GS300Rich

I have an alpine silver GS and notice on the trunk and roof that in certain light I can see fine scratches and swirl marks. The paint itself feels very smooth, especially after 3 coats of wax this weekend. This is the only thing really disappointing me at the moment. I am going to have some body work done in a few months but would rather take care of this myself, and also for any future scratches that may occur.

I have the porter cable buffer and tried that with the 3m swirl remover and also their scratch remover but it didnt do much. I used it on 5 speed with the white pads from lake country. Is there something I am doing wrong? Any tips or products that would be better suited for removing these swirls/scratches/spider tracks. These marks arent horrible and can only be seen if you look directly into the surface with a bright light source shining on it, and I dont see them on the sides of the car, even with a light source shining on it. But it bothers me and want it taken care of. Thanks for the help

Rich

superpats

Try a more aggressive cutting pad (yellow). I use Menzerna Intensive polish follwed by final Polish, but I hear the 3M stuff is supposed to be good.

inkblot

Yep...a more aggressive pad should do it. Especially if it's just fine scratches and they aren't too deep.

GS300Rich

I dont believe they are too deep. I cant physically feel them and can only see them when looking directly at light. So the yellow pad is the best one at this? I have some white and red so guess I will be ordering the yellow tonight. Any suggestions on what will work good other than the 3m products I am using.

Is it possible to do more harm than good? I am using the PC buffer but dont want to do anything wrong. I have polished my car before with it without any problems, and the scratches were there before the PC. Any suggestions

superpats

A white pad has minimal cutting and the red has none. The yellow is a more aggressive pad and should work better for you. When polishing with the P/C use an overlapping figure eight motion. Then when buffing off hazed polish on trunk, hood and roof panels always buff horizontally or vertically (never circular) with the panels depending on where you stand . For example if you were buffing the roof, trunk or hood and standing to the side of the car you would buff left to right not up and down. If buffing the door panels or quarter panels buff up and down. This has something to do with the way the sun reflects off of the paint so as not to reflect swirls or spider web marks and will not be as noticable if done correctly. hope this helps. Report back on your progress.

RON430

I have found that the three compounds from Griot, while not cheap, pretty much cover the range of grits that an amateur can handle. If their coarse compound with the Porter Cable won't get them out, find a pro. Cutting all the way through the paint is a great way to ruin your day.

GS300Rich

Thanks for this great info. I will get the yellow pads asap. Also the buffing info was great. I dont buff the wax/polish off in circles but when doing the sides I usually go side to side. Now I know which way to do it. Thanks again for this info

GS300Rich

When I get my yellow pads I will try the 3M stuff first. Im not really brave enough to try really coarse stuff so if this doesnt work I will let the bodyshop work on it when I have my bodywork done

lkirchner

I have used the 3M stuff and find it to be OK but not great. The Menzerna line is the best out there and will give your paint a a polished surface like none other. I use it on all of my car finishes from the Lexus paint, to the ceramiclear paint on the MB's and the single stage paints on my garage qween/show cars.