WING REMOVAL: Paint Correction Advice

[thefaculty]

Hi everyone,

Really hoping to get some advice that could save me a repaint right now. Yesterday I pulled the ugly aftermarket wing off my 911SC and replaced it with one of the X-Faktory grills made by one of our fellow Pelican members. I'm very happy but after years of that grill being bolted to the original steel lid the paint has suffered some scratches which you can see below.

I have not done paint correction myself before but my thoughts are that I could give it a go and if I make it worse I'm stuck with repainting the lid anyway so why not try. With this in mind wold you have any recommendations on how to approach this. I have already attacked it wit a clay bar so all you are now seeing in the picture below is what I assume are scratches/marking to the clear coat.

What would you guys recommend and what tools would I need. I assume an electric polisher, do I need to we sand it first or just try some compound, polishing and a lot of patience?

Never done this before so any advice would be great!

Thanks as always!!
dK

[Flynt]

I'd get 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 grit wet sandpaper.
Also get at least 2 polishing compounds - 3M makes good stuff. heavy cut, and a fine polish.
Wetsand all the way up through the different grits - keep the surface wet and free from the material you're removing. Clean completely between grits.
Then, hand polish using a microfiber and the heavy cut. Again keeping clean - rotate the spot you're using on the microfiber. Repeat with the fine polish. Wrap up with a sealant or your favorite carnuba-based wax.

It's more art than science and you can't really screw it up if you take your time and don't get too rowdy removing material - especially in the heavier grit steps.

Your paint should be a single-stage, so you'll see a bunch of color coming up - Don't worry. This is the beauty of single-stage paint - You can bring it back to life fairly easy until you wear through.. and when that happens the car looks even cooler!

[thefaculty]

Originally Posted by Flynt

I'd get 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000 grit wet sandpaper.
!

This is awesome Flynt - exactly the advice I was hoping to find!! Thank you.
So to be clear I would start at the 600 grit and work my way slowly up through the grit to the 2000 correct?

[wrxnofx]

Originally Posted by thefaculty

This is awesome Flynt - exactly the advice I was hoping to find!! Thank you.
So to be clear I would start at the 600 grit and work my way slowly up through the grit to the 2000 correct?

Correct - the higher the number the finer the sandpaper. You start coarse and keep going finer and finer and finer. You don't want to really press that hard, just let the sand paper do the work.

[rattlsnak]

600 may to too coarse for that... I'd start with 1000 and see what happens...

[540964]

This is an excellent solution for spot correction before buff and polish. Fast and easily controllable.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XD898LS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Search for Tolcut and Bufflex.

[Jonny042]

It's hard to tell from the photo, but if your car has original paint, it's single stage with no clear. If there are, indeed, white bits showing through it is the layer underneath and won't compound out. BUt also it could be plain old scratches. It's hard to tell and there are many variables.

One good trick on a dark colour is to wet the scratches with water - if they disappear completely there's a good chance they buff out.

Always best to start with the least aggressive method, perhaps a "scratch remover" type consumer product and a microfiber cloth, by hand. This will at least give you a better idea of what you are up against.

600 or even 1000 is going to be way too coarse for that. A finer grit will be much slower to remove material and a lot more controllable.

Canadian tire I think carries small qtys of fine grit 3M paper or a paint supply place will be able to sell it by the sheet.

[Jonny042]

PS - if your car is black, and original paint, you are lucky - very easy to match and and blends (although not ideal) are possible on small spots like that. A patient and helpful (both qualities are hard to find!!) painter could paint just the top corners of the decklid and texture match/polsh into the surrounding area.

[chuckr]

It is hard to tell from your picture,and yes, their may be some wet sanding in your future, but I might suggest you try this first. I have used this for 15 years on multiple Porsches and is my first step on any paint correction. I call this stuff miracle in a bottle.
Good luck

[thefaculty]

Hi everyone - tuning back into this just today after spending the day yesterday replacing my drop links.

