Scuff on painted plastic/fiberglass front bumper

D

duke4ever

New member
A few days ago I parked my car outside for the weekend, and I noticed recently that apparently someone on a bike or another car left this beautiful scuff mark.



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I examined the scuff mark and ran over it with my hand, I barely feel any roughness at all, and most of the mark feels just as smooth as the paint surrounding it. There are no scratches that my fingernail can dig into. I am hoping this is something that is on the clear and that can be buffed out.



With that said, I do not own a PC, and it's probably obvious this car has NEVER been polished with any abrasive compound. The car is *only* 4 years old and I never polished out swirls etc... for 3 reasons:



1) I thought I'd need to buy a PC to really get it done



2) I don't have experience with a PC



3) I was afraid of polishing the swirls out and having new swirls etc... and over polishing eventually killing too much clear.



However, I think the first time in 4 years I wouldn't have to worry about killing too much clear and should probably spring for the PC and have a go at it.



Based from the pictures, am I right to believe that some, if not all of this can be removed via PC+polish?



If so, what kind of products should be used?



Thanks guys!
 

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....an off-the-shelf polish like Scratch-X (from Meguiars) and a little elbow grease could clear up most of that abrasion. The only spots that may look permanent is the far left, upper corner and perhaps some tiny spots along that leading edge running down the blemish. If you're thinking of springing for a PC, I don't think you'll be disappointed. ....but if you're worried about that scrape in the meantime, you can always buff it by hand to help reveal the extent of the actual damage. I usually keep a tube of Scratch-X in the trunk of my cars for spot repairs on the go. It's relatively gentle but abrasive enough to cut through paint transfer and light scrapes/scratches. ....I usually end up using it on family/friends cars.
 
Is it dented? Looks that way kinda. Anyway.....You might be able to rent a 7424 or other such device from the local rentastore. Then have at it with some megs 205 on a white foam pad to start. Then move up to 105 w/orange pad.
 
Sounds good to me. I have no personal experience with scratch X, but after playing "Construction Barrel Soccer" with my car at 40mph, I had some scuffs on my fender that I got out with a polisher and some Megs. Would have dented the fender, but it was a Saturn, I experienced dent resistance first hand!



If it's not rough, then I'd treat it like aggressive swirl marks.



:EDIT:



The more aggressive damage to the left looks worse in those pics.
 
You'd be surprised by what you can accomplish by hand, especially concentrated in a small area. The trick is to not leave any finger holograms when pressing down firmly. That's why a polishing pal would be a good idea for even and firm pressure.

That said, a DA would be the obvious choice, however, the OP said they didn't have one.
 
Hi



Hawaiian Island Shine products found on Amazon.com



Buff it out first with "Scuff & Scratch Remover" using a cutting pad, then finish it off with "Cherry Wet Wax" by hand or by buffer using a foam pad.



Believe me this will amaze you.



Doug
 
I don't have anything on hand, that's why I am carefully looking at the suggestions, see what I should buy :). The polishes that seem to capture my attention the most here are, Menzerna, Gloss it, Megs and probably some poor boys SSR. Ultimately, I think I would like to see what I can do by hand before jumping on the PC bandwagon...



I almost picked up a bottle of megs colorx or scratchx because I saw it at the store lol
 
It's going to get addictive. Once you take out that scuff, you'll be tidying up the rest of the car. Then looks for neighbors/friends cars to correct. So addictive in fact, that if you bought a PC, you'll be wondering if you should have bought a Flex.



That being said...



Menzerna polishes for ceramic clear coat paint, Flex buffer, Nano polish, super intensive, Lake Country pads, Show car kit



Or you could go with a Menzerna PC kit...



Menzerna kit, 5.5 lake country pads, porter cable menzerna kit, ceramic clear polishing kit, Mercedes polishing kit



:waxing:
 
not sure if you got it off already, and this will probably raise some debate but I find laquer thinner will take scuff marks out almost effortlessly, but dont be too aggresive with it....dab it onto the rag, I usually do a fingertip amount, and then place your fingertip onto the scuff mark and dont rub it too much, and basically let the laquer thinner do most of the work....but if you arent too experianced with detailing, I wouldnt suggest it incase of an accident
 
DetailDynamix said:
not sure if you got it off already, and this will probably raise some debate but I find laquer thinner will take scuff marks out almost effortlessly, but dont be too aggresive with it....dab it onto the rag, I usually do a fingertip amount, and then place your fingertip onto the scuff mark and dont rub it too much, and basically let the laquer thinner do most of the work....but if you arent too experianced with detailing, I wouldnt suggest it incase of an accident
Click to expand...



You're basically describing thinning out a microscopic layer of clear, just barely enough to remove the scuff , as the thinner dissolves the clear...
 
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