Looking for a quick photo analysis of my paint

[putertopia]

I have a 1997 Pontiac Bonneville SLE. I`m looking for some suggestions for detailing. I got a UDM for Christmas, and a good bit of Meguiar`s Gold Class Wax products. I`d like to make use of the Meguiars wax. The paint does have some swirls, but I`m a college student and don`t have tons of money to put into the finish of the car. So I`m looking for suggestions on how to get a mirror finish on this car. I`ve had cars before I did it with, but the paint wasn`t quite this dark, so it`s not quite so easy.



I have a complete photo album of what the car looked like after a quick wax with Turtle Wax Ice Spray Wax. I ended up never wanting to use it again, and I`m a pure Meguiars guy now. The album is at putertopia/bville ice - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting (http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff207/putertopia/bville%20ice/). Here`s a quick preview of what I`m dealing with:



http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff207/putertopia/bville%20ice/GEDC0216.jpg



I think the biggest bother is a scratch that the dealer tried to touch up with paint that looks like it goes to some kind of chrysler vehicle. Definitely does not match. Could I just sand that off, use my touch up paint with a toothpick, sand until even and do a quick spray of clearcoat to fix that? Rear bumper is getting touched up and re-cleared in about a month, so I`m not going to worry about that. It`s very dull.



The tail lights ARE tinted, and need re-cleared. I basically dripped sweat in one of the lenses, ended up sanding all of the clear coat off, and going to re-clear when I ran out of clear coat lol.



I`m thinking just a decent claybarring and Meguiar`s Gold Class Wax with the UDM will do the trick?



Give me some input, thanks!

[imported_themightytimmah]

The whole car looks a little bit dull - try Meguiar`s #80 on a white polishing pad @6 to bring out the depth and darkness in that color. Top with Megs #26 if you can get it, it`ll help darken the color much more than GC.

[putertopia]

Alright, thanks for the input. Howbout that scratch that somebody touched up with the wrong paint? I`m not scared of sanding, and I have almost a 100% match of paint in a spraycan sittin in my garage that I used to fix the fender somebody took a key to. Also, a an of clear coat and I can get my hands on polyester filler.

[imported_JoshVette]

You will never get a "mirror" like finish by just using a wax.



You`ll need to claybar it first, then do whatever touch up painting you need to do.



Then buy an abrasive polish or compound and an orange pad for the UDM.



Use the abrasive pad and polish to clear up the paint, then it should be ready to wax and will have a significantly improved depth, color and crisper reflections.

[putertopia]

I have 3m cut compound, swirl remover, and final glaze. Would that work?

[putertopia]

3m stuff is good then I shall assume.

[KnuckleBuckett]

3m can be good. Used carefully and or properly. I definately recommend a PC or the like.

[Aviator16]

I`ve got a similar problem, someone at one time keyed my drivers side door and the previous owner didn`t know what he was doing and did a realy bad touch up job, any suggestions on repairing that,

i can try uploading pictures later if needed.

[the other pc]

Most touch-up paint will dissolve in simple solvents like paint thinner, acetone or even nail polish remover.





PC.