Apparently yesterday, my father allowed his friend to apply rubbing compound on my car to smooth it and make the car shiny again. They did it without me knowing. Anyway the end result is car that is scratched like no other. The whole front end more or less with circular marks. I m not sure if its embedded scratches or what? I applied 3 coats of NXT after I was able to breathe again yesterday and you cant see the marks really, but they are there. Can someone shed some light on what I should or could do besides paint work. Is the paint really damaged or can a good detailer help the situation?

 

Your father's friend is a retard, no offense. A rubbing compound should only be used if your car is loaded with swirls to begin with. You can't just use a rubbing compound and call it quits. After a rubbing compound, you need a fine polish. After the fine polish, you need to go over it with a glaze. After that, you use a scratch/swirl filler wax/synthetic.

Seriously, if the dude just used a rubbing compound, there might be a good chance he burned through the clearcoat since he obviously doesn't know what he is doing.

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http://www.anythingbox.net

 

I agree with Afropuff, but you may also want to get a hold of Wil on this site. He will know what you should do, but may suggest the same as Afro. It will be difficult to offer a solution w/o seeing the car. Basically, you have to think of it as polishing metal or wood or anything else. You start with a course grit sandpaper or compound, then gradually use finer and finer grits til it is smooth. The same will have to be done on your car. Since compound was used for God knows what reason, it will have to be polished out it steps, using material with less "cutting" agents as you go. I know Griots makes a polishing kit that includes multiple stage polishes. You may want to look into that and possibly start at step 2. Actually, you should test a spot first with the finest polish first and see if that works, If it doesn't, go to the next step down. This way you can polish it out without further damaging the paint. I would guess if they used compound, you would have to start with a medium polish. I never used the kit before, but many people rave over it.

2003 6MT Black Coupe, Premium Pkg. w/ Aero
20% tint all around, Aluminum Pedals

 

Well I think you guys are right. I mean the compounding would eventually have to be polished so there is hope. Yea that guy is a real stupid a$$ but there is nothing I can do now. Like I said I have like three coats of NXT on right now and it shines like it just came out the dealer from far. When you start walkin up close you see the details of swirls and what not. I went to see this guy that usually does my detailing on Woodhaven. He said can probably work it out but its gonna require claying it like twice and then heavy re-polishing or something. They're charging like $125.00 to do it. Any other suggestions guys?, Who is Wil by the way?

 

hey vinnycg,

see if one of your buddies has a PC7424, and some swirl mark remover. that should take care of your problem. you should also see if anyone can help you at the palisades park meet. i'm not sure if i'm going, otherwse i'd help you. if you still haven't had it taken care of b4 the meet, pm me.

 

$125.00 is a small price to pay to have a flawless finish. The PC is good, but it depends on the severity of your swirls and what color your car is. A random orbital polisher will only go so far. But a true orbital polisher in the hands of a professional is pure magic. But I would go to a different place than where you got that quote from. "Claying the car twice." That doesn't make sense, so they might be giving you the run around. The best place for detailing is not at a dealership or "detail specialist." Check out the yellow pages for a car restoration joint. Those guys bring clunkers from the 60's to modern paint perfection. Ask to speak with their "detailer" guy. Then ask him what he is doing on the weekend. Those guys are more than happy to take extra jobs on the side for discounted prices.

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http://www.anythingbox.net

 

Hey thats pretty good advice. If you know of any guys that are excellent at this and will do it on the side Afro let me know. The guys that quoted me are cool, I've known them for a while. I went to them because I knew they would give me an honest answer and price. They only work there and they hate the boss lol, so its not like they are doing it for the company or whatever

 

As you can see, many of the members here are very knowledgeable about swirls and scratches. To remove these scratches permanently will require machine polishing.........which type of machine to use and which type of cutting pads would depend on the depth of these scratches. In extreme cases, the paint will require wet-sanding as the last choice for those ultra deep scratches (key marks, door scuffs, etc.).

Claying the vehicle will not be necessary for the removal of the scratches as the high-speed buffer will remove oxidation and surface contaminants automatically. If the scratches aren't that deep, an orbital polisher would do the job, but the shine would not be on par w/ what a hs buffer could do.



Certified Window Tint & Detailing Specialist
3M / VentureShield Paint Protection Film Dealer
Madico Window Film Dealer
syu@machiii.net
2003 AT Sedan / 2004 6MT Coupe

 

I only have experience with one detailer, but he told me to follow him home after work. This was in brooklyn, so i don't have any contact info for him. There is another dude that was recommended to me. I plan to take my car to him to get rid of some scratches my PC can't. So I can't vouch for his work just yet. He's out in West Nyack, so that might be a little too far for the city.

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