OK the other day around 7:00AM I was out side getting in my stang to leave and seen these scratch marks on the hood you can only seen them in the direct sunlight and only at certain angles I would have to say they are surface scratches from wiping and waxing, is there any way to get rid of them? Also I had a rock come up and hit my windshield and make a small surface chip nothing major or anything that will get worse over time but for appearance is there anything I can do to "hide" it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Anyone? Adrenalin? Nagman?

 

I've seen Meguiars makes this stuff called ScratchX that's supposed to get rid of minor scratches and such... haven't tried it myself, but it can't hurt to try it

 

You could try some swirl remover from your auto parts store.

 

remember that anything to take those surface scratches out is probably an abrasive.

The solution for everything is zaino

 

Really? Do you mean to tell me that Zaino will remove my surface scratches? I really don't see how it would help. Though if someone here can tell me other wise that would be great.

 

If you already have surface scratches you first have to figure out what you have been doing that causes them before you bother fixing them. Always use a clean wash mitt. Some people even go to the extreme by having 2 wash buckets and 2 wash mitts. One is used for the lower section of the car and the other for the top section. Anyway, the stone chip in the window can be filled in by most window repair/replacement companies. As for the scratches, it all depends on how deep they are. If you can run your fingernail across the paint and then feel the scratch when your nail goes over it, well, that is not a swirl mark and you will need to polish it out. Just keep in mind that polishing actually removes clearcoat around the area. If they are just swirl marks, you can use a swirl remover which is a very light polishing compound, or try this first. Get some glaze, 3M makes a great product. Apply the glaze as you would wax, I prefer using a machine to do this (I have a porter-cable polisher). Do not use one of those cheap $30.00 orbital buffers unless you want to make a mess of the paint. After removing the glaze, wax your car. I use a sponge to apply the wax and microfiber cloths to remove it. If the swirl marks were very light, well, you shouldn't see them anymore. They will reappear once the wax starts to wear down, however, that is a good indication that it is time to wax the car again. I would only polish my car once a year, at the most, since this does remove clearcoat. I apply glaze every 4-6 months and wax the car once a month. Mainly because I wash the thing at least twice a week.

 

Any ideas how to get scratches out of the windsheild?

(and I don't have access to a windsheild repair/replacement facility or business).

 

Glass can be polished. I am not sure what product you need but a high power polisher running at low rpm (300-600) is what you need to get started. You use a felt pad and work the polish into the area. From what I have been told it is very time consuming. If I can find out the name of the polish I will let you know

 

you would need something like this

http://www.scratchpolish.com/glass_restoration.htm

 

A note to all who read. I found what is causing my scratches to appear. Naturally it's the towels I am using, they said on the packaging that they were 100% cotton. Well I bought a similar set of towels that said 100% MADE IN THE USA. Well I washed my Truck(I am not going to experiment on the Stang) to see. I washed then dried(where the problem comes from). One set of towels for half the hood and the other for well...the other. The ones made in the USA left no visible new scratches in the clear coat. The others I was surprised to see did. I only recently bought the ones made in the USA, so the stang was being dried with the former. Has anyone ever noticed this? Call me crazy but I am extremely **** about scratches so I would know if there were more or not. I will be promtly throwing those towels out. Well I am going to look into some Zaino products to see if they help. I will be sure to post my findings. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

Ah, I see you found the problem. Don't use towels to dry your car. Buy an imitation Chamois, not a real lambskin one. The imitation ones are great. They are very soft as well. Don't buy the sponge type ones. I personally use the Simoniz Chamois. I have 4 of them and will never use anything else. When they get dirty I just clean them by hand with soap and water. Now, don't throw out the old towels. Keep them for rags. They will work great when cleaning your rims and tires and under the hood.

 

So I'm guessing there's no real 'quick fix' for the scratches on the glass? At least temporarily until polishing is convienient? Swirl remover should suffice on the body, but my glass is lightly scratched because the metal blade slipped out of the rubber on the windshield blade

 

I'm going to go ahead and give this a shot (as recommended, see above):

http://www.scratchpolish.com/glass_restoration.htm

Tom

 

Haha talk about resurrecting a thread from the dead! But anyway...

How much do you think it would cost to have professional remove a scratch on th windshield. I just got back from a road trip and when I got home, I noticed a small rock in the windshield whippers must have been trapped in between the glass and the whipper. It's about an 8 inch scratch.

 

I highly recommend quality microfiber towels over anything else -- waffle-weaves are really nice.

If you have a large towel (waffle-weave or even regular microfiber), you can fold it so that it's a few layers thick and "lay & drag" so only the weight of the towel is gliding across your paint. Or if you really don't mind, a "pat" method is really recommended for dark colors, where you lay the towel and "pat" your hand across it to absorb the water (I've never had the patience to do this). Use smaller towels for touch-up.

Of course, starting with a quality car wash helps, and using a sheepskin mitt for the body. I do like to use an old mitt for tires, wheels & other lower areas -- which I like to clean first. And, especially for dark colors, having a rinse bucket before going for more suds can help reduce potential problems.