Microabraision? -- ok, small scratches

R

russ968

New member
First post here, great forum...



I have a mid 90's Porsche with a single stage paint (no clear coat). I have used products from 3M, PS21, and Griots with good results, IMO, including one 1st place concour finish.



1. My biggest challenge is I continue to have "small scratches" 1/8" to 3/4" on virtually every panel. These cannot be felt nor seen except in certain kinds of light at certain angles. I'm not a fan of highly abrasive products and typically only use them when trying to correct something relatively serious, i.e. light scratch, bird droppings, etc. After a detailing they are much less noticeable but return after a few weeks. Is this common?



2. I have recently tried Pinnacle Sovereign and liked both application and removal qualities but it seemed to cloud. Did I apply it wrong?



3. I'm considering a move to Zaino for a number of reasons, mostly because I like to experiment. However, I'm under the impression it will enhance the imperfections mentioned above.



Any thoughts would be appreciated.



Russ
 
Hi, welcome to Autopia! :welcome



Congratulations on winning that concours event. What abrasive or mildly abrasive products have you tried on those small scratches (or what do you have on hand)? If you say they look better after a detail then return, I'm guessing you've been filling them with a glaze of some kind. If they continue to bother you I would suggest biting the bullet and simply removing them permanently with an appropriate product. This assumes that they're not too deep, but they don't sound very bad at all.
 
Thanks Brian,

I've used in order of preference:



3M - IHG

Griots - Fine Hand Polish

PS21 - Paintwork Cleanser



Griots seems the most abrasive. I expect you're right about having to go to something a little more abrasive it's just there are SO many of these little impefections. Perhaps I'll have to try and orbital polisher?



Russ
 
None of those are highly abrasive try something Like Meguiars DACP or Swirl Free Polish. It will remove your light scratchs and holograms. Dont be scared to use them you font use them everyday once and your done for a while since your car isnt or doesnt sound like a daily driver you wont have a problem with them coming back.
 
Hmm, without knowing how the Griot's product compares to other mildly abrasive products it's a bit harder to suggest the next step up. It's probably quite mild though from a cursory search around here...



Whether you do it by hand or machine will have to be up to you. You can certainly do it by hand if you break the work up into smaller jobs, but it's a bit of a workout. If the car isn't driven that often, polishing won't be necessary very frequently anyway so it may not be worth it to invest in a tool like the PC. If you can afford it, or have other cars to detail too I highly recommend the PC. It'll save you sweat in the long run.



Since it sounds like you'd prefer to take it easy and be cautious about your polishing, the default course of action in detailing is to start off mild. Try a swirl remover like 3M SMR or Meguiar's #9, or maybe even Scratch-X, which is supposed to be a tad stronger for hand use.



If you haven't checked it out already, I highly recommend the reading found in the eBook (new version on the way soon), the Learn! link above, and in the Hall of Fame. Combine this with the Search feature and you can really learn a lot! :)
 
Thx - Fr0zen and 4DSC



Ok...



I've been using:



3M - IHG

Griots - Fine Hand Polish

PS21 - Paintwork Cleanser



Not very abrasive but I'm definitely in the "using the minimum abrasive for the job" camp. :)



R
 
russ968 said:
...I've been using:



3M - IHG

Griots - Fine Hand Polish

PS21 - Paintwork Cleanser



Not very abrasive but I'm definitely in the "using the minimum abrasive for the job" camp. :)



R
Click to expand...



Welcome to Autopia. I've used those products. NONE of them will do much to remove your small scratches, they're either too mild (P21S) or mostly fillers (the other two, P21S has 'em too, that's why the scratches come back). You CAN use a mild abrasive to really remove them without taking off too much paint. My Jag has been polished MANY times and its 18-year-old single stage paint is still OK. You need something like 3M's PI-III. I got mine HERE



You really can trust me on this. I've had a number of Porsches and ALL of them had nice thick (factory) paintjobs and they responded well to mild polishing. The "trick" will be to avoid putting NEW marring in once you get it nice.



Not sure why your Souveran clouds, I never got that. Also, my $0.02 is that, marring aside, the Z wouldn't be the right "look" for your Porsche. I'd use BFII or Platinum myself, maybe with a wax topper.
 
Here's a photo...



vwp
 
Ah, nice car! On red, you have a LOT of products to choose from, all of which will look great. Get those scratches out once and for all and forget about 'em.
 
Looks very nice Russ. :)



Good luck with your scratches. I would default to Accumulator's better informed opinion, but the "look" of certain products is often a case of YMMV and personal opinion, so it almost always comes down to you trying a product for yourself and seeing if you like it. :)
 
I'm a Menzerna IP/FP and 3M III MG kind a guy. I like the 3M III MG as it's easy to work with and easy to obtain. For light swirls, I'd go with the 3M PIII MG. The 3M SMR has fillers. Great stuff though!



Take your time while doing it and you'll be pleased with the results.



As for Souveran, never had that problem.



Regards,

Deanski
 
Thanks all for the recommendations...



Looks like I'm going to take the plunge with a PC and 3M's PI-III based on your recommendations and my search results. 4DSC, I looked over your PC accessorizing and 3M thread and both were a big help.



I need to decide now whether I'm going to go with a polymer or glaze/carnauba. I'll keep you posted and put up some pics in the next couple of weeks.



Thanks again for your help...great forum here!



Russ
 
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