Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?

[sontakke]

I had posted this as a reply to another topic but was suggested that I create a new thread.

My car was recently collision repaired. The shop did exceptional paint job. Unfortunately, I realized that only after I polished out some sprinkler water spots from one side of the new hood.

The side that I polished got lots and lots of fine scratches. The other half which I did not touch has none and I mean ZERO scratches.

M105 did get rid of majority of the scratches but my side is still not perfect. Both the hood and the front bumper facia were replaced. The M105 did a better job on the hood than the (plastic facia).

So far I have tried, M105, M09, Quixx #2 cleaner. I also went back to the body shop and got their couple of 3M products. It has become better but not perfect.

This exercise is mostly academic. It is 1999 car and is not even garaged. If the paint shop had installed "DISO", I would not be going through this exersize :-) I never had thought that a body shop (or factory paint job) could have zero scratches in it.

What is driving me insane is that I am the one who caused those scratches probably just using the terry towel on it but I am having hard time finding the right product to take them off by hand.

It is metallic maroon red. I am sure you have seen bazillions of those colored circa 97-02 Camrys on the road. The collision job is still within 90-day do-not-wax period. Amazingly, even after 1500 mile roadtrip the "other" side of the hood is flawless as far as scratches are concerned even though entire car is splattered with the water spots.

From the body shop, I picked up spoonful of Imperial Hand Glaze and Perfect-It Foam polishing pad glaze but I am still not getting the perfect reflection on "my" side of the hood or the bumper.

Would #7 take them off? Given that I have already tried 3M IHG, I doubt it.

- Vikas

[VonLego]

Re: Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?

Glaze will not remove them, they are defects. Glaze just puts oils into the paint.

Try posting pictures so we know what you're working with. Its very difficult to tell otherwise.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?

Would #7 take them off? Given that I have already tried 3M IHG, I doubt it.

- Vikas

M105 with a clean foam applicator pad should work, give it a try...

The IHG is similar to M07 and as already stated, both products may mask the scratches but neither are abrasive and thus won't actually remove the scratches.

[sontakke]

Re: Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?




How do I get this picture to show up inline?

Here is a scratch which I have been trying to remove. I have tried M105 by hand. I have also tried 3M liquid polishing compound, TW polishing compound (green/white can), TW rubbing compound (red/white can), wet-sanded with 2000 grit paper etc etc. This is the original paint.

Would this type of scratch come out with Porter Cable? I am worried that if I were to take the plunge and invest $200 on the DA machine and pads and still could not take out these scratches, I would be very disappointed.

Thanks,
- Vikas

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?

That scratch looks pretty nasty, but you wet sanded with 2000 grit and that didn't get rid of it? How did you remove the sanding marks - by hand with M105? Is it safe to assume you can feel this scratch with your fingernail, because in the picture it almost looks like you can see primer in it.

If that's the case, and given that you've taken a pretty darn aggressive approach with wet sanding and that didn't correct it, you're most likely looking at a trip to the body shop. If what you've done didn't correct it, using a G110 isn't going to help.

How do I get this picture to show up inline?

Since you've already got the picture uploaded to the MOL gallery, read through the second post in the thread [IMG]http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26526[/IMG] about halfway down the page.

[sontakke]

Re: Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?

That scratch goes all the way to the rear door. All my experiments with the scratch removal including 1000/2000 paper were on the door. I was able to remove the haze after sanding by using M105, followed by 3M polishing and some Quixx tubes. I can see the indentation in the clear coat where I sanded. This is a 10 year old student car, so repaint is out of question! I have done some touch-up paint but it will look worse if I were to try it on such a long scratch. Also the paint stick does not perfectly match the color of this car. I also managed to hit the primer while attempting some of my touch-up repairs with initial cut by 1000 grit paper. I need to throw away 1000 grit paper :-) Seriously, I was able to fix some of the scratches on my minivan quite well but I had left-over paint from the body shop which was a perfect match and I had beginner's luck and lot of respect for the sandpaper

You have saved me $200 but I am not sure if I should thank you or not; now I can't buy the toy which I have been wanting for so many years :-)

- Vikas

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Maintaining newly painted surface, is it possible?

It sure sounds as though all that sanding has left you with, at best, extremely thin clear coat if you have any left at all. We hate to say it, but without seeing the car in person we think you're done.

As for you not buying the toy you've been wanting...... far be it for us to stop you!!! Don't buy it just for that one scratch; buy it for the whole car, and future cars to come! Learn how to use it on this car, so when you buy your new dream car in a couple of years you'll be a master.