Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

[Iam4st8]

I'm new to the meg's forum.. Just found out about it not to long ago. I hate starting off as a newbie asking questions. I guess thats the only way i'll ever learn though. Please share your knowledge guys and help me out w/ these problems ive got going on.

For my Red 2003 F150 whats the best products to remove moderate swirls and scratches? Keep in mind this a truck.. It's pretty large, and i will be working with my hands and no machine. (sigh*) I've seen a few posts on here with ScratchX working miracles, but i've come to understand S-X isn't ment for the whole vehicle... What about #80, or #9? How do those compare.

A second question i have is, what is the best way to remove light scratches in my Chrome rims?

Thanks in advanced.

B

[Jeepster04]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

Its going to be very hard to remove all the swirls in your truck by hand. You could possibly do it with scratch-x but it would be alot of work. 'ALOT' is the key word there.

A DA would make things alot easier for you. #80 on the polishing pad would probably do the trick depending on how deep the swirls are.

[Lydia]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

The best product to remove moderate swirls and scratches by hand is ScratchX. It can be used on the whole vehicle, just expect it to take a long time (at least 2-3 long days). If you are willing to put the time in to it, it will probably make a huge difference. I suggest you buy a tube of ScratchX and do a test spot. See if it makes a big enough difference to make it worth it, and you will also get a feel for the amount of time it will take, to decide if you want to do the whole truck. I did my sister's Mazda 626 with ScratchX and it took me probably at least 8 hours (it was a while ago so I don't remember exactly how long it took me). #80 or #9 are also good. I haven't used #9 before (I use #82 instead), but I've used #80 by hand and it works great. No matter what product you use, though, doing it by hand is still going to take a lot of elbow grease and a lot of time. If you are going to be working by hand, I don't see any reason to use #80 instead of ScratchX. Might as well use ScratchX since it is specifically made for use by hand, and is readily available.

Chrome is a thin coating, so you can't really remove scratches in it. It's best to just leave them as they are, just use a quality chrome polish on the rims to make them look as good as you can.

Edit: whoops, looks like Jeepster and I posted at the same time, it just took me longer to type mine out, lol.

[sneek]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

Do you have pics?

[Iam4st8]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

I don't have any pictures ATM of the swirls/scratches. I'll get some up as soon as i can after school tomorrow (yea we're still in. haha)

but heres one of my actual truck a while back, before i put the 5% tint around

[Iam4st8]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

Here's one more; also before the 5%.
Like i said; more pictures of the paint will be up asap. Maybe i can get this thing looking right after a nice wash; a desperately needed Clay, some ScratchX, and a wax.



Once agian sorry for the TRIPPLE post. I dont want to look stupid since im new to the community.. But i cant find the post delete button

[Murr1525]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

Here are a few links to read over while you work on the pics of the swirls... the oaint ones wil lbe ok, but the chrome ones you may be stuck with. Chrome just isnt a very workable coating, and shining it up may be about the best you can do.

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

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

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

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

With that color red, a polish like #7 would look great as well probably before the wax.

[yalerd]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

You could use Scratch-X, but you can do what other people have done.

Start and to 1 or 2 parts a day, it will last a couple of days/weeks but you don't rush yourself and concentrate on one part.

For example you can do the hood on Friday, finish the job, next day you could to both fenders and so on.

I know this way is longer but the key is not having the job done fast, instead it's working the product well so it could give you the results expected.

Good luck with it!

[Ryan L.]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

I would highly recommend a DA. I've done a 2001 Super Crew by hand once and trust me, after like the first panel you want to quit. The DA will not only half the time it takes, it will also produce much better results and your hands will feel a lot better.

Ryan

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

I would highly recommend a DA. I've done a 2001 Super Crew by hand once and trust me, after like the first panel you want to quit.

The DA will not only half the time it takes, it will also produce much better results and your hands will feel a lot better.

Ryan

Good, short summary.

Something else to think about is the value of your time. A good machine polisher will do the work faster and better, the only way to fully understand this is to experience it, especially if you can find someone that knows what they're doing that can show you the right techniques when you're first starting out, this will reduce your learning curve greatly.

When we did the New Jersey Roadshow we had around 35 people that attended, at one point we asked with a show of hands how many people had a DA polisher, either a Meguiar's G100 or the PC aka the Porter Cable 7224/7336, (all the same tool), 25 hands when up. After speaking with many of the people that attended the class, it's safe to say one of the primary reasons for attending was to learn how to use the tool. It's one thing to buy it, it's another thing to actually know how to use it.

If you want to do all your work by hand, we have a new product coming out that should become available in January of 2008 called M105 Ultra Cutting Creme.




We personally have not used this product by hand, only with a rotary buffer at the time of this post, but what we've been told from Kevin Brown and Mike Pennington, two people that have used the product by hand, is that it works better and faster than ScratchX.

If you're not in too big a hurry, this product will soon be available and it may just be a better option for you and your detailing project.

[Iam4st8]

Re: Quick Swirl/'cobweb' question

Thanks for all the help guys.
I'm really lookin forward to shinin my truck up soon after Christmas. Being 17 i don't want a DA quite yet, so by hand it is. I'm just gettin my feet wet in all this stuff and all the tips im getting here are great.

Once again, thanks
and Merry Christmas to all you guys


EDIT:: I took some pictures tonite, in the garage.. But due to the lack of direct light shining on the truck you cannot see the swirls, ill try to get those pics up tomorrow.