I recently just noticed that my hood looks pretty bad. When looked at through the sun light, it has a bunch of those very small scratches. It is only on my hood though, rest of the car seems perfect. I am going to wax it today with the nice weather hopefully and maybe that will make it all better.

However, I was thinking of buying some scratch-x and just putting that all over my hood like a wax. Would that help at all or is that stuff not meant for something like an entire hood?

- Wes

 

Honestly, not really if you're trying to get it perfect, and while you may not see them, they are all over the car. Mine has the same problem. What you should do is either clay bar it, OR use a soft buffing compound(Mequier's makes one) to buff out the scratches, and then wax it up. My boss has been building hot rods for 25 years, and he did it to one of my doors and it worked. So for what it's worth, there ya go.

Then again, if you're looking to spend about 1500, you could always just have the whole car re-cleared.

 

I am not that worried about it, to the point i will get it recleared. With the weather around here it would be pointless. It has been about 2 months since I did a nice wax, and clean for that matter. I will see what happens after I shine her up today.

 

A word to the wise bro, stay away from the automatic carwashes with the brushes. Go touchless automatic or wash it by hand after a nice rinse first. That will cause swirl marks. Later...

 

Scratch-X can be used on the entire vehicle, and does a great job, although sometimes you need to apply it two or three times depending on how deep the swirls/scratches are. And really rub it in. The clay bar won't get you results, it's made to remove antioxidants and environmental contaminants, not scratches.

If you have any scratches/chips that are showing up white cuz it's gone thru the clearcoat, use TurtleWax liquid black wax. It's awesome. Messy to use, but will cover up anything. It also comes in blue, red, and dark green. Happy Waxing!

 

thats jsut how gm paint is i find...

 

I have yet to send my car through a automated wash, touchless or not. I always hand wash.

It is nothing through the clear cloat, just hairline looks. I am most likely just being paranoid and it has been a while since I washed/waxed.

Its only 40 out right now, so Im gonna wait for it to warm up.

 

I just get my professionally waxed at the beggining and end of every summer.

 

Maybe with a nice buffer with the right pad, a good Swirl remover and a good wax and you may be good to go

 

What you are describing sound alot like micromarring / swirl marks. This is caused by anything that comes into contact with your car - brushes from a car wash, non-sheep/lambs wool wash mit, terry towls with polyester thread in them, even some microfiber will cause very light micromarring.

I would reccomend the following:

-Wash the car with a good car wash soap and a clean sheepswool wash mit using the two bucket method (A bucket for wash water and a bucket to rinse off the dirty mit).

-Dry with a chamois towel or a microfiber drying towel.

-Clay the car using some soapy water as your lubricant.

-Wash and dry the car again.

-Use a random orbital polisher with a foam finishing pad (nothing to agressive) and some finishing polish (Sonus FX3, etc) and test to see if that takes the swirls out. If it doesn not, use a more agressive polish like FX2.

-Polish the affected panel using a small amount of polish and working the buffer in straight lines side to side and then front to rear. You should almost see no residue if you have applied the proper amount of polish.

-If you had to use a more agressive polish, you should repolish again with a finishing polish to bring out maximum shine.

-Wash and dry the car again after you polish and follow up with a good acrylic or polymer sealer. Zaino is a great poly sealer and Klasse AIO / Sealant Glaze are wicked acrylic products.

-For a wicked shine and amazing protection, use the Klasse AIO after you polish and wait about 8 hrs before applying klasse sealant/glaze. Wait another 8 hrs and apply your favorite carnuba wax.

To minimize micromarring/swirls is not easy. You basically have to not let anything but mircofiber, sheepswool, or REALLY GOOD terry cloth touch your vehicle....it is easier to just polish it good once or twice a year and try your best to keep a good coat of sealer on it and do not wipe your paint if it dusty unless you are using a quick detailer. Try to minimize the use of pressure washers and those foam-puking brushes that you find at every coin op place - once in while is okay...but too much of that will is not very good for the finish.

Hope that helps!

-P