PC Advice on Scratches

[jasongpx]

What is the best method for buffing/polishing out scratches left after having a respray.

I had my 96 Mitsi FTO resprayed last Oct 05 and just recently the rubbing down/wet n' dry marks have started to show through the paint, but are below the laquer.

Is there a method I can use to rid my car of these marks using a Porter Cable and any meg's products or do I have to think about taking it back to a bodyshop to have them professionally removed

Currently in my megiuars bag are the following products

Megs NXT Car Wash
Megs DC 1, 2 and 3
Megs Clear Coat Body Scrub
Megs Scratch X
Megs Gold Class Wax
Megs NXT Tech Wax
Megs Medallion Premium Paint Cleaner
Megs Speed Glaze
Megs Quik Detailer

Zymol Cleaner Wax
PS21 Paint Cleaner
Porter Cable

thanks in advance
Jason

[the other pc]

Re: PC Advice on Scratches

Hi jasongpx to Meguiar's Online!

Originally posted by jasongpx
...I had my 96 Mitsi FTO resprayed last Oct 05 and just recently the rubbing down/wet n' dry marks have started to show through the paint, but are below the laquer....

I'm not sure I'm reading you right. Are you saying that you have a two-stage finish, clearcoat over colored basecoat, and that you're seeing sanding scratch that's in the basecoat underneath the clear?

Detailing only addresses the top most surface, the clear in this case. There's no way to fix problems below the clear because the clearcoat is in the way. You'd have to get it re-sprayed.

If the problems are in the outer surface of the clearcoat (which seems reasonable if they're showing up after a year) then you can work on them.


PC.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: PC Advice on Scratches

Originally posted by jasongpx
What is the best method for buffing/polishing out scratches left after having a respray.

I had my 96 Mitsi FTO resprayed last Oct 05 and just recently the rubbing down/wet n' dry marks have started to show through the paint, but are below the lacquer.

Hi Jason,

Welcome to Meguiar's Online!

If the defects you're describing are truly under the clear coat, as in they look like the sanding marks left over from preparing the surface for primer and basecoat, then these problems cannot be fixed by working on the top coat.

The term for this is called shrink-back, or die-back... The only way to remove these kinds of defects are to re-paint the area.

Are you sure the defects you're seeing are below the surface, or perhaps these are the wet sanding marks on the surface that the body shop didn't completely remove when they buffed out the finish?

If so, it's possible these can be fixed, but depending on how hard the paint is and how deep the defects are you may have to use a rotary buffer...

Check this thread that discusses the limits of the dual action polisher...

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3056

[jasongpx]

Mike, PC

Thanks for the pointers and comments.

So I can make a better call on this and for you guys to make a better diagnosis how can I tell if the marks are under the clear coat or are the remance of a badly finished sanding job prior to final buffing, is there any obvious things that I should be looking for which will determine where these marks are in the paint.

Just as a further note these marks can only be seen upon close inspection, at specific angles - does this help!!

Thanks again
Jason