Trail Pinstriping

[Atrus]

Took the KJ off-road this weekend, and I have some very light trail pinstriping that I'd like to take care of. I think I am still too **** with it only being 4 months old. I am sure there'll be a time when I don't give a flying **** but I don't think I am ready for that now.

I'm looking for the easiest way to do this. I can do it by hand, or I have a cheap orbital buffer. Not porter cable or anything like that.

Meguires scratch X? Light rubbing compound? Heavier than lighter machine glaze?

I could try and snag a couple of pics, but I don't know how well they'd show in a pic. They are very light and not even close to coming through the clear coat.

 

[SnowgodCCR]

Scratch-X will do the job if it can be done with your orbital. Beyond that, Meg.'s #83 Dual Action Cleaner/Polish would be as far as you can go with your orbital, and even with that I would be wary as it seems that your machine might not have the power nessicary to break the product down properly. If it's still too bad, try applying Meg.'s #1 Fine cut cleaner BY HAND, as doing so with your cheap orbital will just haze the paint. Good luck, if you need more advice, come on back! Jeepster is loaded with detailing advice...I'm sure he'll chime in soon enough.

 

[Atrus]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. Hopefully Blake will chime in. I'm not looking to have a perfectly detailed vehicle, I just want to try and correct what I had done the best I can with minimal effort.

I was absolutely **** about my last car, and it drove me nuts to find a chip or scuff. For some reason, I don't feel that way about the Jeep - I am happy about that! As long as it's decently clean, I am cool with it. These scratches just show up really well in the sun with the Jeep Green paint, and I feel guilty scratching it when it's still so new to me. I've never owned a new car before - before this, the newest one was almost 3 years old and has 32k miles on it before I bought it. before that, they were 7 years or older at the time of purchase and all over 100k miles.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Snowgod was right about using Meguiars scratch-x. it is a great product to use by hand but you must really work it into the paint. You cannot just rub it on and expect the scratches to be gone. Remember, when you remove a scratch you are removing the surrounding clearcoat so the it matches the level of the scratch. So, if you can feel the scratch with your finger nail then the scratch is there to stay.

This is a vid I took of Mike Phillips using scratch-x to remove some swirls on the hood of a black car. Notice that he works back and forth then pulls the product back into play once it builds up at each ends. Also, notice how hard he works the product into the paint. A piece of terry cloth would provide the best results but its best to start with a round applicator and go from there. 'least evasive method.'

Work the scratch-x into the paint until it appears to turn clear.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v612/jeepjeepster/?action=view&current=DSCF7708.flv

http://meguiars.com/?specialized-tools-applicators/Soft-Foam-Applicator-Pad

http://meguiars.com/?car-wash-towels/Soft-Buff-Terry-Towels

http://meguiars.com/?auto-paint-cleaners/ScratchX

Always follow a paint cleaner with a wax. If you want to really bring out the shine, use a polish after the cleaner and before the wax.

 

[Atrus]

Cool, thanks. Here's a question for you since you seem to detail yours well and you also seem to actually use it off-road - I understand that using a product such as this is abrasive to the paint to get rid the scratch. Is this something where I really can only do it a few times before I am burning through the clearcoat and paint, or if I was to do it once a year can I get a nice number of years out of the paint? How often do you need to do treatments like this on yours?

 

[JeepJeepster]

It would be hard to take all of the clear off with something like scratch-x. Its a mild product so I wouldnt worry if you used it once a year.

You would be fine to do that once a year.

Just to add a note, scratch-x is best for spotted scratches. It is not something that you should try to use on the entire jeep since that would take forever.

 

[Dave]

Atrus.......If you get them out let us know how you did it. I have some light trail scratches from bushes. Also some on the plastic rear fender.

Dave

 

[MoladoGuy]

I got mine out by having a large tree fall on the Jeep and requiring the shop to paint it.

 

[Atrus]

Do you have another tree I can park under Phil?