Have a few scratches just in clear coat, not to paint. I know I could get it repainted later. Just need to know if there is anything that someone can tell me about to fix them, that works.

 

How deep are they?
That will make a difference in what your options are.

 

Welcome to the Forum, you may want to fill out your profile if you are going to stay. There are a lot of differnet solutions to your question, you may want to post in the detailing section. However, a good buffer with some quality paint compound/cleaners like Meguiars, Mothers, Griots, etc. will provide the power you need to get the scratches out. Auto geek sells a bunch of products that will help. Meguiars has specific videos on their site that show you how to use their products to do what you are trying to accomplish.

 

Everyone should have a buffer like the flex 3401.
A rotary in the wrong hands and you're in trouble, but the flex is very user friendly.
Orange pad and menzerna sip will take out quite a bit.
Follow up with a finer polish and a white pad then finish.
I love ZPC as a finer polish, then Z sealants.

 

I recommend using a fine cut cleaner, then polish, then wax. This should eliminate or greatly reduce any visible lines. Wet sand is another option but not recommended unless you know what your doing.

Cheers.

 

if you're having to ask, i'll assume you have either a very rudimentary level of knowledge, or none at all with regards to buffing and polishing using a rotary of any type.

so, if thats true, there's a lot of reading you could do online that i'd just otherwise be duplicating. in short: yes, you can fix clear coat all day.

by hand, you can alleviate it a little bit. in some cases, with a LOT of persistence, you can get a good job done by hand. after having seen buffers do the job, i'd say dont bother.

when it comes to removing it with a rotary, you'll want to go with a dual action. you can read up why elsewhere, but in short they're much friendlier to beginners/much safer for a non-pro to use. in fact most pro's still use these anyway unless its a very deep scratch.

3 major ones to pick from: Makita, Flex, Porter Cable

i wont debate which is better (i have a Flex) as they're all pretty decent. this gets into a Mac vs PC, vette vs mustang type of debate i dont care for.

That said, you have various pads of various abrasion levels, that you combine with various chemicals of various abrasion levels. I wont get into that here, as again there's PLENTY of posts, and plenty of youtube videos.

So my advice:
1) watch some videos, do some reading. be confident you have at least a vague idea as to what you should do before you click "buy" get the buffer, go to town
2) take it to a detail/body shop, and let them do it

addendum: one thing i'd REALLY LIKE to throw out is that 'less is more' cliche is very true here. when you use the orange pad, start with a little more weight, do a few passes, then ease off the weight and just make passes until the product is activated (it'll start to get more and more transparent instead of pasty). wipe that off, break out the lesser pad, do the same thing. a little pressure, back it off, spread it around til its all shiny.

finish it off with NXT or the likes, and it should look fine. i can show you some before/after pics i took of my wife's black car that was abused and scratched to hell - it came out looking new again.

 

Check with the members over in the car car section. Some very knowledgeable people there that can most likely give you some good advice on what to do.

 

General Rule of Thumb:
If you can catch your fingernail on the scratch it will have to be wet sanded out with a minimum of 2500 to 3000 grit paper before any attempt is made of hitting it with polishing compound and a buffer.

 

What has been post so far is right on the money, however I would like to ask a few questions, the first being can you feel them with your fingernail? If yes, you will want to most likely want to contact a professional, because they will need a lot of work to correct if they can be corrected. If you cannot feel them with your nail, are they straight line scratches or do you see more of a circular issue?
A few pictures would also help.

 

you will need a wheel buffer to get out deep scratches that you can feel with your fingernail. this heats up the paint enough so it actually flows in to fill the scratch. it is not easy. take it to a professional for this. hand buffing or with a dual action is mostly just polishing the rest of the clear coat down to the level of the scratch. this works for light scratches.

 

You're kidding... right???

 

i was told this by a guy who did custom hot rod paint jobs for 40 years. ask him if he is kidding. it makes sense. the paint is a malleable polymer.

 

If it was melting the paint enough to flow and fill a scratch then you would also be getting lint, dirt, and compound permanently impregnated in the clear coat.

 

I've got a deal for you on a bridge in Brooklyn....

Just send me your bank acct. info and it's yours!!

 

polymers dont really have an exact melting point. they slowly increase their malleability with temperature. its not like it turns into a liquid. this is what allows you to fill in small scratches using the heat from a wheel buffer. you need to use a foam pad with a less abrasive polishing compound. i have seen it done first hand and it is no joke.

do a search on google. there is a lot of information about how to polish with a rotary buffer, and it explains this phenomenon.

 

Modern paint is CATALYZED (hardens chemically), if you "MELT" this, your in deep dodo. The clearcoat from the factory is quite thin, a scratch deep enough to catch a fingernail may be too beed to wetsand/buff out.

What wetsanding actually does is REMOVES the high spots so you can buff the microscratches left by the wetpaper. SO, when you wetsand, your actually trying to remove material around the scratch till it's the same depth as the scratch, when you buff it it, the scratch disappears.

If you cut into the basecoat-your in TROUBLE!

 

no you arent. you can increase the temperature enough to make it malleable enough to fill in small scratches without discoloring the material. it is extremely difficult to do though. most professionals use a surface temperature gauge to make sure they are getting the paint to this exact temperature range where they can get the paint to flow without discoloring it or cutting into the base coat.

edit: if you are truly a bas a$$, you can do it without the surface temp gauge.

 

Please show your source for this info....

I learned to buff, wet sand, clay etc. at Meguirar's headquarters in So Cal. They left all this info/technique out.

 

Good luck with this!

 

well, no, it doesnt make sense, but despite that i'm not raising the bs flag on you/your story. ive met old guys that couldnt tell you a damn thing about fluid dynamics, flow rates of their heads, or polymer composition in modern paint... but they could still build a 500hp car, paint it, and have it out of the shop without anybody's help.

so, not saying your buddy couldnt create fantastic paint jobs, but you arent creating magical lava paint when you buff scratches.