Newbie with 2004 Ford Thunderbird

[pammer]

Hi,

I am new to this website and a new owner of a 2004 Merlot Ford Thunderbird. Just picked my car up in Denver. We got it home, washed and waxed it and discovered numerous scratches in the clear on the trunk and hood of the car. Some arc shaped, some straight horizonal some vertical. Where do I start? What products should I try? I took it to a body shop (Quanz) yesterday thinking that I would prefer the pros to tackle the job but their advice to me was "don't let anyone touch this car!" Now I'm scared but something has to be done. I have tried to take photos but I can't get the scratches to show up in a photo. I have a couple of pictures of the car in my gallery but I haven't been able to figure out how to attach them yet. Any advice will be appreciated. (I wish I could get in on one of the detailing classes).

[Murr1525]

I think first you will need a little basic reading, to really get an understanding of the process down. Give these a read, and then ask some more questions, which I am sure you will have

Will you be planning to work by hand, or looking into a machine polisher, like the G-100?

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

And of course:

How to put pictures into your posts

Tutorials on how to crop, resize, upload and insert your pictures into your messages

How-to Crop your photos before uploading them to your gallery

How to resize your photos using Easy Thumbnails - Free software!

Step-by-Step Picture-Posting HOW TO

[the other pc]

here ya go:




Love that color!

Don't worry pammer, you've found the right place. With MOL's help you'll have her lookin' awesome in no time.


PC.

[pammer]

What next?

Here's what I've done so far: (All by hand)

Wash/Dry w/microfiber towel
Smooth Surface Clay Kit
Deep Crystal System Polish
ScratchX
NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste

Scratches are still there.....


The car is beautiful though....nice and shiney!

I am going to try and get some pictures of the scratches...they are just hard to photograph and I'm not sure if I can get them to show up in a photo.

[ourbail]

Did you try the Scratch x twice and it does work best with a cotton ball/( wifes makeup remover) i just rubbed out a bunch of scratches for a friend,and the scratch x works great for that,but it takes a few applicationsa and it does depend on how deep it is,if you can feel it with your fingernail ,you are not going to get it out,just deminish it a little.....ps a also have an o4 platnium silver/sandstone, T bird that ive posted pictures on this site,cant wait for the weather to get a little better