Hi all,
My missus the other day found out the other day that her mini was still not small enough to squeeze through a space, and rubbed a bin up the rear panel behind the drivers door. The scratches are just in the clear-coat/lacquer and I know that they can be removed relatively easily. I was going to do it myself but find it hard to bring myself to rub wet/dry sandpaper on the paintwork without some guidance. So to surmise,
My process was going to be:
1. Rub the area with 2000 grain wet/dry sandpaper that had been soaked in soapy water for 15 min, lightly over the scratched area.
2. Use a polishing compound such as "Turtle wax".
3. Finish the area with a cleaner wax such as "Maguires".

Does this sound about right, or am I missing something out.

You advice as always is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi,

I have seen this process go horribly wrong! you could actually do more damage than good! if the scratches are not that bad then i would try some t cut first , this can work wonders with very light scratches , does nothing for a scratch you can get your finger nail into.

HI Harvey,
I had thought about using the T-Cut scratch remover, but does that not just mask the scratch rather than fix it, or will it remove the scratch completely? I was under the impression with the method that I was going to try would remove it permanently, or will that just mask it too.
Cheers for your reply.

Hi,

T-Cut can actually work very well if you use a wax after removing the T-CUT which makes a seal over the compond and it lasts much much longer, one of my friends done the sandpaper diy repair and it seemed ok, took him ages! BUT when the sun shines on that part of the car you can spot it a mile off! he eventually had to get the whole panel done as it just didn't look right. Try the T-CUT and if not happy then just get a quote from a good scratch/dent repair guy.

If you jump onto youtube you will see some very nasty results from the sandpaper!

Has anyone used G3 Scratch remover paste or the Meguires Scratch X 2.0 to remove scratches????

Yes Meguires scratch X 2.0 is very good but it depends how bad the scratch is, Ultimate compound is very good too but you might need to use the above products with a machine polisher to remove the scratch it does depend how bad the scratch is. You might need to get it done professionally I wouldn't go down the route of doing it yourself with sand paper tho

Hi,

I have seen this process go horribly wrong! you could actually do more damage than good! if the scratches are not that bad then i would try some t cut first , this can work wonders with very light scratches , does nothing for a scratch you can get your finger nail into.

I got a bit brave doing some "tidying" to my last car, an SLK

Bad mistake. Did more harm than good. Looked quite messy afterwards and took weeks of polishing every afternoon here and there to get it back. Retrospectively, was probably just a bit too aggressive with the sanding.

Top tip if you do - have the patience of a saint. If in doubt take it to the body shop - save yourself a few days of your time and a lot of tears

Then again if you are brave enough, you need to learn one way or another eh :)

The G3 rubbing compound is really good, great at getting rid of minor scratches but it depends on how 'minor' the scratch is. Mini's tend to have a hard paint type so you are pretty safe using the compound but like Tigercub said, you might need to use a machine polisher (make sure its a DA) or just take it to a workshop.

Really important to make sure you polish AND wax after as the compound will strip any previous protection off...