New Scratch on Trunk, How does this rundown sound? w/pic

[npjohnson]

Went to Florida last week and left my car at someone`s house. When I came back I found a nice scratch on my trunk.



I received a PC for Xmas but have yet to use it. Am going to be practicing on some other parts first but this scratch has energized me to really get going.



Below is a pic of the scratch (4-6" on trunk / nissan sentra / platinum color paint). I`m having trouble telling how deep it is with my fingernail but it`s more than a typical swirl mark.



After a rediculous amount of reading on this website and others here is what I have planned to remove the scratch and polish and seal the car. I have not purchased anything yet so any suggestions are great or even a thumbs up so I know what I am doing is correct. I can`t be purchasing with trial and error due to a budget so I`d like to hit the nail on the head first with products and pads if possible.



1) Initial Wash & Dry

2) Optimum Polish using an Edge 2000 6 Inch Orange Light Cutting DuraFoam DA Pad to spot remove scratches and swirls

3) Werkstatt Prime using a 6 inch Edge Blue Polishing Wave Foam Pad as an all in one

4) Optimum Opti-Seal as a final protectant



Questions:

Do these steps seem pretty logical and do the products seem to fit well together? I will be polishing 4 or 5 cars, my platinum, a green, red, and black?



Would other alternatives make a better solution?



Do the pad choices seem good and how many should I need of each to complete a single car (I was thinking one orange and two blues)? Is the orange with light cutting too harsh? It seemed like a good middle ground with the yellow and green being harsher. Should I stick with the DA pad or wave or is my mixing them a good choice? I figured that for removing scratches the more contact surface of the DA was a better choice for the PC.



Is the Optimum Polish better at removing scratches than the Prime, I just want to make sure there isn`t too much product overlap? Would the prime pretty much cover my AIO needs?





The infamous scratch!

http://www.visim.com/myphotos/carScratch.jpg





Thanks!

Neil

[velobard]

Looks to me like someone set something on the trunk and dragged it off. I haven`t used Prime, but you may want something a little more aggressive than OP. That said it`s certainly worth trying that first, as it`s always best to try the least aggressive method first.

[Changeling]

2 many back and forth strokes, a kid, or someone on purpose.

Changeling

[ron231]

Prime or AIO will not touch those scratches, most likely you are going to have to use a cutting pad...



I would recomend starting with (if going by pc) XMT#4 or Optimum compound for a deep scratch like that. Those might not be strong enough depending on how hard your clear is, but try it first and let us know your results.

[npjohnson]

Looks to me like someone set something on the trunk and dragged it off. I haven`t used Prime, but you may want something a little more aggressive than OP. That said it`s certainly worth trying that first, as it`s always best to try the least aggressive method first.



Yeah, thats what I thought too, looks like someone put a bag on it or something. Being in an open area I can`t imagine some animal doing it.



That`s where my dilema is, is the polish too subtle for the scratch or is a compound too much for it. I guess I would get use out of the polish regardless for swirl marks and such so would be a good purchase anyways. The Optimum website mentioned you can alter the cut based on the pad you use so I might also be able to try it with the low cut orange and then if it doesn`t work switch to a green medium cut pad with the OP instead of going to OC.



I normally like lots of options but man with detailing there is almost too many choices.

[npjohnson]

Prime or AIO will not touch those scratches, most likely you are going to have to use a cutting pad...



I would recomend starting with (if going by pc) XMT#4 or Optimum compound for a deep scratch like that. Those might not be strong enough depending on how hard your clear is, but try it first and let us know your results.



Would you say that OP is too close to Prime in terms of cutting strength to warrant purchasing?



I`m gonna take a look at the XMT #4 too, thanks for the suggestions.



The problem with my clear is that it is hard to tell how hard it is because 4 years ago I was in a bad accident and some of the car was repainted so I am guessing some areas of the clear aren`t the same as the factory specs. I guess the only way is to start light and test it out first.