Removing fine scratches

Removing fine scratches

Author
Discussion

Gad-Westy

Original Poster:

15,670 posts

228 months

Thursday 25th December 2008
quotequote all
Merry Christmas one and all.

The front of my Elise has a few very fine scratches/swirls and dull patches where a scouring pad has been used to remove bugs (I wish I was joking!). No amount of hand polishing (Auto Glym or Zymol stuff from Halfords) seems to shift them. What are my best options now? I'm a total novice with regard to detailing so the simpler the better as far as I'm concerned. Cheers chaps.

Anatol

1,392 posts

249 months

Thursday 25th December 2008
quotequote all
If you're a total novice, the potential for actually making things worse is quite high. I'd suggest getting a pro detailer to wet sand the damaged lacquer and polish the shine back in for you. There are plenty of well-regarded folk who do that for a living in this forum, or get a recommendation in your local regional forum...

HTH

Tol

Tim Bomford

232 posts

270 months

Friday 26th December 2008
quotequote all
Merry Christmas to you too!
Sounds bad news and the damage could be too bad already.
Where in the country are you?
Cheers
Tim

Gad-Westy

Original Poster:

15,670 posts

228 months

Saturday 27th December 2008
quotequote all
Cheers chaps. I'm still tempted to have a go at it myself with something like scratch-x but if that fails I'll seek professional help.

EludeRS

5 posts

198 months

Sunday 4th January 2009
quotequote all
Hey mate, myself & the lad who was driving the FRS today both detail if you want us to have a look at it.

One of Rich's last details:
http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&...

Gad-Westy

Original Poster:

15,670 posts

228 months

Tuesday 6th January 2009
quotequote all
EludeRS said:
Hey mate, myself & the lad who was driving the FRS today both detail if you want us to have a look at it.

One of Rich's last details:
http://www.ffoc.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&...
Cheers mate, the RS did look clean! I'm determined to have a go myself (I admit this may be a little naive!) but if that doesn't go well I'll certainly be in touch.

mneame

1,484 posts

226 months

Monday 12th January 2009
quotequote all
If you're determined to have a go yourself get some quality products that you'll be able to continue to use in future. Personally i'd go for menzerna intensive polish and apply using the white side of a german applicator pad. make sure to prep well first:

a good clean down using 2bm,
dry,
clay bar,
re wash,
dry,
polish,
protect with a good wax etc.

As Tim said it may be too late to remove the effect completely.

With regards to wet sanding it's an extreme step to take and you'd need to be sure that you have enough paint to play with. Being a plastic panel you'd need a pretty pukka ptg to measure how much paint you have there.

Detailers will do what you want them to. If you only want the bumper looked at them tell them and get them to quote for it. Most charge per hour so shouldn't be a problem.

Where about's in the country are you? We'll be able to advise of detailers in your area should you want to go that route in the future.