Tiny Scratches & when everything fails...

[gogo4]

:( K, so again im fairly new and have been absorbing as much info on this website as I can. Excillent writeups and ppl here so I want to thank everybody ahead of time.

I just recived my PC7424 With the SFX kit. I also have in my inventory so far....

Mothers Claybar/sonus claybar
Megs Wash
Megs #2
Megs 1,2,3 step
Megs paint cleaner
Sonus Paintwork Cleanser
P21SPCL
P21SWAX
KAIO
3M 1200grit compound
Scratch X
ETC.

...Now I have tried the following for my 01` MidnightBlue Corvette, which has some light swirels and some fine scratches( prob caused by me w/ carless cleaning.) The car has never seen rain and has been garaged all its life w/ only 15k on the odo... yes a garage queen. Now im very new to this so the more detailed of explanation I can get the better.This is what I tried tonight with some success but not perfect.
I am working with lots of flourescent lightning so I do see every blemmish.

Cutting pad w/ M3 Compound (with results but thats after re-applying it 6x in one lil 2x2 Sqf area!) ...yet still not perfect I still see fine scratches on the clear coat. I know they are fine since i can`t feel it w/ my nail.

polish pad w/Sonus Paintwork Cleanser which helps the surface shine up alot after the compound but the little blemishes and scratches remain.

Another seperate polish pad w/Megs #2 Also with little success.

Now what would you guys recommend?
I am awaiting the ssr 1,2,3 to arrive on the 6th but i don`t like the wait anybody have any other suggestions? I have to wait till the pads drie maybe I will try the heavy cutting pad with Megs#2.......tomorrow. anyone ?

[JaredPointer]

Sounds like if you are using a heavy cut compound with a cutting pad you and are still seeing the same marring as before you started that you are not working the area long enough. Go over it sloooooooowly (and sometimes -more often than not- even multiple passes). Work in small sections per panel - again slooooowly.

If that is not working, maybe those "fine scratches" are not so "fine" and need someting more powerful, like a Cyclo or rotary.

On a second note, be sure what you are seeing after you polish is not marring & hazing from the pad/compound. Sounds like you are using a pretty heavy duty combo (which could be another problem altogether - the PC can only do so much), so that may be a problem as well. Follow up with finer pads and polishes until you remove the hazing.

[gogo4]

thanx jared.

Yeah I don`t think its marring or hazing.... since after I used the pc the paint did come out looking better then before... just not perfectly perfect as I liked it to be ya konw... but if your saying that im using the right stuff maybe I will continue since I wasen`t going soooo slooooowww maybe il give that a shot.

[mgm2003]

Hold on partner.

Why did you decide to start with `Cutting pad w/ M3 Compound` (assume you mean 3M compound)?

I would suggest that you wash, clay bar, and use a cleaning polish, then inspect your finish to decide how to tackle any swirls or defects. I`m not trying to come off as an expert, but I would not attack a `garage queen` with compound unless it was my LAST alternative.

[gogo4]

MGM heh ahead of you brother... I have already clayed it down and cleaned that baby up and now I am inspecting the finish and it seems hard to get out the scratches left in the clear coat...they are not light but not deep scratches there is whole alot of them too all over the car.... not sure what you call that. So if anyone has an alternative let me know the compounding worked but takes quite a bit of work even on small sections to get rid of it.

Now after heavy cutting compounding what would you suggest to use or can i go straight to the sonus paint cleaner and very fine compound ?

Btw i did mean 3M not M3 heh.

[JaredPointer]

Now after heavy cutting compounding what would you suggest to use or can i go straight to the sonus paint cleaner and very fine compound ?



Probably not the best idea. I would recommend from a heavy compound to step down to a medium cut type polish. From there step down even further to something more mild.