Help with scratches

I

imported_brerpie

New member
Hey all,



I detailed a 50th aniv. vette today. Overall, it came out ok. However there was a lot of surface marring since the vehicle was not washed for 4 months while a car cover was being put on it multiple times a day. (In addition, this is a daily driver :eek: )



I am having some problems removing several scratches. All of the ones I am aiming at removing cannot catch the tip of my fingernail. That suggests to me that they are not deep. However, I worked them with DACP and a PC to no result. Maybe I'm not working it long enough?



For instance, there is one scratch on the hood that is about 6 inches long. It cannot catch my fingernail; how long should I run the pc on it? I've been doing about one minute for a 10inchx5inch area around the scratch. Should I go longer?



The above paragraph applies to many, many other scratches.



Please let me know what you guys think of the above :bow :bow .



Beneath is a picture of my finished product today:



1.JPG




Thanks!!!!! :xyxthumbs
 
Something just came to thought:



I was using a white polishing pad. Would using a yellow cutting pad make a big difference?



If so, Do I need to worry about potential damage by doing the process again? I'm not going to abrade away too much clearcoat right?
 
brerpie said:
Do I need to worry about potential damage by doing the process again? I'm not going to abrade away too much clearcoat right?
Click to expand...



brerpie,

As a detailing professional, the one thing that would concern me most is making certain that I do not do any damage to the finish of a Corvette.



Think about it this way; if you have to ask yourself the question, then you probably already know the answer.



All things considered, I really don't think I would do the process again. That is just my conservative approach to detailing a $50,000 Corvette.
 
Brerpie,



If you are using a PC then I would not recommend a yellow cutting pad as it will put more marring then it will remove.



The PC most likely is not able to generate enough heat and friction to level the paint down in those areas so this is why they are hangin around.:(



You may need to step up to a rotary in order to remove those pesky scratches and I am betting it could be done with a polishing pad and a mild cleaner BUT I would not use a Vette to start out on:nono



If you feel you must give the car another going over then I would recommend a Lake Country Orange pad over a yellow cutting pad.



Anthony
 
I believe the yellow pad on the PC is very safe, any marring it could cause is easily removed by using a white pad.



yellow cutting pad + DACP on PC

follow with white pad and DACP or SMR compound



If still uneasy, try applying Meg's Scratch X with a cotton towel by hand to the area in question.
 
Berpie- It's always best to err on the side of caution. As Mirrorfinishman said, you don't want to botch up a nice 'vette. And as Anthony said, sometimes you can get into trouble trying to do "rotary work" with a PC.



On the other hand, *MY* C5 polished up rather nicely. I only got aggressive with it once (when it was new), but I used a cutting pad on a PC (Hi-Temp's Light Leveler, as I recall) to get its marring out and I didn't have any problems after following up with milder products/pads. Mike Phillips has recently done some VERY aggressive scratch-removal work on C5's (starting with wetsanding), and those turned out fine, too. But Mike REALLY knows what he's doing!



Again, you GOTTA be careful (no way to overemphasize this), but some of us will work an area for a long, LONG time when using a PC for serious correction. As in spending over an hour on a hood. When you use a mild tool (the PC) with reasonably mild products, you gotta work the area a LONG time (think water wearing down a stone). This is one more reason why a rotary is sometimes the right tool.
 
Quote: Help with scratches



~One man’s opinion / observations~



I guess you’d have to draw the line between an acceptable % of perfection for a clients vehicle (not an Autopian 99%) and leaving enough clear coat so the paint build still has protection. I’m an amateur (with 40+ years of experience) and I respect the things that professionals can do, but when I’m using anything to abrade a paint build all I have in my mind is 0.3 mil (0.0003�) of clear coat will cause major problems, and a sheet of copy paper is 3.5Mil (0.0035�)





~Hope this helps~





Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/



justadumbarchitect * so i question everything*
 
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