Dang it!

[Mike Phillips]

Just use a gentle approach to remove the ScratchX with a quality microfiber polishing cloth and you should be okay.

If you run into difficulty you could apply some paint cleaner like the ScratchX or Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner and use this to re-liquefy the ScratchX and then wipe it off immediately while it's still a wet film.

[Mike Phillips]

As Mur1525 pointed out, if you've never wet-sanded and then cut and polished paint job before, you really don't want to learn on your truck.

You'll need a rotary buffer to remove the sanding marks, and most of the wet-sanding should be done on fresh paint, however it can be done on cured paint and factory paint if you know what you're doing...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11898

[kink]

I have a rotery buffer. It's a big 10' model but I don't think it's as big as you guys usually talk about. It has two handles and kinda looks like a big DA.
I will hold off on the sanding till I hear some other input. Or till someone gives me some proper advise on how to do it. Panel by panel or do I do the whole thing in one step? That kind of stuff, alot of it I wont be able to sand with a machine cause of it's location. Can I sand by hand as well use a block that kind of stuff. Man, this is scaring me to death...lol.
Thanks for the advise. I'll keep workin and be back soon.

[kink]

ok, so the machine was the reson the scratchX was clumping and being a bear to clean up... Makes sence now. I'll hit it with some cleaner and see what I come up with. Thanks guys,
K

[Murr1525]

Yes, ScratchX can be applied by machine safely, it is just tricky.

You may have better luck, and a better cost, by using something like #83 and #80 in the future.

Your truck looks quite shiny already... sometimes close neough is really really good.

[kink]

kinda workin....

thanks,
Is there a standard product that I can get that's matches #83 or #80? I've tried everywhere local and no one carries the aggresive profesional products. As far as the cleaner goes, all I could find was scratchX and cleaner/wax. I think I may be alright if I hit it with #83 and work my way up. Here's a shot of what I found today:

See how it fades from the fender...The hood has almost no refectivity comparied to the fender. That's what I'm trying to get rid of. Is there a specific place I can find #83? Plus what kind of pad should I use?
here's another shot...the paint shop is makin me so angry:

they taped off at the stripes and painted instead of replacing the stripes... the right side of the hood, where flawed is still a better finish compaired to the left side. I need to at least make the hood match
thanks.

[Murr1525]

Well, you can purcahse #83, #80, etc from several places:

Meguairs.com

Autodetailingsolutions.com

Both of those would have some shipping costs of course, but ADS has sales sometimes, so it might even out.

The other option is a PBE store in your area:


How to locate Meguiar’s Professional & Detailer products in your hometown

[kink]

Ok,
I may have gotten in over my head but....Always a but, thanks for the locator, I found a dealer here local but all they had was #4. I have the RB, do I apply this with a wool bonet? What pattern should I follow while applying it? Thanks again.
I will definatly post picks once I'm done. I promice

[Hammer03]

Originally posted by Mike Phillips
As Mur1525 pointed out, if you've never wet-sanded and then cut and polished paint job before, you really don't want to learn on your truck.

You'll need a rotary buffer to remove the sanding marks, and most of the wet-sanding should be done on fresh paint, however it can be done on cured paint and factory paint if you know what you're doing...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...threadid=11898

like he said, it can be done on paint and comes out with amazing finish if you have the proper instuction! haha

(Thanks again Joe!)