Thanks so much for all your advice! The car was repainted at some point in its life by a PO so its not original paint, and I am fairly certain it has clear coat applied so I think first step for me will be to try ChuckR's advice and get on the 3M Rubbing Compound. If that doesn't work I am inclined to agree that, having never done this, before I'll try some light wet sanding with 2000-3000 grit paper. The scratches are actually very light and look to have occurred simply over years of rubbing through permanent contact with the rubber lip of the old wing.

Keeping my fingers crossed that the 3M compound works - I'll report back! Thanks to you all!

[thefaculty]

Wanted to post a big thank you to you all for helping me to fix these scratches! I got very lucky and ended up being able to buff them out. I was unable to get the 3M compound recommended above so went with Meguiars Ultimate Compound. A friendly chap who saw me pondering over the electric polishers at Crappy Tire today (who happened to be a full time car detailer!! #luck!!) steered me away from them and to the Mastercraft Polishing Pad Kit which came with a drill bit attachment and 6 different pads.

I ended up getting a great result. I didn't want to go too long/deep as it was my first time doing this so yes I can still see very, very small marks in the clear coat if I am less than a foot away but for a first time go and an attempt at avoiding a costly engine lid repaint I am thrilled!

Dirt may not slow you down Mr Walker but an afternoon wash and polish sure is satisfying!

Thanks so much to you all for all your helpful advice! I happy newbie over here with a bit more knowledge and experience thanks to you guys!

Beers on me!

Cheers
dK

[Jonny042]

Good luck!

You'll know as soon as you start rubbing the paint at all, if you have clear coat or not. If not, you'll have black on your polishing towel. It will be very apparent.

If the car has been repainted, chances are (sadly) that it's been clearcoated. In any case, my previous comments about blending are still relevant. If you do need to have the decklid repainted it wont be difficult to match to the rest of the car at all.

I took a look at your build thread and it looks like a really nice car, and I like the direction you're going with it!!

[Jonny042]

Well, never mind "good luck!" - more like "good job'!!!!

Originally Posted by thefaculty

Wanted to post a big thank you to you all for helping me to fix these scratches! I got very lucky and ended up being able to buff them out. I was unable to get the 3M compound recommended above so went with Meguiars Ultimate Compound. A friendly chap who saw me pondering over the electric polishers at Crappy Tire today (who happened to be a full time car detailer!! #luck!!) steered me away from them and to the Mastercraft Polishing Pad Kit which came with a drill bit attachment and 6 different pads.

I ended up getting a great result. I didn't want to go too long/deep as it was my first time doing this so yes I can still see very, very small marks in the clear coat if I am less than a foot away but for a first time go and an attempt at avoiding a costly engine lid repaint I am thrilled!

Dirt may not slow you down Mr Walker but an afternoon wash and polish sure is satisfying!

Thanks so much to you all for all your helpful advice! I happy newbie over here with a bit more knowledge and experience thanks to you guys!

Beers on me!

Cheers
dK

[sugarwood]

For posterity, I disagree with the advice given in this thread.

Wet sanding that is insane.

You don't just skip ahead to the power tools.
That is just grime, not deep scratching.

The Tire shop guy steered you right.

1) Try to hand polish with a polishing pad.
2) If that doesn't work, hand polish using rubbing compound with a polishing pad.

[Flynt]

Originally Posted by sugarwood

For posterity, I disagree with the advice given in this thread.

You don't just skip ahead to the power tools.
The Tire shop guy steered you right.

That is just grime, not deep scratching.
Wet sanding that is insane.

Oops.. I hadn’t seen the photo on my computer. Sugar is right, and looks like you figured it out anyway - your damage was super fine and easy to polish out. My method would have been too aggressive! Looks great now.. congrats!

[chuckr]

Glad that worked out! It’s always best to start off with the least aggressive method and go stronger from there. You did a great job, looks 100% better !

[GaryR]

Originally Posted by Jonny042

Well, never mind "good luck!" - more like "good job'!!!!

Great job, but now you need to do the rest of the car!