Very Light Scratch - Storm White Paintwork

[Loadmaster]

I've discovered a very light scratch, about 30cm long, in the paint on the nearside rear wheel arch/wing, above the wheel. It can only be seen at certain angles and in varying light conditions, but it's there and needs to be corrected. It's not a deep gouge, it can only be slightly felt when lightly dragging your finger over it.

 

Being wary of the nature of this paint finish, what's the best way to try to remove it? I've tried some bog standard AG Resin Polish, which has slightly diminished its appearance, so I know it'll probably now require some cutting compound.

 

Any guidance or suggestions welcome. 🙂 

[Jack94]

Sounds like the scratch is just in the clearcoat luckily, so should be fixable. 

I've always been too scared to try a proper dual action polisher on my own paintwork, but had good results from G3 scratch remover (applied by hand with one of their waffle pads). 

[Loadmaster]

1 hour ago, Jack94 said:

Sounds like the scratch is just in the clearcoat luckily, so should be fixable. 

I've always been too scared to try a proper dual action polisher on my own paintwork, but had good results from G3 scratch remover (applied by hand with one of their waffle pads). 

Thanks Jack, I'll take a look at the G3 stuff. The reviews are promising.

[Ekona]

If you can get a fingernail in it, it’ll need a machine to correct it. No amount of elbow grease will shift it, unless you can polish non stop for a year or so...  get yourself a DA, some Scholl S17+ and a medium pad to suit and it’ll come out. Unless you are spectacularly cack handed, and I mean by physically mashing the hard plastic of the machine into the paint, you won’t mess anything up. 

[ilogikal1]

I agree with everything Ekona says, except... I’d go with S20 myself. 

 

The AG SRP you e used is full of fillers, so the scratch will come back as soon as you wash the car again. You can go the filler route (there are better than AG, but as you have that already you could stick with that) to mask the damage, but it needs to be done regularly and topped with a wax or sealant to last more than the first rainfall.

[Loadmaster]

1 hour ago, Ekona said:

If you can get a fingernail in it, it’ll need a machine to correct it. 

No, it's nothing like that thankfully - it's so very faintly noticeable brushing along it gently with a finger, although that might be what you mean.  I'll go down the treatment route of the G3 first, as suggested by Jack above, then move on to your suggestion of DA polishing if necessary.

Edited April 8, 2021 by Loadmaster

[coldel]

Second on the S20 that’s what I use generally and it’s great stuff. As above hand polishing with AG or the like you are just putting fillers in, you aren’t fixing it.

[ilogikal1]

If you're doing it by hand, I'd still recommend S20 over G3 as it finishes down better. Also you'll probably want a hand polishing pad that'll help with the cutting (and save your arms to some degree) - either a medium cut or a light cut depending on how bad it is. If you can catch your nail on it though I'd skip straight to the machine polishing.

[Loadmaster]

2 minutes ago, ilogikal1 said:

If you're doing it by hand, I'd still recommend S20 over G3 as it finishes down better. 

Okay, will look at S20 as a possible alternative - is that a brand?

[ilogikal1]

It's Scholl S20 black.

[Loadmaster]

3 minutes ago, ilogikal1 said:

It's Scholl S20 black.

"German Efficiency" - I like it already!