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Hello All,
I have a vehicle that is in need of some paint care/correction etc and since this is my first one I thought I'd post it here for some help, advice and opinions. The paint hasn’t been looked after very well by the previous owner as is looks like it has been washed with a dirty mitt, plenty of swirl marks, random scratches and pretty heavy oxidation. I’ve tried a few things already and happy with the progress so far, although slow going.
So far I‘ve clayed half of the vehicle using Meguiar’s Smooth Surface Clay Kit. I have to say as never claying a vehicle before I was really impressed with the results. Most of the horizontal panels required 3 rounds of claying to get rid of the contaminants while the verticals required 1 - 2. As the panels are quite large and due to the size of the car (17.33ft long) the quick detailer isn’t lasting long. The car also has vinyl graphics on it which were like sandpaper to the touch, so I tested the clay on a small portion. Upon the results of the test I decided to clay the entire graphic (probably against recommendation) and was amazed at the results and couldn’t believe the clay bar removed contaminates from the vinyl and didn’t damage them in any way. If anything it made them quite smooth again, brought back some shine, and although not perfectly clean it’s easily a 60-70% improvement.
As much as I’d like to say and think the paint is in great shape the reality is it’s pretty poor. Whomever painted the car to begin with looks like they didn’t graduate kindergarten. Probably about 80% of it is ok but there are some under paint defects that will never come out without being properly reworked in a paint shop. So the dilemma was to either leave the paint as it was or fix it up the best I could with what I had. I chose the latter of the two as I saw it the lesser of the two evils.
I’ve done a test patch on the paint with some Swirl X and it made a bit of an improvement, definitely brought up a little more shine but didn’t take out many of the finer scratches. I then proceeded to try some Ultimate Compound which made a considerable difference, both to shine and removed some fine scratches. Again, against recommendation (especially for a first timer) I then used a rotary buffer with Ultimate Compound and a soft pad which again made a considerable improvement but still wasn’t quite enough. I’m guessing the paint is fairly hard. Upon contacting Meguiar’s they recommended M105 followed up by M205. So now just waiting for both bottles to arrive, extremely expensive stuff here in Australia! Once they do arrive I’ll first try a hand cut and if it doesn't get it I’ll use the Rotary Buffer again.
I guess my first question is when do you know to call it quits while removing a scratch? I remember reading somewhere that if the scratch catches your fingernail it can’t be completely removed, only lessened. What would be considered borderline? I suppose a paint thickness gauge would be needed for an accurate answer, something an amateur wouldn’t have straight away. I’ll try to post some pictures of the paint condition soon when I'm able to attach pics as this is only my third post.
Thanks.
I have a vehicle that is in need of some paint care/correction etc and since this is my first one I thought I'd post it here for some help, advice and opinions. The paint hasn’t been looked after very well by the previous owner as is looks like it has been washed with a dirty mitt, plenty of swirl marks, random scratches and pretty heavy oxidation. I’ve tried a few things already and happy with the progress so far, although slow going.
So far I‘ve clayed half of the vehicle using Meguiar’s Smooth Surface Clay Kit. I have to say as never claying a vehicle before I was really impressed with the results. Most of the horizontal panels required 3 rounds of claying to get rid of the contaminants while the verticals required 1 - 2. As the panels are quite large and due to the size of the car (17.33ft long) the quick detailer isn’t lasting long. The car also has vinyl graphics on it which were like sandpaper to the touch, so I tested the clay on a small portion. Upon the results of the test I decided to clay the entire graphic (probably against recommendation) and was amazed at the results and couldn’t believe the clay bar removed contaminates from the vinyl and didn’t damage them in any way. If anything it made them quite smooth again, brought back some shine, and although not perfectly clean it’s easily a 60-70% improvement.
As much as I’d like to say and think the paint is in great shape the reality is it’s pretty poor. Whomever painted the car to begin with looks like they didn’t graduate kindergarten. Probably about 80% of it is ok but there are some under paint defects that will never come out without being properly reworked in a paint shop. So the dilemma was to either leave the paint as it was or fix it up the best I could with what I had. I chose the latter of the two as I saw it the lesser of the two evils.
I’ve done a test patch on the paint with some Swirl X and it made a bit of an improvement, definitely brought up a little more shine but didn’t take out many of the finer scratches. I then proceeded to try some Ultimate Compound which made a considerable difference, both to shine and removed some fine scratches. Again, against recommendation (especially for a first timer) I then used a rotary buffer with Ultimate Compound and a soft pad which again made a considerable improvement but still wasn’t quite enough. I’m guessing the paint is fairly hard. Upon contacting Meguiar’s they recommended M105 followed up by M205. So now just waiting for both bottles to arrive, extremely expensive stuff here in Australia! Once they do arrive I’ll first try a hand cut and if it doesn't get it I’ll use the Rotary Buffer again.
I guess my first question is when do you know to call it quits while removing a scratch? I remember reading somewhere that if the scratch catches your fingernail it can’t be completely removed, only lessened. What would be considered borderline? I suppose a paint thickness gauge would be needed for an accurate answer, something an amateur wouldn’t have straight away. I’ll try to post some pictures of the paint condition soon when I'm able to attach pics as this is only my third post.
Thanks.
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