Polishing out scratches?

SMSW

Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
8,138
Location
Cleveland
Bike
2010 ST1300
I have some scuffs/scratches on the black highly polished fender of a Honda motorcycle. Do you think I can polish these out with rubbing compound, or one of Meguire's very fine polishing compounds?



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Ignore the chip near the front lip of the fender - that is indeed a chip that goes through the top coating/paint. I am talking about the light scratching/scuffing. The bright white horizontal bars are reflections of fluorescent lights.



Again, bright white bars are reflections of light fixtures. The scuffed areas are lighter, they pick up light and reflect it so that they appear whiteish - they are not. Its just a scuffed highly polished black finish.
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Uncle Phil said:
In reality, you will not know until you try it.
I'd try polishing compound first and see how it does.
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Thanks Phil. I had a few on hand - used Distinctive Details Nano IV Machine Polish - 'removes compound and swirl marks' - first. This is a house brand of a long time Auto Finishing Materials place that was recently bought by a chain. The highly regarded old guys retired. That stuff removed some of the finer scratches so I went to Meguiar's Fine-cut Cleaner 2. They have a range from 0 to (heavy cut) 10. This took out some more of the finer scratches. I'll try the Meg again tomrrow. I think several applications will make the remaining scratches unnoticeable. The fender already looks much better.

BTW, I do this by hand - too easy to screw it up by machine unless you have a lot of experience - which I do not.
 
SMSW said:
Thanks Phil. I had a few on hand - used Distinctive Details Nano IV Machine Polish - 'removes compound and swirl marks' - first. This is a house brand of a long time Auto Finishing Materials place that was recently bought by a chain. The highly regarded old guys retired. That stuff removed some of the finer scratches so I went to Meguiar's Fine-cut Cleaner 2. They have a range from 0 to (heavy cut) 10. This took out some more of the finer scratches. I'll try the Meg again tomrrow. I think several applications will make the remaining scratches unnoticeable. The fender already looks much better.

BTW, I do this by hand - too easy to screw it up by machine unless you have a lot of experience - which I do not.
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Yeppers, a machine will go too quickly and lot of times heat up the paint - which you don't want.
A lot depends on the thickness of the clearcoat and how deep into it the scratches are.
 
If you can feel the blemish with your finger nail it most likely will not buff out. Also I think most modern vehicle paints have a clear coat. If you burn thru that and into the base you are screwed.

Maybe go with Mellow's suggestion.
 
Grabcon said:
If you can feel the blemish with your finger nail it most likely will not buff out
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Yes, so it depends on the scuff/scratch. For minor scuffs - can't feel with nail, it should work. For deeper scratches (in clear only - they look white) I fill up (after cleaning/degreasing) with clear (spay in a small container/cap and brush over (several coats until over-level with surface), then wet sand level and polish. For deep scratches (into plastic substrate) I fill up with paint (small brush), then clear, then sand and polish.
 
Grabcon said:
If you can feel the blemish with your finger nail it most likely will not buff out.
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mello dude said:
Let us know how it goes on your fix it...
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I was able to feel the scratches with my finger nail. I hit the areas first with the Nano polish and then with Meguire's #2 (post #4). Then I did two more cycles of Meguires. After each application, some more of the scratches disappeared. Bearing in mind @Grabcon's warning about cutting through the clear coat, I quit while I was ahead. The scratched areas are now barely visible. As for the chip on the front edge, c'est la vie.

Thanks all for your comments and warnings.
 
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