| WELCOME TO TIPS & TRICKS this months trick is called SCRATCHE'D N SWIRLED October 2007 These are trades no so secrets that I have picked up over the years as a result of twenty plus years in the car business. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of response I got from the first release so I have decided to continue. Hopefully you will find this one just as helpful as the first... My guess is you want your car to look as nice as possible for as long as possible. One thing that is inevitable unless you take it straight from the showroom to your garage is scratches and swirls. Even you do that, there is always the possibility that a rake or some other garden tool will tip over and offer it some after market character. Scratches don’t just come from keys, rings & or bicycle handle bars. They also come from debris that falls from the sky not to mention the negligence of others in the grocery store parking lot. As a car sits in the parking lot all day while you are at work, debris falls from the sky and rests on the paint. We come out and notice a large splat of bird droppings. Most will grab a paper towel or a tissue and try to wipe it off. They will succeed in removing the sun baked droppings but at the same time embed light scratches and maybe even some swirls. Or perhaps we will come out to find that someone brushes up against or leaned on our vehicle while we were away. As they did the airborne debris that fell on our paint brushed across the surface leaving unsightly scratches. Some shallow, some deep. Swirls come from trying to brush this stuff off with a dry or dirty rag. This is why it is always good to wet your car before you wash it. Ladies have a tendency to place their purses on the hood or trunk of their vehicle while searching for keys among other things and this also leaves scratches. Gym bags will do the same thing fellows. I don’t want to pick on the ladies but experience has taught that the guys tend to take more care of their paint than the ladies do. Not all scratches are paint worthy; in fact with the modern day clear coat base coat paint, most of them can be removed without paint. Here is how you test to see if it will require paint or not. If you can get your fingernail in the groove of the scratch, it will in most cases require professional help. If not, you can almost always remove it by yourself. Here is how… Simply wash the area that requires attention with soap and water. This works best if the entire car is clean. Dry it with a chamois or clean towel. (I prefer micro fiber) Apply a polish of your choice to a clean dry towel and then rub the damaged area (in small circles) until you feel heat in your finger tips from the friction. There is truth the quote “Wax on Wax off.” from the movie Karate Kid. After you apply the polish give it time to cure. Typically this is anywhere from five to ten minutes, it will vary depending on temperature. A good indicator is the polish turns white. You don’t want to wait too long or the polish will get flakey and work against you. Nor do you want to do this in direct sunlight. Now get a new towel, preferably a soft clean towel and buff the area lightly. Wa-la. That scratch should be gone. Repeat this on all of them and watch your car’s appearance come back to life. Note: Scratches that appear white are most often in the clear coat. If you have one that you can get the edge of your fingernail in, it may still be able to be removed without painting however it may require the use of a high speed buffer. I don’ t recommend trying this alone unless you have experience because many have done more damage than good experimenting on their own. Think of your vehicle’s paint like you would your skin. When your skin is dry, you scratch it to relieve the itch. Dry skin will show white scratch marks which can be removed with a light coat of lotion. If you scratch your skin until it bleeds, you will need a band aid. A band-aid for this application would be touch up paint. I will tell you about applying touch later. Perhaps after winter when your car’s bonnet is all chipped up from salt and the cinders. Speaking of which, a good coat of wax will help to prevent stone chips anytime of the year. Just a little tip trick from Leon The Link Leon The Link |
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