Doh! Put in some possibly deep scratches

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bcwang

New member
I wanted to polish out some swirls on my gas cap, and put some swirlx on a microfiber and started rubbing in circles. It was getting better but I had some scratches on it that weren't changing so I decided to apply a bit more pressure. Well through the haze I can see these circles and I was getting concerned. I wiped off the residue and what do I see, deep circular scratches like a piece of grit was stuck on the towel. I was pissed!



I looked at the towel and saw nothing on it though, but there were these crystal looking things on parts of it, which I think might be the abrasives in swirlx. the scratches look deep like a grove in the clearcoat (white car), but I can't feel it with my finger or nail. I then tried mothers scratch remover and it didn't change at all. Then I just finished up with swirlx again and got out any of the light swirls but now I have these deep circular grooves all over the gas cap.



Question 1, can too much pressure scratch paint like that, or is it definitely some grit? This is pretty scary because I saw no grit and I started light and saw no issue, it is only when I pressed harder that suddenly it started cutting the paint.



Question 2, any ideas how to safely remove this without a paint thickness gauge? Any by hand products stronger than mothers scratch remover and won't wear out the clear?



Question 3, what are these crystal like things in swirlx? And why do they actually look so big (like salt crystal)? I would think anything in swirlx should be microscopic. This is only after rubbing it for a while and inspecting the towel that I see these crystals.
 
My gas cap has put indentations on the cover from rubbing against it. They are not scratches but actual indentations.



Are you sure the swirlx didn't just clear everything up and made them more noticeable?



Since mine aren't actal scratches in the cc I doubt there's a way to fix it. I just live with it. Its hardly noticeable except at certain angles
 
Oh mine are definitely scratches. The paint was fine before, it was just some swirls I wanted to take out. But now these are real, and bad. Looks like someone was using my gas cap to try and get a pen writing again.
 
Perhaps those crystal things are the cause of it. I don't think you can really see them in the SwirlX. Just get a more aggressive polish and a PC and you could probably get everything back to new, especially if you can't feel them with your fingernails.
 
bcwang said:
Question 1, can too much pressure scratch paint like that, or is it definitely some grit?
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Yeah, too much pressure can make some products misbehave. 1Z Pasta Intensiv can do *exactly* what you described, and to the extent that it takes some real doing to fix the damage (gee, guess how I know :o ). So I do think it's possible that the Swirl-X did something like that. Does sound weird though...



Question 2, any ideas how to safely remove this without a paint thickness gauge? Any by hand products stronger than mothers scratch remover and won't wear out the clear?
Click to expand...



I think you have to take the dreaded leap and just try to fix it, hoping for the best (or else live with it...nah, didn't think you would ;) ). I'd go with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (actually *I* would probably use M105). DON'T PRESS HARD, let the product do the cutting slowly and gently.



Question 3, what are these crystal like things in swirlx? And why do they actually look so big (like salt crystal)? I would think anything in swirlx should be microscopic. This is only after rubbing it for a while and inspecting the towel that I see these crystals.
Click to expand...





Ask somebody from Meguiar's. Check out the (current) thread where SuperBee364 is talking about how he got M205 to work right; there's a Meguiar's rep posting on that thread (sheesh, I apologize for not remembering your name guy...I feel like a dunce but I just can't quite think of it) and he's a nice helpful person who'd certainly be happy to help sort this out.
 
Accumulator said:
Yeah, too much pressure can make some products misbehave. 1Z Pasta Intensiv can do *exactly* what you described, and to the extent that it takes some real doing to fix the damage (gee, guess how I know :o ). So I do think it's possible that the Swirl-X did something like that. Does sound weird though...







I think you have to take the dreaded leap and just try to fix it, hoping for the best (or else live with it...nah, didn't think you would ;) ). I'd go with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (actually *I* would probably use M105). DON'T PRESS HARD, let the product do the cutting slowly and gently.









Ask somebody from Meguiar's. Check out the (current) thread where SuperBee364 is talking about how he got M205 to work right; there's a Meguiar's rep posting on that thread (sheesh, I apologize for not remembering your name guy...I feel like a dunce but I just can't quite think of it) and he's a nice helpful person who'd certainly be happy to help sort this out.
Click to expand...



You manage to keep hundreds of Autopian names/posts straight, so I think we can forgive ya this *one* time. ;)



His name is Jason Rose, and it's great to see him here. Speaks volumes about how serious Megs takes their products and their customer's experiences with them.
 
Is meguiars ultimate compound more aggressive than mothers scratch remover? I already tried mothers scratch remover and that was unable to really touch these scratches at all.
 
Cool, sounds like I can give ultimate compound a try. I'll probably give it a go once I'm done with my durability test on the gas cap. I already spent too much time prepping it and adding layers and giving it days to cure in a borrowed garage. I'll try to correct it once the LSP gives out and my test is over.
 
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