scratch remover?
 

All,

My in-laws just drove from Nebraska to Texas with their hardtops (1 56 vette and 1 56 t-bird) stowed and tied down in a Uhaul trailer. The twine they used did awful things to one of the tops (through the cover!).
I have made a quick pass at the rub marks with Maguire's Scratch X with limited improvement. Is there anything you all would recommend? At this point, trying anything is worth a shot because not trying means repainting the whole thing anyway.

If your fingernail catches on the scratch, then it must be repainted. However, most folks will use 3M rubbing compound or even a lighter swirl remover... use a wet terrycloth and rub VERY gently....

Also, this takes skill, using a 2000 grit sandpaper, with a bucket of water and dishwashing fluid, just a few drops for lubicant, wet sand. BUT YOU GOT TO BE CAREFUL....

the marks are not deep. no way they'll catch a fingernail.
black paint. very unforgiving of mistakes.
where to buy the 3M compound?

Try swirl remover first (remove less paint). A good buffing pad on a regular drill motor should work fine. The problem with swirl remover on black paint is the spot you're working on will look so good you'll want to do the whole car.

Keep using the Scratch X over and over. It will do the job but you have to keep at it. If not, use some rubbing compound, then polishing compound but be careful if you use any compound so you don't burn the paint. Keep trying with the Scratch X first as it will not hurt anything. :thumbs:

:iagree: Scratch X is pretty safe and forgiving, but that means you have to work with it awhile. Best to start off with something a little to weak than something too abrasive and end up with a lot of scratchs in that black finish.

Dan

agree... I really like the Scratch-X, but sometimes you need to start with something that cuts a little more first. i just removed a couple scratches from my Black C5 (which has the really hard GM clearcoat). i started with Mothers Alum Polish, beleive it or not, then the Scratch-X, them Maguire's NXT..... looks super, just like a mirror :thumbs:

PS: all by hand btw...... and you need to be very gentle with the alum cleaner

I used mothers mag/aluminum polish on some small scratches on my motorcycle paint once. Worked great! :thumbs:

Hello Boerne.... your eyebrows might raise at this...
Brasso... the brass cleaner that you can buy at WalMart for
$3.00..
I read an article one time about Brasso being a good solution
for taking scratches off your watch crystal.... my brother used Brasso
to clean his trumpet and so when I scratched my plastic watch
crystal I tried it.... and it worked... I have used it on my plastic
tailight lenses and on Base Coat/Clear Coat paint. I have never had
it cause any residual issues and if it can be buffed out..... Brasso will
do it.

Brass is a soft metal and so mild abrasives are used in the formula
... I can't say enough good about it.... if you are concerned about
using it on your paint... try it on an out of the way test section..

The last car I used the Brasso on was my buddy's Black Hemi
2006 SRT Charger.... got a small scratch out of the paint and left no swirl marks.... normal performance... I have never used it with a
machine...only rubbing by hand... Good Luck:thumbs:

A friend of mine has used Brasso for years and swears by it. He said it is easy to use and works very well on clear coat as well as other paints. If I ever need to remove any scratches I plan to use Brasso followed by a nice wax. Please let us know what you end up using and how it works out...

Good luck

iF YOU HAVE A RANDOM ORBITAL BUFFER - 3M SWIRL REMOVER WILL WORK SAFELY AND QUICKLEY

:iagree: Brasso contains a ammonia solvent using pomice (fine lava grit) thus it "cleans" crystal with an abrasive. Sorry but ammonia on Base/Clear I would be hesistant using on my car. NeverDull (cotton wadding in a can) and Brasso are based on the same formula. Any polish used for metal (less chrome) will contain abrasives that are courser then what is found with rubbing compounds.

Two types of rubbing compounds on the market, one specifically for Base/Clear urethean and others used for most other types of paint on older cars....

3M Swirl remover is a very very slight abrasive and much more forgiving. I tried Scratch X and felt way to much work when you can use Swirl Remover and an Orbital buffer, tack much less time, effort and I think a much cleaner job. The trick is not to concentrate or focus the compound (regardless what you use) all in one place but the "feather" it our blending it.....like a said in my first post, you can use 3M Rubbing Compound for Base/Clear and a terry cloth rubbing LIGHTLY first in circular then back and forth, the trick is rubbing LIGHTLY with consistant pressure....

3M product can be bought on line, or at local body supply stores and I think larger stores like Car Quest, NAPA, or even Pep Boys.

best of luck,

the plan
 

Thanks for the input. I will make my attempts early next week and report on the results.
The plan is to go another couple of rounds with the Scratch-X first. Then get prgressively more aggressive as needed to get the twine's rub marks out. 3M Swirl Remover, Rubbing Compound, Brasso, Aluminum polish in that order. Then obviously go back down the abbrasive scale and finish with a glaze and wax.

The rub marks are gone!!
 

Okay. I stopped by Wal-Mart and picked up Turtle Wax Polishing Compound, Turtle Wax Rubbing Compound, Brasso, and Meguiar's Aluminum Wheel polish. I substituted the Turtle Wax products for the 3M products that were recommended by you kind folks.

I used the Scratch-X for 3 more passes on the twine rub marks. The fine lines were removed, but the job was nowhere near finished. The twine line was still very easy to make out.

I tried a light pass with the Polishing Compound and had decent success, but it needed more work. Two more aggressive passes, got rid of 95% of the remaining twine marks, but intruduced fine marks of their own. A fourth pass with the Polishing Compound finished off the twine marks and feathered away some of the heavier marks form the previous passes.

Now it was time to move back to the Scratch-X. Two heavy handed passes and two lighter passes removed the swirl marks left by the Polishing Compound.

I chased all of that with a pass with Zymol cleaner wax (I love that stuff) to get rid of any leftover residue. I finished the job with Meguiar's Gold Class liquid wax.

The top now looks near perfect. The only issue is that the problem area look too good and now I have to go back and do the rest of the top. I think I'll just leave that work for my father-in-law. ha!

Just for the record I've used McGuires Body schub with their orbital buffer with good results. Not too agressive.