Scratch repair

[Flexpy19]

Got the inevitable parking garage scratch. Not deep enough to be caused by another car, about a foot long, and not very deep but did go deeper than the top coat of paint. Does anyone know of a good scratch remover? Not sure if the aluminum body plays a role in what to use. The scratch itself is very thin, hairline like but no taxable.

 

[Sgt Darkness]

If it were me I would start with a no-grit wax. If that doesn’t help then go to a polish that is a bit gritty like a compound polish. That should remove the paint (if any). I’m talking a blue car with a white paint scratch, for example. You want to remove the paint the scratch made but not to remove the paint from your own vehicle. When using compound start with a lite touch then if need be start using a heavier touch until it starts to take the scratch off, without removing the vehicles paint. If the scratch is down to bare metal then of course you will end up sanding, using primer, sand some more, wet sanding, etc. Some folks, at that point, will turn it over to the paint shop folks to finish it the rite way....good luck.....

 

[16plati]

Got the inevitable parking garage scratch. Not deep enough to be caused by another car, about a foot long, and not very deep but did go deeper than the top coat of paint. Does anyone know of a good scratch remover? Not sure if the aluminum body plays a role in what to use. The scratch itself is very thin, hairline like but no taxable.

1000/2000/3000 grit wet sand, megs ultimate compound, poilsh, wax

 

[TobyU]

Lots of stuff will work. Meguiar's Cleaner Wax is about the least aggressive for light clear coat mars or scratches.
They sell products like Scratch Out etc too.
Zymol cleaner wax is similar to the Maguiar's but leaves nicer swirl free end result.
For a deeper scratch in the clear coat I prefer a compound. My favorite is Pro Ultimate Cutter.
Meguiar's Ultimate Compound is similar. They have an Ultimate Polish too I think.
They show the aggressiveness level on most of their products. Just start with lower for lighter scratch damage until you get good at knowing what to use right away.

I use the Pro Ultimate Cutter on anything and then follow with Zymol then top coat of wax.

If it is hairline and not deep you will not need anything more than cleaner wax then maybe pure wax top coat. Just polish it with a rag then buff off. Maybe take 2-3 times but it should disappear.

 

[1955moose]

I've always liked Dupont medium duty rubbing compound with a wet round wax applicator. Beyond that, it's wet sanding time, with a 1500-2500 sandpaper, followed up by a buffing with either a foam or lambs wool buffer, and the aforementioned compound, followed by a good wax. Personally I like Klasse all in one German wax, good stuff.

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[TobyU]

I've always liked Dupont medium duty rubbing compound with a wet round wax applicator. Beyond that, it's wet sanding time, with a 1500-2500 sandpaper, followed up by a buffing with either a foam or lambs wool buffer, and the aforementioned compound, followed by a good wax. Personally I like Klasse all in one German wax, good stuff.

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I have used dupont polishing (white) and rubbing (red) compounds but you are showing your age here.. Lol

They are like 1975 products and rubbing is too aggressive for minor paint correction (that's a new term for me that they use now. I just always listed each thing - scratch, or oxidation etc....now paint correction is the catch all)

The polishing is not really aggressive enough BUT also doesn't polish out swirls well.

There are so many better products available.
Some also 25+ years old but more body shop quality than department store.
I just used up the last of a metal can or dupont rubbing about 4 years ago on some stained fiberglass bus turtle top shell.

Mequiar's number 1 medium and then number 3 work well but now the ultimate compound and polish are used more.

I used a lot of number 3 to get swirls out of a nice repaint on a 67 Pontiac with a87 IROC Z darker blue on it.

This Pro brand Ultimate Cutter is beat I have used.
By hand or foam pad polisher it is great.
It talks about initial cutting/cleaning bite or aggressiveness but then the smooth oils/polishing agents, lubricants etc finish.
Sounds like bull but it WORKS.
I can have water or dust puck marks on the roof of black car and in one application the finish looks great with no hardly any swirls. Then I finish with Zymol by hand and it's so deep it's amazing.

This is the black car I did the above too.
This is after sitting for a year under 1/16 inch of dust and a lot of swirls in paint.
Once with foam polishing pad with 1000 rpm polisher (I don't have a random orbit) and twice over by hand with Zymol.

This is 4-5 years ago in Pigeon Forge at Rod Run.

You can read a yardstick to about 26 in it but that is mainly because I HATE orange peel and scuffed and buffed the whole car....(6-8 long hours) .

I took a picture last year of a brand new Challenger in black with so much orange peel you couldn't read the signs across the street for in the reflection for the distortion.

The goal of a paint job ( and body work)it to be crystal clear and smooth LIKE a MIRROR with tint.
As a matter of fact I have seen some mirrors with slight waves or ripples in them.

I have been to many car shows and VERY VERY few paint jobs are PERFECT or to where you cant find at least a small flaw.

I almost had to give up my car obsession for this level of OCD I have for appearance.

I spent 3 hours every Friday in my late teens and early 20s prepping my car exterior to go out and drag race the roads until I was either our gas money, pulled over and fesh with ticket, or vehicle or engine noise, issue, failure.

 

[Jeff Morris]

Meguires Scratch X 2.0 my go to before trying anything else. Mild but effective may need some elbow grease and a couple of tries at it but works great on most mild and moderate blemishes. If it is a deeoer scratch it will softem the scratch edges and help blend it in until you decide on your next move. Available at most bix stores with automotive departments. Costs around $8.00.

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[Aspen03]

If its through the clear and into the base coat you dont have a lot of options other than reduce the blemish unless you're going to do touch up. Assuming it's bad an aggressive polish/compound is likely necessary. You're going to need a DA polisher to get much done, it's pretty tedious by hand and you're likely to never get the same results along with the size of the scratch you'd be at it awhile.

Look at Chemical Guys, they sell a sample pack, 4, 4oz bottles of their cutting polishes in their V32-V38 range, the 32 is aggressive enough to remove 1500 grit wet sanding scratches.

The paint scuff below I removed by hand with the V38 in about 5min, it was only about 3" tall and not a scratch, just paint transfer that happened w the previous owner. Just to give you an idea of the range those 4 products encompass.The V38 is very mild polish where 32 is the kill it with fire, almost.

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[Flexpy19]

The scratch has a little depth to it but still retained the paint color, I used the meguires scratch x 2.0 and it did make the scratch less noticeable, you can still see the scratch (more of a cut through the top layer of clear coat) at certain angles but difficult to see head on unless you were looking for it. Not sure short of a filler what would improve the appearance more, it is livable as it is. Thanks for the suggestions!!