Removal of light surface scratches
Discussion
Washed my 996 yesterday and must have had some grit trapped on the sponge - so now have some very light surface swirls on one panel. Whats the best way to remove this and get the bodywork absolutely pristine again? T-Cut Original (red)? Is there a better or recommended way to remove it?
johnnywishbone said:
hi type r !
dont use t cut as it is amonia based and will damage your paint ! i would recomend zymol hd clense , this will remove the marks and not harm the paint work . if you need any more help or one of our zymol info packs please call tracy @07000 997 997 !
JWB
dont use t cut as it is amonia based and will damage your paint ! i would recomend zymol hd clense , this will remove the marks and not harm the paint work . if you need any more help or one of our zymol info packs please call tracy @07000 997 997 !
JWB
Thanks for the info! Have some HD Cleanse at home - will give that a whirl - thought it just removed old wax!
Ive managed to add some swirls to my guards red 911!
Ive just given the car the full trip with zymol in the garage..I thoroughly washed the car before crimbo in auto bathe..then put the indoor car cover on it.
Between crimbo and new year clayed the whole car panel by panel with Mcguires clay kit, then hd clense with zymol, then waxed with zymol carbon wax.
The finish is really very good, but under the lighting in my garage you can see swirls on the car. I was a bit green when I first got it and thats why its marked up..I have tryed the Zymol HD Clense to remove them but Ime not sure its upto it, or the X scratch stuff still not so good. Maybe I need to be more agresive with it???
I reckon the only way is to take it to a Porsche body shop and ask them to polish (power tool) the whole car, then be more careful in the future. I dont think polishing is something you can do regular with a power tool. Unless you want a primer finish!! I know metalic paint has a clear coat so polishing is a bit more tricky..Not so sure my guards red has clear coat with it being a base colour. My car is 06 997s. Looks ok in natural light, so I may just live with it and get it polished at the end of summer before treating it to another full trip Zymol..We live and learn I guess. Its my first Porsche and I must say I never thought keeping a car clean and shiney could be so bloody complicated!! How about buying a power polisher and having a go myself??? would this be the ultimate act of madness??? Any thoughts?? Cheers 9HH...
Ive just given the car the full trip with zymol in the garage..I thoroughly washed the car before crimbo in auto bathe..then put the indoor car cover on it.
Between crimbo and new year clayed the whole car panel by panel with Mcguires clay kit, then hd clense with zymol, then waxed with zymol carbon wax.
The finish is really very good, but under the lighting in my garage you can see swirls on the car. I was a bit green when I first got it and thats why its marked up..I have tryed the Zymol HD Clense to remove them but Ime not sure its upto it, or the X scratch stuff still not so good. Maybe I need to be more agresive with it???
I reckon the only way is to take it to a Porsche body shop and ask them to polish (power tool) the whole car, then be more careful in the future. I dont think polishing is something you can do regular with a power tool. Unless you want a primer finish!! I know metalic paint has a clear coat so polishing is a bit more tricky..Not so sure my guards red has clear coat with it being a base colour. My car is 06 997s. Looks ok in natural light, so I may just live with it and get it polished at the end of summer before treating it to another full trip Zymol..We live and learn I guess. Its my first Porsche and I must say I never thought keeping a car clean and shiney could be so bloody complicated!! How about buying a power polisher and having a go myself??? would this be the ultimate act of madness??? Any thoughts?? Cheers 9HH...
A good polish like Autoglym super resin contains a very mild cutting agent that removes very light scratches as it polishes. Certainly give something like this a go before using anything more aggressive on it.
When my old C4S had light scratches on, I took it to Chips Away and the chap used Super Resin Polish and applied it with one of those electric polishers. He applied & polished it about 4-5 times until the scratches came out and the result was excellent.
Good luck.
R.
When my old C4S had light scratches on, I took it to Chips Away and the chap used Super Resin Polish and applied it with one of those electric polishers. He applied & polished it about 4-5 times until the scratches came out and the result was excellent.
Good luck.
R.
HI 9HH !
be very careful with the polishers as you can burn through the paint very easy , are you useing your zymol corectly (ie in straight lines) if you want one of our zymol instruction packs please call tracy @07000 997 997 , we also offer a mobile detailing service if requierd !
JWB
be very careful with the polishers as you can burn through the paint very easy , are you useing your zymol corectly (ie in straight lines) if you want one of our zymol instruction packs please call tracy @07000 997 997 , we also offer a mobile detailing service if requierd !
JWB
Thanks rumple...Is it just the scratch that we are applying the polish to?? What sort of pressure did you use?? Ive got a ton of that stuff so I will give it a bash..4 or 5 attemps?? If it looks like I am making a hobby of polishing I think I may consider getting somebody in. I dont mind putting the effort in but to be honest I would rather drive than buff!..I will advise results!! Thanks again
Very light pressure applied each time to the scratch & surrounding area. Remember it is a cutting agent so don't use too much pressure. It actually might be worth taking it to a Chips Away or suchlike just for some free advice. The place near me has some very competant people in it that I have used for advice in the past. With my 4S I just popped in looking for advice & he actually spent 40 mins polishing out the scratches free of charge as it was a quiet day !!
R.
R.
9hellheaven said:
I reckon the only way is to take it to a Porsche body shop and ask them to polish (power tool) the whole car, then be more careful in the future. I dont think polishing is something you can do regular with a power tool. Unless you want a primer finish!! I know metalic paint has a clear coat so polishing is a bit more tricky..Not so sure my guards red has clear coat with it being a base colour. My car is 06 997s. Looks ok in natural light, so I may just live with it and get it polished at the end of summer before treating it to another full trip Zymol..We live and learn I guess. Its my first Porsche and I must say I never thought keeping a car clean and shiney could be so bloody complicated!! How about buying a power polisher and having a go myself??? would this be the ultimate act of madness??? Any thoughts?? Cheers 9HH...
