so now i`m confused about scratches (read!)

[coolal]

<<< All on my 2004.5 Brilliant Black Audi A4 Ultrasport>>>



Hey guys, everyone was a big help with what to do with my car wash scratches. After recieving all my stuff i went home this weekend to test it out just on my hood. To start with i must say these scratches on the hood were localized to a 8in diameter area, some were white to the primer and almost all could be felt by fingernail.



SO this is what i did

1) Gold class car wash on hood



2) Clayed the hood



3) GOld class car wash again



4) Top of the Line light cut swirl mark remover



5) Menzerma final polish I



6) Menzerma final polish II



All these applied with the corded 4k rpm mini Wen



7) by hand a coat of black car carnuba from top of the line (40 bux for that thing! ouch)



so each step of the way i did half on the hood compared then finished the rest of the hood. what i started noticing after the first menzerma treatment was something i`ve never read about. I don`t know if this is part of the process or not but i had what appeared to be mirco micro micro fine scratches. They almost made the black paint on my car look like it had a metallic / deep look. It was very interesting, i had to be 6 inches away from the car to indentify the "Scratches", they are about 1-2mm long and 1/2 - 1/4 mm in width.



By the way i didn`t know how hard to press down with the wen... a little help in this area would be greatly appreciated.



Lastly was the black car wax, which was black but came off clear on the towel. This basically erased those micro scratches and left a very nice finished feel to the car.



SO HERE IS THE PART THAT GOT ME



I had trouble finding the scratches! So i shut all the lights off (it being night by now) pulled out a high intensity LED light and shined it horizontal to sections of the hood to find all the little things i missed. Once i located the scratches it was fairly easy to know they were there, HOWEVER, i could no longer feel them.



Took about 1 1/2 hours to do the hood. I want to make sure i`m doing everything correctly before i tackle the whole car during spring break.



If anyone has some pointers or advice please feel free to say it.



Thanks,

Alex

[Jesstzn]

Originally posted by coolal

[BThey almost made the black paint on my car look like it had a metallic / deep look. It was very interesting, i had to be 6 inches away from the car to indentify the "Scratches", they are about 1-2mm long and 1/2 - 1/4 mm in width.



[/B]

Did these tiny scratches have a pattern .. maybe like chicken tracks?

[coolal]

I wouldn`t say they had a pattern as much as they just seemed to emanate from any point i looked at... there were soo small and just everywhere... it was a nice look at some angles and with the wax they disappeared.



What i really wanted to do was make sure i wasn`t using the little Wen incorrectly. Maybe pressing to hard, or not hard enough, etc...



-Alex

[Eliot Ness]

Your Wen may not be fast enough or have enough power to properly "break down" the polishes. If that is the case then you would have some very fine hazing, most likely from the IP.



I believe the Menzerma polishes work best with a rotary, and while many have very good luck using them with a PC, your Wen is most likely better suited for wax, sealer, or maybe even a paint cleaner rather than an abrasive polish.

[Jesstzn]

I was just wondering if it wasn`t clear failure.. it can look like tiny marks like he described.

[Accumulator]

Clearcoat failure on a 2004.5 Audi would be *very* unusual. Much more likely it was just some weird kind of marring that got inflicted who-knows-how.



coolal- That must`ve been a bit of a job. Audis are hard to correct, especially without polishers more powerful than yours. Sounds like you did a good job.



I`m a little surprised at the micromarring from the Menzerna If anything I would`ve expected it more from the light cut. If I *had* to take a guess I`d suspect some contamination got on the hood, or your towels did it, or the marks were the remnants of marring that you had almost completely removed, but not quite.



What does *not* surprise me is how it was tough to spot the marring in certain lighting. You`re on the right track- turn out the "regular" lights and use something that really shows off the marring. I use a flashlight to inspect cars in showrooms, very similar to what you were doing. We`ve had a *lot* of discussions about what lighting is best for inspection, might be worth a search or two.