new to everything

[97wyldstang]

i just bought a 97 mustang and the paint is pretty oxidized and along with the stang i bought a ton of meg's products. including the tire spray, wheel cleaner, GC wax, NXT wash, and Scratch X. you know cause a 97 with some road rash and bad oxidation needs it. but i dont know how to apply the scratch X or the wax. i have a rotary buffer my grandpa gave me witha wool pad i think that we use to wax the boat with. its all clean is it safe to go over the whole car with scratch X using the buffer? or will it leave bad swirls? i dont have anymore money really but if you could break it down in lamen's terms as to what i should do i would greatly appreciate the help.

[Jeepster04]

Re: new to everything

Ive read about people using scratch X with a PC but I couldnt get it to work. I worked it in really slow on a low speed and it still gummed up on me..

I wouldnt use a rotary buffer with a wool pad b/c they are WAY to aggressive. I would apply everything by hand since you do not have the money to buy a dual action Porter cable(aka PC). Meguairs Color X is a good wax to use to remove oxidation. Its also a one step process.

You could use scatch X on the entire car but that would be ALOT of work since it must be worked in really well. If you wanted, you could use it only where you believe its needed.

I would clay the car, use Meguairs color X, follow that with a coat of GC wax if you wanted, then use the tire shine on the tires.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: new to everything

i just bought a 97 mustang and the paint is pretty oxidized.

If this 1997 Mustang has the factory paint still on it, then it would be a Basecoat/Clear Coat paint system.

Experience has shown that many people mistake clear coat failure for traditional oxidation, this is in part because we're on our third generation of people that have never owned a car with a single stage finish and thus we've had 25+ years of nothing but cars and trucks with clear coats.

The point is that if what you're seeing is in fact clear coat failure and not oxidation, then for the most part, nothing you pour out of a bottle, or scoop out of a can, or squeeze out of a tube is going to fix the problem. The only honest remedy is a new paint job.

Can you take 2-3 digital pictures of the affected areas and post them to this thread?

[97wyldstang]

Re: new to everything

hey again i washed it yesterday and scrubbed the hell out of the car and youre right about the clear coat i completly forgot its not as faded as i thought it was it just needed a good washing. but it definetly still has some scratches so i wanna see what the scratch X will take out of it. thanks.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: new to everything

To get good results with ScratchX you'll want to only work a small section at a time, about a foot squared. Apply the product, work it in well against the finish, put a little passion behind the pad, then wipe it off and move on to a new small section overlapping into the previous section.

Go around the entire car like this and remember to wipe the product off after you've used it because paint cleaners don't need to dry, only waxes need to dry.

After you've applied ScratchX to the entire car and wiped it off, then apply a wax of your choice, if you don't have any wax give NXT Tech Wax a try. Apply a thin coating and allow it to fully dry and then remove.

Here's some related articles,

This one goes over the entire process by hand..

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

How to tell when a Meguiar's wax is ready to remove - The Swipe Test

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car