I am by no means an expert so take the following as my observations!
I have used power polishers twice on my 944. Once with ISTR Facla G3 and a proper Pro polisher and once with Autoglymn and a cheapo polisher. The time I used the Facla stuff I hand finished the car with autoglymn products. Finish was excellent and I had a couple of ppl comment on how flat and mirror like the paint looked. Second time with just polish and a cheapo Halfords polisher the paint colour looked good but the finish was a wreck. Horrible swirls all over the place.
I have learned the following;
1) Cheapo polishing machines are a complete waste of time and money. Instead beg/borrow or buy a proper pro polisher. The cheapest I have found is £70 from machine mart. Haven't used it yet but it seems to have a nice smooth action. These random orbit things will ruin the finish. Last time I used one I latter had to do 2 hand polishes to get rid of the mess created by the power polisher.
2) Stuff like Facla G3 (get in screwfix catalogue or from trade suppliers) gets rid of scratches/oxidation etc. better then anything else I have tried but it needs a light action and serious care in application. On my own car the worst oxidation was caused by a dodgy respray, strangely the paint underneath looks really good. Not a good idea if the paint is thin. Tcut + polish + wax reduces oxidation on my red car for maybe 1 month, but when replacing the Tcut with Facla G3 the car lasted maybe 6 months before all the panels faded to the usual multitude of different red shades.
3) Don't know what the experts will say but both my own experience and the advice I have had is to always finish by hand not with power tools.
4) After maybe 10 years messing about DIY style I am still learning and the one time I did a proper job with the Facla G3 + hand finish polish + wax it took me 10 to 12 hours solid over 2 days. If a pro detailers will do this for you for a couple of hundred quid you have to seriously question the logic of doing it yourself!
Hi.
Would defo recommend you stick to Zymol HD cleanse - or even do the whole car with Lhem Clay and lube firts to remove any polution marks, then use HD cleans, and finally a couplle of coats of Carbon wax or Glasur glaze would make your swirls go away.
You might not need to use the clay.
The HD cleanse will remove a small amount of oxidised pain, and also get rid of any wax deposits that are left. The new Zymol wax, (Carbon is surprisingly good on Guards Red) will fill in any remaining swirls, particularly if you start to build layers, maybe one coat a day in your garage.
Once a few layers are on, you'll find you rarely need soap to wash it at all as dirt and water even will simply not stick.
So once very little washing is required, you run almost zero risk of getting further swirls!
Would defo recommend you stick to Zymol HD cleanse - or even do the whole car with Lhem Clay and lube firts to remove any polution marks, then use HD cleans, and finally a couplle of coats of Carbon wax or Glasur glaze would make your swirls go away.
You might not need to use the clay.
The HD cleanse will remove a small amount of oxidised pain, and also get rid of any wax deposits that are left. The new Zymol wax, (Carbon is surprisingly good on Guards Red) will fill in any remaining swirls, particularly if you start to build layers, maybe one coat a day in your garage.
Once a few layers are on, you'll find you rarely need soap to wash it at all as dirt and water even will simply not stick.
So once very little washing is required, you run almost zero risk of getting further swirls!
997gt3 said:
I used to think Autoglym was good. It may be for a one-off use but continued use will lead to paint deterioriation. It contains CHEMICALS to clean the paint and is not a natural natural product like Zymol/Swissol.
Excuse my ignorance but isn't the paint made of chemicals anyway, so what's the issue?
arwebs said:
997gt3 said:
I used to think Autoglym was good. It may be for a one-off use but continued use will lead to paint deterioriation. It contains CHEMICALS to clean the paint and is not a natural natural product like Zymol/Swissol.
Excuse my ignorance but isn't the paint made of chemicals anyway, so what's the issue?
Some polishes/restorers contain ammonia (ammonium ?) which over time can have a detrimental effect on non-laquered colours.
Swissol ( very similar to Zymol) offer three levels of cleaning fluid. I use both the Standard (same as HD clense) and medium ( more efficient at removing swirl marks and scratches. They also supply a stronger version which I am told is very good for Red paintwork. www.swissol.co.uk
Hi Type-R
What colour is your car? Mine is guards red and I must be missing something because this HD Clense doesnt shift my swirls!
May just try to build up on the first layer of carbon wax see if that makes a difference. My car is in the garage at home and has been tucked up since November, I dont think the swirls are that bad in natural light only under the strip lights in my garage.
What colour is your car? Mine is guards red and I must be missing something because this HD Clense doesnt shift my swirls!
May just try to build up on the first layer of carbon wax see if that makes a difference. My car is in the garage at home and has been tucked up since November, I dont think the swirls are that bad in natural light only under the strip lights in my garage.
type-r said:
Wow, tried HD Cleanse over the weekend and it truly works magic for very light surface swirls like the ones I had. Can't see anything now. Just required one coat and a little elbow grease and all is back to normal.
Remember to put a protectant (wax) over the paint once you have HD Cleansed.
C.
My understanding is that HD Cleanse is a glaze with some filling abilities, and that its cleaning abilities are chemical (by which I mean a reaction between paint and its ingredients even if those ingredients happen to be natural) rather than abrasive.
Basically it fills in swirl marks rather than taking off paint or lacquer which is the only way to actually remove a swirl permanently.
Basically it fills in swirl marks rather than taking off paint or lacquer which is the only way to actually remove a swirl permanently.
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