vassey50

hey everybody, just wondering if you could help me, not so much understand the differences between SMR's, polishes and pre wax cleaners, but to help me grasp the cutting ability of them better. more specifically the list i will provide herein.

i have some scratches on my hood done by some kids treating my hood as their personal slide [yeah, if i catch them, they're as good as dead] i'm about to get some new product for the spring / summer season and i want to get the scratches out, preferably by hand. the scratches aren't through to the paint, just etched into the clear coat. i know i could simply cover them up with some fillers in some SMR's but i'd like to try and get the scratches out permenantly so i don't have to wax every other week just to mask them. can you help me in putting these products in order of cutting ability. i also realize to start with the finer polishes first and end up with them in the end. lastly, i am trying to limit myself to what is locally available (minus maybe Z5), hence this list.

Zaino Z5 Show Car Polish
P21S GEPC
Klasse AIO
3M Finesse It II Finishing Material
3M Perfect It Fine Cut Compound
3M Perfect It III Rubbing Compound
3M SMR for Light Cars
3M Machine Glaze
Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (step 1)
Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish (step 2)
Meguairs no.2 Fine Cut Cleaner
Meguiars no.9
Meguiars ScratchX
Meguiars DACP

Again, i am hoping you can help me order these in terms of their 'cutting ability' so i can choose 2 or 3 products at most that i can in turn use in steps to clear up my hood scratches. any other sealant and waxing tips to do afterwards would be great. thanks again everybody.

Vas

Edison_Chen

How bad are the swirls/scratches?

Depending on the severeness of the swirls, you may need to use more finer polishes

Here's an example of a chart of which polish are abrasive and stuff

http://www.dano.pocketrubbish.com/de...oductchart.htm

jfelbab

You didn't say if you had a PC or not but if so I'd hit the marring with #83 DACP followed by #9. You might need to do the 83 multiple times to completely remove the marring. I'd follow up with Deep Crystal Polish then 2 coats of NXT Tech Wax 24 hours apart.

If you are trying to do this by hand I'd use ScratchX in place of the DACP. You just can't generate enough heat to break down the abrasives in DACP by hand. I recently read that ScratchX has been reformulated to be able to be used with a PC. The older formula used to get gummy if used with a PC.

vassey50

...yeah...the PC is on my wish list...but as for now, no machine polisher, so i'll be doing it by hand. thanks for the manufacturer's chart, that will help me too. awesome! thanks guys. we'll see who else jumps in here, the more advice the better

vassey50

i've learned a lot by reading posts by Guitarman and Daddy-O, hopefully they'll jump in here...

Guitarman

Hi Vassey, I have experience with the 3M stuff moreso than with a few of the others, so here's my rundown in order of abrasiveness:

3M SMR for Light Cars (fine )
3M Machine Glaze( med/light abrasives-replaces Finishing Material)
3M Finesse It II Finishing Material (med cut- still an effective med cut polish for use after compound, but Machine Glaze preferred by me)
3M Perfect It Fine Cut Compound
3M Perfect It III Rubbing Compound

BTW, Klasse' AIO has solvent cleaners in it, unlike the 3M products, so it's a good choice for other issues, not so much swirls though from my experience. Hope that helps fill in a few blanks. Cheers!

picus

Heya - a couple things to add to the list.

Zaino Z5 is a sealant, not a polish (despite how it's labelled). It has no abrasives or solvents - it does have fillers, so it will fill in fine scratches and marring, much like Meg's NXT. Use these after polishing.

Regarding the megs polishes, in my experience their abrasiveness would go something like this (from most abrasive to least):

Meguiars DACP
Meguairs no.2 Fine Cut Cleaner
Meguiars no.9
Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (step 1)
Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish (step 2)

Meguiars ScratchX

I put ScratchX in it's own category since it's by hand only. I'd say it fits somewhere in between no. 9 and DCP step 1 in abrasiveness.

jfelbab

Just to point out that;
Meguiars Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner (step 1) is a chemical cleaner containing no abrasives.
Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish (step 2) is a pure polish (aka glaze) and has no abrasives either.
so you can not expect to use these products to remove marring and scratches.

picus

Good point - I should have mentioned that. They're even less abrasive than AIO.

vassey50

Thanks for the info Guitarman. I've read and learned quite a lot about auto detailing on CL by way of your posts, good reading. cheers to you.

Vas

vassey50

thx jim and picus too btw, this all helps tremendously...Vas