new paint

[dvjag]

Three weeks ago a friend of mine had his jeep repainted, black basecoat clearcoat, he made the mistake of using a car wash brush to wash it and has put small scratches on the paint, can I attempt remove these scratches just now should I wait ? what would you suggest I use. I was going to go over it with a cleaner wax and follow that with a coat of yellow wax, would appreciate any ideas you may have.

[Mike Phillips]

You can work on this fresh paint, by this mean you can use a paint cleaner like ScratchX by hand or a cleaner/polish like M80 Speed Glaze by machine, both should work to remove the scratches.

If it were me, I would re-polish the entire car using M80 Speed Glaze with a W-8006 foam pad on a dual action polisher. This will remove any light scratches he put in and it will also remove any swirls the body shop may have put in if they machine buffed the finish using a rotary buffer. (common problem)

As far as using a wax, your friend should check with his painter and follow his recommendation for applying a wax or paint protectant, (anything that seals the surface).

Best of luck to you...

[dvjag]

new paint

thanks for the quick reply Mike, I dont have any m80 or scratchx yet, would using m6 improve it any, I guess my main concern is damaging the paint, I dont think he is happy with the paint shop so he might not get the best advice from them regards using a wax or sealant, can you see a problem with waxing it?? it needs some protection up here in the winter.
thanks again,

[Murr1525]

You really shouldnt wax fresh paint for 60 days or so at least.

#80 has a protective polymer in it that will offer some protection until it can be waxed.

[Accumulator]

Seems I'm always having paintwork done during bad weather While it's curing, I use Meguiar's #5. Nonabrasive and about the easiest product to use that you'll ever try (which is good since you'll have to reapply it after every wash).

Last two winters ('03-04, '04-'05) I used this to protect fresh paint and then I just polished out any marring once it was cured. I only correct fresh paint while it's curing (and still soft) if it's something I just can't live with. Otherwise I correct it one time, before I wax/seal it after the curing phase.

I like #80, but unless I'm doing some correction I just reach for the #5. And I have had a (rare) case where the initial cut of #80 was too harsh for fresh paint (RM brand b/c). Same old story, use the mildest product that'll do the job. If you just want to shine and protect fresh paint while it cures, I'd use a pure polish like #5.

[dvjag]

new paint

Managed to get some #80 so that should take care of it for now, thanks for all the advice , it is appreciated,

[dvjag]

new paint

UPDATE...
Well spent some time with the #80 and must say, my friend and I are delighted with the results, all but the really bad scratches are gone and I used my 10inch wen two speed buffer with a terry bonnet, not the best I am sure but as soon as I can afford it I will get the propper stuff, one downside to this is now all the imperfections that the paint guy made stand out more, fish eyes dust etc, but it looks a lot better. He will be coming back in a few months when the paint has cured, then I might have the proper equipment and I will go over it again with #80 and I might even have some #21, can't wait to see how that will look, took some pictures of the finnished work, will post them when I learn how to, Thanks for the guidance you gave me on this little project.