Scratches

Take good care of her
Post Reply
User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Scratches

Post by campbell » Sun Aug 26, 2012 12:17 am

I don't post in "Car Care" often. Odd, that, given it's all I'm even remotely qualified to do to my car!

Anyway, we had some serious scratches down the pax side of the family barge from our exploits on the narrow lanes of Cornwall this summer.

Really thought a machine burnish was going to be required.

But first I dug out my Meguiars fancy scratch removal stuff. Last used to try to mediate the mess some dope made when they reversed their Fiat van over the top of my front clam. Worked not bad on the Elise's silver paintwork. Ish. Not today though, just made a streaky mess on the Skoda's Race Blue paintwork. :-(

So then I dug out the Mer. Yes, good old Mer. Shlapped some on with an applicator, more to take away the Meguiar streaks than to treat the scratches really, and - whaddayaknow - they are GONE. Literally. There is one deeper one on the front wing which can still be picked out...if you look hard...but otherwise it's a transformation. I tackled some others elsewhere on the car (in fact I did the whole thing - I'm exhausted, Mer is hard work) and I'm glad I did. Finished just before the rain started too!

And there you have it. My 2p for tonight.

Sorry, no before and after pics though :-(

Campbell
(shiny faction)
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

User avatar
C7Steve
Posts: 4381
Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:00 pm
Location: Aberdeen

Re: Scratches

Post by C7Steve » Sun Aug 26, 2012 7:13 am

Campbell, I think that the scratches will still be there, as it sounds like you have only filled them up with Mer (don't know what this is exactly). The only way to get rid of the scratches, would be to polish them out with a machine, if there not too deep, or a respray. If you go for the machine polisher, or respray route, then you won't have to worry about doing the whole car with "Mer" again, once it all washes off.

I am sure that Tuscan Thunder will be along soon, to put me right, and give us an experts opinion.

Steve.

User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Re: Scratches

Post by campbell » Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:06 am

Thanks for the reassurance ;-)

C'est la vie eh.
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

User avatar
flyingscot68
Posts: 1877
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 2:31 pm
Location: East Kilbride
Contact:

Re: Scratches

Post by flyingscot68 » Sun Aug 26, 2012 10:14 am

I'm of the opinion that if you can't see them, they're no longer there..............

User avatar
tuscan_thunder
Posts: 1189
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: Scratches

Post by tuscan_thunder » Sun Aug 26, 2012 11:02 am

campbell wrote:I don't post in "Car Care" often. Odd, that, given it's all I'm even remotely qualified to do to my car!

Anyway, we had some serious scratches down the pax side of the family barge from our exploits on the narrow lanes of Cornwall this summer.

Really thought a machine burnish was going to be required.

But first I dug out my Meguiars fancy scratch removal stuff. Last used to try to mediate the mess some dope made when they reversed their Fiat van over the top of my front clam. Worked not bad on the Elise's silver paintwork. Ish. Not today though, just made a streaky mess on the Skoda's Race Blue paintwork. :-(

So then I dug out the Mer. Yes, good old Mer. Shlapped some on with an applicator, more to take away the Meguiar streaks than to treat the scratches really, and - whaddayaknow - they are GONE. Literally. There is one deeper one on the front wing which can still be picked out...if you look hard...but otherwise it's a transformation. I tackled some others elsewhere on the car (in fact I did the whole thing - I'm exhausted, Mer is hard work) and I'm glad I did. Finished just before the rain started too!

And there you have it. My 2p for tonight.

Sorry, no before and after pics though :-(

Campbell
(shiny faction)
Mer is a mixed of non-diminishing abrasives (a la T-Cut but to a lesser extent) and filling and glazing oils. It will cut into and remove paint and hence 'remove' scratches.

(All polishes do this; they don't so much remove scratches as remove the surrounding paint to leave a more level surface).

Skoda paint isn't massively hard so doesn't need a hugely aggressive polish but it's interesting you found the Meguiar's worked on the Elise. All factory painted Loti I've worked on have had quite hard paint and need quite aggressive machine polishing to remove defects. (Fiats have some of the softest paints by the way).

What you might find is a bit of drop back further down the line; essentially the filling and glazing oils, which will sit in the defect (imagine the scratch as a valley, the oils fill that valley giving the impression of a level surface) will wash out over time so you might find the marks reappear to an extent.

