I knew I shouldn't have tried it

I think the issue here is less how it happened, and more "how can this be fixed". Assuming it cannot be felt with a fingernail, I think a little compounding or wetsanding might do the trick.
 
That looks quite fixable to me. You might want to find somone with a rotary you can trust - RickRack down at Bay State Motorsports is a corvette specialist - call him up and tell him you're from Autopia.
 
Are you the first owner of this car? The reason I ask is from the pictures it is obvious that this car has a very bad case of micromarring (swirls). Do you wash the car yourself? Also, what polish and pad were you using?



That straight scratch couldn't have possibly come from the PC. I'm not sure about the cluster of tiny scratches to the right of it though. Its definitely not caused by the PC itself though. I can't stress enough how important it is to make sure you are working on a perfectly clean surface and ensuring that your pads are completely free of any dirt and debris.
 
themightytimmah said:
That looks quite fixable to me...
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Got’ta agree. If it’s that wide a scratch but you still can’t feel it it’s probably very shallow.



I also agree that’s there’s no way the PC did that.





PC.
 
ptaylor_9849- Welcome to Autopia and sorry to hear you're having problems with the finish on your 'vette.



If the problem in question is the straight vertical scratch that I see in the pic, then that did *NOT* come from the PC as it doesn't move in that sort of straight line. The other marring looks like they typical wash-induced stuff that most cars have.



The clear on 'vettes is hard, much harder than the paint on Mazdas, so it'll take a) a slightly different technique and b) some work to fix it with (only) the PC. I'd use 4" pads as they allow you to apply more pressure without bogging the machine down. Make sure the car, the pads, the work environment, *EVERYTHING* is perfectly clean. Make sure youre MFs are soft enough that they won't cause marring (CD test). Make sure you break the Meznerna down completely, there's a chance that what looks (to me) like wash-induced marring is really from polish that was wasn't broken down completely. Maybe you oughta use a more user-friendly product while you get the hang of working the clear on that particular car (no, that's not intended as a slam at Menzerna). Heh, a black Corvette just isn't the easiest vehicle in the world to detail.



I sure wouldn't say "never again" about the PC over this...I've done worse things on more expensive cars and I just corrected them and moved on; it's a learning process and black cars are good for this in that they let you see just how well you're doing (or not ;) ). Not like you can't make big mistakes by hand either and no way would I expect to do effective polishing on that car by hand.
 
I can't really feel the scratch with my nail. I'm not sure how I got these scratches but this was the area I was working in prior to me finding them. The picture is aweful. The car does not appear this bad in person. The picture is just very close up. The paint is somewhat micro marred but NOT to the extent it shows in the picture. I just bought this car 2 weeks ago. Trust me, in real life this car looks very nice. It's just when I start zooming in with a digital camera that it looks aweful. In fact, here's another picture that I hope downloads larger.

100_0461-1.jpg
 
Not to nitpick about your paint, but if we can see the swirls in the pictures, they are there. Hit that car with a halogen lamp or something similar and you will get a true look at how swirled the paint really is. Just do what you can with the scratch, or if you are nervous about it find someone else to help you. If you can't feel the scratch then chances are that you can at least get the scratch to the point where it's virtually unnoticable by anyone but you.
 
Maybe you had some dirt or salt particles on the car or pad when you were doing it.106ff is an amazing polish and would not do this. Where you doing this in that garage? What pad where you using?
 
I have made 3 passes with an orange pad using 106FF. I've never had such a hard time getting out surface imperfections as I have with this car. It's probably because of the extremely hard clear coat. It may have been piece of road salt or something. Most of my polishing experience comes from light polishing, glazing and waxing. When it comes to compounding or heavy cutting I'm a little nervous as I probably should be. I don't fully understand the limits and capabilities of the P/C. I did spend quite some time on the front bumper and it looks better but not perfect. At this point I have 2 choices. Continue with the P/C or bring the car to a professional with a rotary. Problem is, it's 20 degrees here and the roads are covered in salt dust.
 
Just my personal opinion, but this is a rough time of year to try to polish a car that's being used in winter weather, at least if you expect your results to last at all. If I were in your shoes (and to some extent I am) I'd wait until spring to do the serious polishing and just be happy with a couple layers of protective wax, then ONR it in your garage to keep it reasonably clean.



BTW, I agree with everyone else that there's no way a scratch that shape came from the orbital action on the PC.
 
It is cold out here also. I wish you lived a little closer to me, but vette clears need to be done with a rotory to come out perfect if the scratches and marring are coarse. Do you have a yellow pad?
 
I always have best luck with my yellow pads and my honest opinion, I hate the orange pads! They are too stiff and leave marks on some clears.



First off...Make sure you have a super clean surface and clean very well with a quick detail spray. Make sure your pads are also very clean and freshly washed. Also 106ff is not strong enough for taking out defects on a vettes. On vettes I have tried so many compounds and polishes and the only one that I have had great results were Presta ultra cutting creme light. It is not that harsh of a product, but it works fast.
 
ptaylor_9849 said:
Superbuick, thanks for inserting the image for me. I'm gonna try this again with a front view of the car and see if it works. I don't know how this scratch got there but it certainly wasn't there before I started polishing. Unless it was filled in with a glaze or something to hide it before I bought the car and my polishing revealed it. But again, I'm no expert.

100_04611.jpg
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That is what came to my mind. I've only had it happen a couple of times in the past 16 years. First time was when I clayed a rear bump on a town & country van. Nasty scratch that had been touched up at some point showed up. Another one I can remember was on a friends car. He had touched up a few rock chips and when I ran the pc over it the paint came out. I would assume poor prep on the touch is to blame.
 
I was also going to say there is a good chance the scratch was already there. We all know that dealers will do whatever they can to hide imperfections to sell a car.
 
I am looking at that pic and can't resist impression that that tire with all the dirt on it so close to edge of fender to make me wonder could it be that pad had contact, even if a very brief and slight one, with dirt on the tire and transferred it on paint?
 
ZoranC said:
I am looking at that pic and can't resist impression that that tire with all the dirt on it so close to edge of fender to make me wonder could it be that pad had contact, even if a very brief and slight one, with dirt on the tire and transferred it on paint?
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That can certainly happen but the pattern of the scratches doesn’t look like it did here. If you pick up grit with a PC you get lots of little squigglies, not the straight scratches or random arcs you see here.





PC.



100_0487.jpg
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