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.

 

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.