Scratches, overspray, and scuffs

[56FordGuy]

Here are some photos of the trouble spots on the paint of my 2001 model truck. I`d appreciate any advice on where to start with it. I`m willing to try it myself, but nervous that I might go too far without realizing it and do more damage than good.

First is the fender. This fender has been replaced and repainted before I bought the truck. As you can see, it has `scuff` marks or something on it near the badge and near the front. My inexperienced guess would be that some sort of polish might be the right way to go. Any product recommendations? Would I need to do the entire fender (or more) to make it match properly, or just right over the affected areas?

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/frostedford/fender1.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/frostedford/fender2.jpg

Next is some overspray on the back of the cab. The truck is a flatbed, and a previous owner or dealer repainted the bed with a flat black paint. When they did, a bit of overspray got onto the back of the cab. I tried a Meguiar`s claybar with their Quick Detail spray as lube. It came in a kit, and it removed just the least little bit of it. Not as effective as I had hoped, but the kit was a couple of years old (unopened, though). Do claybars break down over time? In any case, I`m guessing a polish again?

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/frostedford/overspray1.jpg

Last but not least for now is the handful of scratches on the door. These are the worst of them, but the entire door is plagued with swirl marks on both sides. More polish, or do these look too deep for that to work?

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w269/frostedford/door1.jpg

Any advice would be great. I don`t have any products other than the old Meguiar`s claybar kit, and no power detailing tools.

Thanks!

[Prerunner06]

Well I know the clay bar kit will get rid of the over spray. just keep the area wet and clay in the same direction and not in a circle. As far as the scratches someone with more experience can chime in. I`m still working on getting that process down. Good luck!

[Stokdgs]

Welcome to a great Forum !

Looks like a really nice truck - all of those areas and actually the entire truck can be really cleaned up but it may take the use of a machine to do it best. Do you have any Detailing equipment/supplies? If so, what do you have ?
Cant see the marks in the paint that clearly; a Claybar wont always get everything off the paintwork, but it will get a whole lot of stuff off. Some stuff is so embedded that only compounding/polishing will remove it best.

For the black paint overspray, you could for sure, remove it with Goof-Off professional strength formula, sold at Home Depot, etc., in the Paint Department area.
Just be sure to try a test spot somewhere with a q-tip and rub a little bit on the
paint and see if it transfers to the q-tip. If it doesnt, use a new one on the overspray, taking it off carefully and use a towel or something to dab the product off. Dont let it stay on the paint too long. There are other things that might remove the overspray - sometimes mineral spirits will do it too. As you know, mineral spirits are used to work with oil based paint, so if that black paint was oil based, mineral spirits will loosen it and remove it easily, and not hurt your truck paint.
A product called Prep-sol or Klean Up will also work to remove grease, oils, and some paints off of automotive paint too..

Let us know what you are thinking of doing, there might just be a good Detailer who posts on this forum already. Are you anywhere near Knoxville ? If so, Eric_Witt, Tru Shine is his business name, is there and he is an awesome Detailer.

Good luck with this.
Dan F

[mrclean81]

I can`t tell from the pics, but those scuff marks around the badges are most likely where the panel was wetsanded too close to the badge, and they couldn`t get their pad close enough to buff it all out. Just my guess..
You may need some more aggressive clay to remove the overspray. I`ve never had good luck with Megs or Mothers clay. Poorboys or Clay Magic have much better clays and will actually give you the results your looking for from it. The over the counter clays are super fine and really don`t remove squat when dealing with overspray.

[56FordGuy]

Do you have any Detailing equipment/supplies? If so, what do you have ?...For the black paint overspray, you could for sure, remove it with Goof-Off professional strength formula, sold at Home Depot, etc., in the Paint Department area...

Let us know what you are thinking of doing, there might just be a good Detailer who posts on this forum already. Are you anywhere near Knoxville ? If so, Eric_Witt, Tru Shine is his business name, is there and he is an awesome Detailer.

Good luck with this.
Dan F

I do not have any detailing equipment, and my only supplies are a Meguiars claybar and some Quick Detailing spray. I hadn`t thought of trying Goof Off or mineral spirits on the overspray, I may give that a try this weekend.

I`m about three hours west of Knoxville, and about an hour north of Nashville.


I can`t tell from the pics, but those scuff marks around the badges are most likely where the panel was wetsanded too close to the badge, and they couldn`t get their pad close enough to buff it all out. Just my guess..

The scuff marks are about 2-3" from the badges, and the one toward the front isn`t really near anything. What would you recommend to use on them?

[mrclean81]

Your most likely going to need a machine. If it were me, id grab the rotary and some compound and knock them out in a matter of seconds, but that`s not something I would advise for someone without a lot of experience with machines. You could try some rubbing compound by hand, but I`ve seen that leave fine scratches before. Your definitely gonna need some compound or polish to remove them though.

[56FordGuy]

Just checking in to say I haven`t forgotten y`all. :) Been tied up with various things, including some mechanical issues with the truck and haven`t been able to address this yet.

[Reality33]

Those scuff marks definitely look like the paint was wet sanded and not polished correctly afterwards.

To take care of these you would need a polisher and several types of pads and polishes to try and see which one works. The best bet would to be with a less aggressive pad and polish combo and see how it corrects the sanding marks. If more aggressiveness is needed, move up in pad strength, then a higher cut polish / compound.

The overspray could be removed by just claying the car. I would try a clay like Clay magic blue or the pinnacle XMT speed clay, which are both around the middle scale of aggressiveness. The clays from Sonüs and Pinnacle are too fine for removing overspray easily.

The scratches on the last picture look like they could be pretty deep. Best bet is to run your fingernail across them. If it catches, it is most likely too deep to correct carefully with a machine or wet sanding and best bet is to touch them up with something like Dr.. Color Chip.

[Todd@RUPES]

Any updates? Really good advice within.

[56FordGuy]

Any updates? Really good advice within.

Unfortunately, no. Seems like I`m either always working, or the weather is nasty. I haven`t forgotten about it, or the forum though. I really appreciate y`alls advice. :)

[56FordGuy]

I`m back, even with a small update. :)

Finally had the chance yesterday to work on the truck a bit. Washed with store brand car wash, then clayed with the Meguiars kit and followed up with Meguiars cleaner wax. I know there are other products better suited to the task, but I used what I had on hand because I figured doing something was better than doing nothing.

The results are an improvement. The white scratches on the door are far less noticeable, and it did remove a bit of the overspray. Unfortunately, the truck has waterspots and a few places that look like tree sap that the process did not remove. I`m planning to order a Clay Magic blue clay bar, and am researching a good polish and wax to follow that with.

Thanks again for the help, even if it has taken me a while to get to it!

[Addicted2Bling]

Sometimes you can remove that overspray with a pressure washer... Might save you some time

[Todd@RUPES]

I`m back, even with a small update. :)

Finally had the chance yesterday to work on the truck a bit. Washed with store brand car wash, then clayed with the Meguiars kit and followed up with Meguiars cleaner wax. I know there are other products better suited to the task, but I used what I had on hand because I figured doing something was better than doing nothing.

The results are an improvement. The white scratches on the door are far less noticeable, and it did remove a bit of the overspray. Unfortunately, the truck has waterspots and a few places that look like tree sap that the process did not remove. I`m planning to order a Clay Magic blue clay bar, and am researching a good polish and wax to follow that with.

Thanks again for the help, even if it has taken me a while to get to it!

Welcome back!

Will you be applying the polish by hand or machine?