Are these scratches acceptable?

[Blackford]

Is it possible to get rid of even these fine scratches with just a DA polisher



I know they are very small and I am wondering if I am being too anal about them. The vehicle is a 2001 Ford pickup, not a show car. Am I asking too much from the DA to be able to remove these. I have tried pretty much everything I got including, M09 and scratch X, M80 and M83.

[Murr1525]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

Its up to you if they are acceptable or not....

What have you been trying to remove them so far?

[gioprivatemove]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

I think its very doable. #80 should do it.

[Hemin8r]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

Which pad were you using? Besides the very light random scratches it does look like a milky black.

[Ryan L.]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

Looks like there is some hazing there as well, what product were you using?

Ryan

[RacerX88]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

What are your goals? Showcar finish?

Do you store your car in a garage or under a cover?

These answers could make a huge difference in how easy it will be to maintain your paint after you've put in the effort to correct it.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

I think they should be fixed. Give #80 a try.

[Blackford]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

I have discussed this in a previous post and from what I can figure out, using M80 on a the W8006 pad is what actually caused these scratches. So I then went over it with M09 in a finishing pad and this is what I was left with. So before I started going crazy trying to remove these fine scratches I wanted to see if it was even possible with just the DA. I guess I still have more work to do.

I am not looking for a show car finish, but I want it to look as good as possible with what I have.

[Hemin8r]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

Do you have any Color X or M66 handy? Maybe you can try that with the W-9006 pad next which may remove the micromarring and that milky look (haze).

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

(fixed the code for your image, you copied and pasted the URL address for the thumbnail. Next time click on the thumbnail and this will pull up the full size image. Now right click on that image and copy and paste the URL address into the [img] tags

Like Jesse recommended, try a test section using ColorX with a finishing pad. You can find ColorX at any auto parts store as well as Target and Wal-Mart.

Remember, the cleaning and polishing steps are not last steps s they are not the final results, it is the application of your choice of wax that will take the results of your cleaning and polishing work to a higher level, then the milky look will go away.

[Ryan L.]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

So my first Ultra Cut Compound (#105) order came in just a few minutes ago and I went straight to the F-150 and started working. I used it by hand and DA and I get the same milky haze you get on your car. From experience, this is very very common with Ford paints, I have never been able to remove defects and produce a flawless finish in one step on any Ford paint. So after using M105 in two sections, I followed up with ColorX on one and D151 on the other. They both produced amazing finishes, and ColorX will do the trick if you don't have D151.

So for your car and what you have in your arsenal, I would go M80 then ColorX. Make sure to do a test spot first though, just to make sure that process works for you.

Ryan

[Blackford]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

Thanks Mike for fixing the photo, I couldn't get that to work for the life of me.

I did finally get those fine scratches and micro marring out of my paint. It has been bothering me for over a week. It turns out M80 on a finishing pad worked out the best for me. Ironically M80 on a polishing pad is what was causing the marring. So a lesson learned for me is to not only try different products but different pads as well. It got rid of about 99% of the marring which I do feel is acceptable, for a 8 year old black truck. Here is the link to my previous post which started it all:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27079

Thanks to everyone for their help in the matter.

On a side note, I did try D151 on my truck with both the polishing and finishing pad and both left micro-marring. So unfortunately I won't be using that on my truck anymore.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Are these scratches acceptable?

On a side note, I did try D151 on my truck with both the polishing and finishing pad and both left micro-marring. So unfortunately I won't be using that on my truck anymore.

I've had this happen one time on the repainted fender on a new black Suburban so we switched to ColorX and a finishing pad.

This just shows that it's important to always test products to a small section before going over the entire car. What works on one paint system may not work on a different paint system, you just don't know until you test.

Good to hear you found a recipe that works!