You might also find that the Mer will leave a wee bit of hazing behind; the abrasives don't break down as you work them so you may see, in direct sunlight, a slight crazing/starring effect - if you do, the way to overcome it is to use a finer grade of polish or one which breaks down as you work it, leaving a sharper finish.

However, it could be that you've managed to remove the marks, or reduce their appearance to such an extent that they aren't really visible.

The one thing to definitely do is apply a sealant or wax now; that'll help 'lock in' the glazing oils, help protect the paint and also make future cleaning much easier by giving a nice slick surface.
Mair throttle, less brake

User avatar
robin
Jedi Master
Posts: 10525
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 1:39 pm

Re: Scratches

Post by robin » Sun Aug 26, 2012 1:55 pm

I prefer my approach - ignore (you cannot see paintwork whilst driving, nor when the car is in the garage and you are in the kitchen :-)). I get Katie to blindfold me before I go to the garage and I only remove blindfold once in the car :-)

Cheers,
Robin
I is in your loomz nibblin ur wirez
#bemoretut

User avatar
tut
Barefoot Ninja
Posts: 22975
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:53 pm
Location: Tut End, Glen of Newmill

Re: Scratches

Post by tut » Sun Aug 26, 2012 3:34 pm

Unfortunately Robin it is owners like yourself that give the Forum a bad name to the newbies, who could get the impression that we do not look after our cars.

tut

User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Re: Scratches

Post by campbell » Sun Aug 26, 2012 6:02 pm

tuscan_thunder wrote: The one thing to definitely do is apply a sealant or wax now; that'll help 'lock in' the glazing oils, help protect the paint and also make future cleaning much easier by giving a nice slick surface.
Aha, righto. Your insight is much appreciated :-)

In my portfolio I currently have Zymol, and also an Autoglym finishing polish of some sort (rarely used it). Would prefer to use Zymol - will that do the trick?
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

User avatar
tuscan_thunder
Posts: 1189
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: Scratches

Post by tuscan_thunder » Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:04 am

Yes indeed, that'd be perfect.

That way, if the scratch removal has been performed by the glazing oils in the Mer, you won't have your hard work undone as soon as it rains!
Mair throttle, less brake

User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Re: Scratches

Post by campbell » Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:03 am

LOL, well it's rained on it already but I'll take a look when I next get time. If all looks well, Zymol goes straight on. If not, I'll do another round of (light) Mer to bring things back up to scratch (arf) then get round it immediately with the finishing wax.

Jeez this car care nonsense is hard going ;-)

Next stop the MINI I suppose...
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

User avatar
tuscan_thunder
Posts: 1189
Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:33 pm
Location: Aberdeenshire

Re: Scratches

Post by tuscan_thunder » Mon Aug 27, 2012 10:39 pm

Mini will have pretty hard paint so you'll have your work cut about by hand!

If you have some spare time these two guides are pretty good: http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... ng-do.html http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog ... i-use.html

Get a coffee before you start reading them!
Mair throttle, less brake

User avatar
Dominic
Posts: 14411
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2005 10:14 am
Location: Milton Of Campsie
Contact:

Re: Scratches

Post by Dominic » Tue Aug 28, 2012 9:31 am

robin wrote:I prefer my approach - ignore (you cannot see paintwork whilst driving, nor when the car is in the garage and you are in the kitchen :-)). I get Katie to blindfold me before I go to the garage and I only remove blindfold once in the car :-)

Cheers,
Robin
:damnfunny Good technique. I might need to start using the back door to my garage soon, so I don't see all the stone chips on the front of the car when I open the front door.
http://www.dsaccountancy.com

1999 Lotus Elise Sport 135'99

User avatar
campbell
Posts: 17191
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:42 pm
Location: West Lothian
Contact:

Re: Scratches

Post by campbell » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:09 am

Thanks for the guides, John. Interesting reading. Time is against me with such things, I'm afraid, but I really will have a go at doing the 2-stage polish then seal approach as best I can, and see how that plays out. Perhaps just one panel at a time over several washes.

I have just inspected my handiwork, since the torrential rain, and indeed some of the heavier scratches look a bit more prominent again as forecast by you and Steve. The upside is that a lot of the finer stuff is definitely gone. Progress, for sure :-)
http://www.rathmhor.com | Coaching, training, consultancy

Post Reply