I spent hours washing and prepping for a wax job. It's been several months.

I get all ready to wax, and get started. I started on the roof, then went to the hood, then to some other parts. I saw that the wax (nxt generation tech wax) was getting hazy. I started to buff the roof, and I was having a very hard time getting it off, so I started to bear down on it some. Got it off the roof - looked great. Then, I moved to the hood and had to but some pressure on the microfiber buffing towel to get all the hazy wax residue off. I was buffing back and forth and in circular motions. Then, all the sudden, I start to see some pale hairline circles showing up. I gasped, and thought it was probably just a fly that landed on teh hood and that I was smearing the guts, or maybe there it was just some wax that smeared.. I started to buff over it and discovered that it was not coming off....... I guess there was a small particle of somethign in my towel (I never saw what it was).

But now, I have some pretty unsightly circular scratches smack-dab in the middle of my immaculate mirror-like red hood. It's actually kind of noticable. I went and sat on the porch for 30 minutes trying not to vomit, then went back and started trying to remove it using ScratchX. I rubbed, rubbed, and rubbed and the scratches will not budge (it doesn't appear that the scratchx is damaging the surrounding areas, either). But they are hairline scratches - I can not feel a thing with my fingernail.

wtf do I do. I'm kinda freaking out. Is scratchX my best bet, aside from wet sanding (which scares me)?

Here's a pic.

I don't want it to sound like I put 100s of swirl marks in it with the towel. That's not what I mean. The scratches appear kinda fuzzy in the picture. I wonder if the scratch is actually really deep, but so thin that I can't feel it with my fingernail. Maybe I'll never get it out.

I donno. I might just have to suck it up. Lord knows I've tried as hard as I can to preserve this car, but **** happens.

local://upfiles/5989/05E26AC9FFDF44328F46882EEEE05CB0.jpg

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u168/Puck90a/crying_baby_rbby_92.jpg

Dude...chill out. Get some Meguiars #9 Swirl remover and an electric buffer and go to town, then procede to wax the area again, that will take care of most scratches.

I took the car to a body shop to get an opinion. He looked at the scratches and said I should try Meguiars #1. He said to look at auto parts stores.

Today, I looked at an advance, an auto zone, an o reilly's, and then another advance and did not find meguiars #1 or #9. I saw #7 and some other stuff, but that looked like it had a different purpose.

So I tried Nu Finish Scratch doctor. It looks like I spent $10 on the same crap I tried before (scratch X, but at least I borrowed that and didn't buy it).

The guy at the body shop said that I shouldn't have to use a buffer with #1, and that I should see pretty immediate results just by using my hand. I tried using the nu funish for quite a while, and saw very little difference.

My question is, since I didn't find #1 or #9 anywhere, do you think it's worth ordering online? Or will it be another wasted $10? I know you can't see the scratches for youself. And I'm no expert, but they don't look very serious.

Perhaps I should try a buffer, or get another opinion at a different body shop.

Sorry I posted this in gen tech.

A moderator can move it to detailing if he wants to.

There you go. I am actually hoping you get a definitive answer, I have a similar problem, slightly deeper caused by a bike.

I'm with the corporal on this one. I've got some on my hood too, gonna have to check out the #1 and #9 stuff.

I took my car by a different body shop and talked to another guy today (he's a friend of the family). He looked at the scratches and didn't think they looked too serious. But he wasn't suprised either that the scratch X didn't work. The way he made it sound, scratch X is almost kind of a gimick. He said it was mainly just car wax, with a SLIGHT tiny bit of abrasiveness. He agreed that Meguiars #1 or #9 should do the trick.

None of the auto parts stores have meguiars 1 or 9, so I'm going to start looking at paint stores.

ORIGINAL: Puck90a

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u168/Puck90a/crying_baby_rbby_92.jpg


ahahahah^

Whats the difference bewtween Meguires #1 and #9? Whats in them and what they do?

#1 is stronger (more abrasive) than #9.

#1 is called a "medium cut" abrasive cleaner, and #9 is a swirl remover. It sounds like #1 is better suited for distinct scratches, but #9 is for your everyday swirl marks and minor scratches.

I think I'm going to go with #1, because the scratchX and nu finish scratch doctor made almost no difference. I'm going to lightly use the #1 and see how quickly it takes off clear coat. When I'm done (assuming it works), I think I'll go back over it with the Nu Finish scratch doctor for a little bit, then re-wax it.

