i have noticed there has been many many people posting, " How to get this scratch out?", and i noticed there isn't a how to when that question does pop up.

for most of you there who don't know much about paint, there is a base coat, (primer), then the color of your car, then a clear coat. Some colors and cars may very, there could be up to 5 or 6 different layers depending what it is.

the easiest scratches to get out are the ones on the clear coat, then the pesky ones are past the clear coat and into your paint. Darker color paints, are the hardest, they show scratches the most.


now, if your dog just jumped on your car, a bushed wacked it, (or even through the clear coat. whatever happened. And that little scratch just annoys you. This should help!

there are many ways you can approach getting scratches to be less visible, or even completely out,

before even touching your car with any of these, you MUST thoroughly wash the car, or else you can potentially destroy the paint.

1) you can get a clay bar, ex; meguiar's (most popular) also, there are different levels of aggression, some could be fine, some could be quite rough. (smooth surface, doesnt get much scratches)

2) a buffer, now there are different types, there is one that spins just in one direction, one that spins the pad, and then the pad also rotates around in its own way. (smoother surface, gets a lot of scratches)

3) colorsanding, which is a high grit, 1000-2000, sandpaper. the higher the grit the smoother the surface. when color sanding, the surface and sandpaper must be wet. ( water, soap diluted with water, or any other similar solution.)
(smoothest surface, gets most, if not all scratches, MUST BUFF WITH WAX AFTER COLOR SANDING)

here are my items by choice, not pictured is soap with diluted water, towels, and polishing rag.










now that i have covered the basics, onto the how to, the pictures is my truck, 03 mini taco, (sorry its not the scion, can be later though!)

to determine what you will need, is run your fingernail gently from left to right, or up or down, over the scratch, if you can kinda feel it, its not so deep, the more you can feel it the deeper it is.

here is a before picture of what you can tell is a pretty deep scratch, all i used is a buffer and some wax.

BEFORE



AFTER

you can see the big ugly scratch wasnt through the paint, but it was through the clear. buffers basically can heat the paint, and fill in holes and scratches. as you can tell those 2 little chips.



i even took my badges off, and as you can see the paint has faded, you can kinda see the TOYOTA.



with some color sanding and a buff it came right out.
AFTER


here is the top of my tailgate, BEFORE



AFTER



you can even clay, buff, and color sand your headlights, i do it all the time.

forget buying a headlight restore kit, just use these items! even the wax!

BEFORE


AFTER its not a significant difference cause my headlights were pretty clean as they were.



i also have a secret weapon for dark colored plastics, as you can tell on the top of my bumper.


thats all the pictures i have for now.

PLEASE, add on i'f you have more info, products, or even pictures,

also ask questions, i'd love to help!

touch up paint, tail light tinting ( the smooth clean finish), and the best way to make your windows SPOTLESS, coming soon.

also this is in the TC section cause i have a TC, and of course this applies to any vehicle that has paint. sorry if its in the wrong section.

enjoy!

 

very good how to im probably gonna have to do this to get tall of my damn scratches out haha

 

Nice write up.

 

Question: How much is the total cost of the materials?

 

Basically as much as you want to spend on the buffer. The sandpaper and wax are like 10 bucks together.


Good job on those scratches btw.

 

thanks guys,

it all depends what you want, i moved onto a buffer that i can control the RPM's.

settings 1-6 being slowest 6 being fastest

the easiest route to get scratches out and make it shine the best is to:

wash, then soap and clay, if its bad enough you can get a rubbing compound, i apply it by hand, with a microfiber towel i rub it on every inch of paint.

then whipe off, and then i use polish, also depening on how bad the paint is, normally every company that makes polish has steps, soft compound- harder/rough compound.

then 2 layers of wax, a cleaner wax then paste/ sealant wax.

go on griotsgarage.com

there are starter kits, if anyone gets that kit with the polish and best of show wax my reccomendation is throw away that wax.

when using that polish after you polish, its very very hard to get off, get a microfiber cloth with soap and water in a squirt bottle, squirt on and it will whipe off.

then get another microfiber and whipe the car/truck down again. then wax.

i go through about 15-25 microfiber towels that are 18"x18"

also if you go griots, buy off of amazon it will save tons of money

 

autotopia is also a good website for info

 

Nice tutorial thanks for the share I could use this on both of my cars!

 

thanks for the info, helpful indeed.