car detailing and scratch removal

[jmanero123]

hi mike,

your website and forum are fantastic. ive learned a lot as i am a total novice. i just joined the forum.

you know a ton of info..and i could use great advice. i just bought a 99 ford taurus..dark green..im sure clear coated. i have bought all meguiars products to detail my car this sunday. sure, ive waxed my cars in the past but never really detailed. the car's paint is in good condition but needs detailing.

this is my plan of action,...of course hand wash my car with nxt wash..then use DC cleaner over the entire car AND scratch x for the hood scratches. next i will use DC pure polish over entire car and finally apply one coat of nxt liquid wax. one door was just repainted so i will allow 90 days before i apply wax to it...however, i read applying DC polish would be just fine???

now, my primary concern is the scratches on the hood...big problem i think. But should i use the dc cleaner first and then use scratchx on the hood......or...scratch x first, or maybe it doesnt really matter. when applying the DC cleaner, just rub in and remove...no drying needed...the same with the DC polish??? using foam applicators for each process is ok???

now ...you have written great info about scratch x application..which i will follow...using only my hand...BUT these hood scratches are DEEP..must be through the base coat because i can see white scratches on the hood and my fingernail feels them...meaning the scratches are into the primer????

And will sctatch x help to improve these deeper scratches..in your professional opinion??? or might i eventually need a professional detailers help removing them...or repaint the entire hood????

finallly, i was desperate to "fix" the scratches myself before joining meguiars and reading the info...that i used FORD TOUCH UP PAINT...EXACT MATCH OF COURSE...on the scratches. now the scratches are gone but the uneven look of the touch up paint looks horrible...

will using scratch x help to "sand down" this touch up paint..which i believe i read is "soft" compared to the factory painted hood surface????
if that doesnt work, should i even attempt to use a polishing or rubbing compound to remove the touch up paint or is that a terrible idea????

i will invest the time to improve the scratches.

any advice wil be greatly appreciated.

any detail classes in the new york area??

again, the site is amazing and im confident your products will do a great job from what ive read and seen...its the scratches im upset about improving to the best degree possible.

thanks,

john

[Murr1525]

Re: car detailing and scratch removal

Dont forget to clay the car in between washing and using the paint cleaners.

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

Your plan for the door sounds good as well. Remember polish will wash off quickly, so you may want to polish the door failry often.

As for the hood....

If you clay the hood, you might clay with a little passion over the touch up paint. Who knows, it might pull it off.

ScratchX is not going to take the bumps down any, again if it is fresh it might pull off, but that is about it.

To take the bumnps down you would be getting into wet-sanding, which isnt my department. Or looking into a reputable shop. If everything is good except the scratches, you might be able to pay for just some wet-sanding and buffing over those specific areas.

Any pics?

[jmanero123]

Re: car detailing and scratch removal

thanks for the info..hope it wont come to wet sanding...no pics but will provide when done...

is a polishing compound or rubbing compound ok to use to remove the TOUCH UP PAINT if scratch x does not????

[Mike Phillips]

Re: car detailing and scratch removal

now, my primary concern is the scratches on the hood...big problem i think. But should i use the dc cleaner first and then use ScratchX on the hood......or...scratch x first, or maybe it doesnt really matter. when applying the DC cleaner, just rub in and remove...no drying needed...the same with the DC polish??? using foam applicators for each process is ok???

After washing and claying, you only need to use one paint cleaner, it's an either or type of thing, Deep Crystal Paint cleaner is a light cleaner, you could use this over the entire car and only use the ScratchX for the worse areas.

As for applying and removing, the only products in the Meguiar's line that need to dry are waxes, everything else is a wipe on, work in, wipe off product. There's an article about this in "Hot Topics"

now ...you have written great info about scratch x application..which i will follow...using only my hand...BUT these hood scratches are DEEP..must be through the base coat because i can see white scratches on the hood and my fingernail feels them...meaning the scratches are into the primer????

And will sctatch x help to improve these deeper scratches..in your professional opinion??? or might i eventually need a professional detailers help removing them...or repaint the entire hood????

If you're seeing white primer and you can feel the scratches with your fingernails, then they are too deep to remove. You can sometimes improve them by smoothing over the edges, but it sounds like this wont' really help in this case. Sorry.

finally, i was desperate to "fix" the scratches myself before joining Meguiar's and reading the info...that i used FORD TOUCH UP PAINT...EXACT MATCH OF COURSE...on the scratches. now the scratches are gone but the uneven look of the touch up paint looks horrible...

will using scratch x help to "sand down" this touch up paint..which i believe i read is "soft" compared to the factory painted hood surface????
if that doesnt work, should i even attempt to use a polishing or rubbing compound to remove the touch up paint or is that a terrible idea????

Usually rubbing hard on touch up paint won't do much, making touch-up paint look good is a lot of hard work and requires the skills of knowing how to wet-sand and then knowing how to remove your sanding marks. This gets tricky because you can remove the sanding marks pretty easily out of the touch-up paint but the sanding marks in the surrounding clear coat will be very hard to remove in many cases.

Many people tend to make things worse versus make things better. For most people, the best thing you can do is only apply a little bit of touch up paint and then live with it.

Detailers tend not to want to mess with this kind of work because it's hard, takes a long time and most people won't pay for it.

any detail classes in the new york area??

again, the site is amazing and im confident your products will do a great job from what ive read and seen...its the scratches im upset about improving to the best degree possible.

thanks,

john

No classes scheduled at this time for New York, best of luck to you with the deep scratches, next time you apply touch up paint, use a toothpick or go to an arts and craft store and buy a fine tip artist paint brush. Don't use the brush built into the cap, it tends to be too big and will deposit too much paint.

[jmanero123]

Re: car detailing and scratch removal

hi mike,

thanks for replying to ALL of my questions...i was going crazy deciding what to do...but you've cleared it all up...even though i can't do too much about the touch up paint..its solid correct advice...ill learn as time goes on.

i'll try scratch x a bit and see if there is any improvement...never thought about a toothpick or a very skinny brush to fill in the scratches...that would have looked much better than what i have now...having used the wider bottle brush...oh well..

again, thanks a lot for your help...

john

[quikzilver]

Re: car detailing and scratch removal

Try google on "paint chip repair"

[jmanero123]

Re: car detailing and scratch removal

hi mike,

thanks again for your advice....in another thread i posted in detailing 101...using dc cleaner to remove wax prior to using touch up paint...which you responded to as yes....i received a reponse mentioning using TOUCH UP MAGIC to soften this touch up paint on my hood....

as well as using LANGKA PAINT CHIP AND SCRATCH REPAIR GOOGLING...

are you familiar with touch up magic and langka ????

thanks,

john