Wow, so the #1 will actually take off the clear coat?

Yep, that's what the guys at the body shops said. It's the only way.

But the way I figure it, I can polish out the scratches, lose some clear coat, , continue to wax it, and spend the next several years looking at a scratchless hood. Or, I could choose to do nothing about it and spend the next several years looking at a bunch of scratches.

Edit:
But it doesn't take off the clear coat completely (I guess it could if you rubbed long enough). It only needs to take off some.

Update:

I finally found a bottle of Meguiars #1 at a local paint store (it was the last bottle they freakin had!)

I spent a while tonight working on my hood. As soon as I touched the #1 to the hood, I knew it was serious stuff. No more child's play. I could feel the abrasiveness of it (and could kinda hear it too). I used my finger and a soft t-shirt to rub on the scratches. I rubbed a little while, and wiped away the #1. It leaves cloudy, scuffed up areas wherever you rub it. It actually took a while to get rid of the scratches (so that leads me to believe I didn't get a product that is too drastic. Plus, two auto body guys recommended it to me). I still might use it a little more tomorrow just to make sure I got rid of the scratches completely - it IS getting rid of them!!!

BUT

Now I have some pretty scary looking circular scuff marks in the middle of my hood. I'm past the point of no return, now. From what I've read, the next step is to get a polishing product (or, rubbing compound used sparingly, then follow up with polish). I thought I'd be able to use some Scrath Doctor to buff away the scuff marks. It worked a little bit, but not nearly enough (useless crap).

So I'm going on a hunt for polish tomorrow. I hope I'm not going to have to buy an electric buffer. I might ask the guys at the paint store and see what they say.

I thought I had only a few minor clear coat scratches on my hood especially, but after I washed it and parked in in the garage today, under the florescent light you can see a lot of other minor scratches. I've been checking out Meguirers #9 and I think that should do the job, I'm pretty much too afraid to use #1. I know 95slvrZ28 reccommend using #9, but what would be a good polish to follow up with, and where is a good place to get it. Auto parts store? I've been checking online, and I'm not about to pay $6 shipping for a $10 item.

Hey,

I never followed up on this thread, because I didn't think anyone was paying much attention to it. I didn't see your last post.

Yeah, in your case, #1 would probably be overkill. As I said in my previous post, it's pretty stout stuff. But I think it was the right stuff for the job in my case. I bought some turtle brand polishing compoud and rubbing compound. I used the rubbing compound first (it wasn't the heavy duty rubbing compound). It actually took a lot of work to get rid of the scuffs using the rubbing compound - it was pretty tame. This stuff might actually work well for you, Banks. But using it alone would have left a slight haziness, although the scuffs that the #1 left were pretty much gone. I went behind the rubbing compound with polishing compound. This made it better. THEN, I went behind the polishing compound with scratch doctor. First I applied pressure, then I lightly applied it.

With each of these products, I worked for a little bit, then buffed it off to see how far along I was coming. I didn't want to rub rub rub rub then start to see red paint coming off all the sudden... But after I had the surface looking good, I went behind it with my car wax. THE SCRATCHES ARE GONE NOW!

Here are the bottles of products and the order I used them in. The #1 was about $8.50. The Turtle products were about $7 a piece, the Scratch Doctor was $10, and I don't remember what the Tech wax cost. I got all of them at auto parts stores, except #1. I had to go to a specialty paint store to find the #1.

PS- I did all of this by hand. No electric buffer.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u168/Puck90a/scratches.jpg

Nice follow up Puck. Good info. Thanks for the reply. If I go with the #9 it won't require as much polishing and buffing. I would be able to just use rubbing compound, and then a wax sealer. I have the Nu finish scratch doc and nu finish sealer, and they're alright, but I don't see too drastic of results with it. Would even just the two nu finish products be good for my situation?

The scratch doctor pretty much did nothing for my scratches. There were the bad ones, but it wouldn't even get rid of the TINY scratches in the clear coat. I had some little scratches on my black side mirrors, and it took those right off - but it took off a little black paint (no clear coat on the mirrors, I don't think).

i always use ICE and EAGLE ONE. and both so your not s'pose to go in swirl motions, straight back and forth. mite be different for the ntx, but i know all the ICE and all the eagle one products say straight back and forth motion.

I go side to side with nxt. When I was polishing out the scuffs that #1 left from getting out the scratches, I went side to side, back and forth, diagonally, and in circles (alternating between each).

they all come out? hows it look?