Removing surface abrasions to top coat

[Ham_and_Jam]

Just got the first bit of damage to my new car. No idea how, but its always gutting on a new car after only 3 weeks.

It s fairly minor, about 6cm long, 1 cm wide of abrasion to the top coat. The damage is only really apparent when in light at certain angles.

What s the best way to repair?

I m quite happy to buy kit / compounds /
Polishes etc, as I ve been toying with the idea of buying a dual action polisher for some time so I could polish my cars. Is this the best route for this?

[Belle427]

Polishing by hand is fine, its generally considered if you can feel the scratch with a nail then it wont come out just by polishing alone.
Something like Meguiars ultimate compound is very good.
If you do want to buy a machine fair enough but your entering a very dark place then involving funny handshakes!

[Ham_and_Jam]

Belle427 said:

Polishing by hand is fine, its generally considered if you can feel the scratch with a nail then it wont come out just by polishing alone.
Something like Meguiars ultimate compound is very good.
If you do want to buy a machine fair enough but your entering a very dark place then involving funny handshakes!

Thanks for the reply.

I ve ordered the Meguiars ultimate paint kit, which has the UC, polish, wax and pads. Managed to get the lot for £36 with a Halfords membership and vouchers

Any tips on applying or is it as easy as regular cutting and polishing?

And yes I know it is a slippy slope into the detailing dungeon. but I ve been wanting a DA for a while now, just don t have enough info to take the plunge yet.

[Belle427]

Just follow the instructions really, don't go mad with applying too much pressure, let the product do the work.
Make sure the panel is washed down beforehand to remove any dirt/grit.

[Mark V GTD]

Make sure it’s very clean and just polish by hand using above product. It will likely all but disappear but obviously takes longer by hand than with a power tool.

[Ham_and_Jam]

and the results are in.

Cut using the UC, polished and waxed. Totally disappeared.

[urlw]|https://forums-images.pistonheads.com/472735/2025060452562[/url]

It did take a bit of time, but did a suggested and not applied too much pressure and kept going over, checking and repeating.

The first five minutes didn t seem to do much, but then it started cutting the scuff pretty quickly.

Thanks to Belle247 for the suggestion of using Meguires Universal Compound.

I would definitely recommend the 3 stage Meguire kit for anyone doing similar. It included all the pads for each stage aswell.

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Wednesday 4th June 14:36

[Mark V GTD]

There you go!

[Ham_and_Jam]

Mark V GTD said:

There you go!

Great result. Cheers.

[Belle427]

Not seen the complete kit before so that's a new one on me.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Belle427 said:

Not seen the complete kit before so that's a new one on me.

Seemed a no brainer as most of my stuff was pretty crap.

For anyone else searching in this thread-

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-and-body-...

[Belle427]

May as well do the whole car now!

[Ham_and_Jam]

Belle427 said:

May as well do the whole car now!

I got a sweat on doing the rear bumper

[OMITN]

Lovely job OP.

I bought a machine polisher to do our old MX5 for summer. A lot less hard work than polishing by hand, but still a knackering day..!

I also used the Meguiars ultimate compound. Thought it was excellent.

(Then waxed the whole lot with Soft99 Fusso Coat - figured Japanese car = Japanese polish )

[Ham_and_Jam]

OMITN said:

Lovely job OP.

I bought a machine polisher to do our old MX5 for summer. A lot less hard work than polishing by hand, but still a knackering day..!

That’s my next purchase I think.

I’ve narrowed it down to either a DAS6 (not sure which one), or a cordless Dewalt DCM848N DA.

I’m in the Dewalt battery ecosystem so would make sense, but I’m not sure whether it’s as good as the DAS6 or compatible with all the mainstream accessories.

[Belle427]

Depends what the polisher is like on batteries really, things like grinders eat them.
The DAS6 is very good, its what I have but given the choice I would always go cordless as the lead can be a pain when trying to do the roof, bonnet etc.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Belle427 said:

Depends what the polisher is like on batteries really, things like grinders eat them.
The DAS6 is very good, its what I have but given the choice I would always go cordless as the lead can be a pain when trying to do the roof, bonnet etc.

The DeWalt is my favoured choice, as I have 2 x 5aH batteries, would probably buy another one or two to ensure it lasted a full car.

Do you know if it will take the standard pads? There’s not as much info out there on the DeWalt compared to the DAS6

[Belle427]

Certainly looks like it but not 100% on that, it should have a velcro style head you just stick the pads too like the DAS6.
Guess they are all similar.

[budgie smuggler]

OMITN said:

I bought a machine polisher to do our old MX5 for summer. A lot less hard work than polishing by hand, but still a knackering day..!

Yeah it's hard work and if you have a cabled one you have to keep leaning at weird angles and moving around so the cable doesn't touch the paint... my back, hamstrings and calves were absolutely shot afterwards!

Has anybody tried the cheap/small battery polishers on amazon? My car has a few bits the big DA is a pain to use on (even with a small pad)

Edited by budgie smuggler on Thursday 5th June 10:35

[Belle427]

budgie smuggler said:

OMITN said:

I bought a machine polisher to do our old MX5 for summer. A lot less hard work than polishing by hand, but still a knackering day..!

Yeah it's hard work and if you have a cabled one you have to keep leaning at weird angles and moving around so the cable doesn't touch the paint... my back, hamstrings and calves were absolutely shot afterwards!

Has anybody tried the cheap/small battery polishers on amazon? My car has a few bits the big DA is a pain to use on (even with a small pad)

Edited by budgie smuggler on Thursday 5th June 10:35

There was a thread here somewhere on them, they look worth a punt to me.
Think the spta one was mentioned.