My first attempt at correction and deep scratch repair

[BrianC]

My wife's 2008 Taurus wagon was in dire need of some attention. The car was typically only washed at the dealer's automated wash, and waxed only once or twice per year. To make matters worse, the passenger side suffered an almost full body length, deep scratch from my son's bicycle handle bar (the metal wore through the grip...so it was like the car got keyed.)

With the purchase of my GTI about a month ago, I decided to invest in some high quality detailing chemicals, supplies, and tools. Picked up a bunch of supplies from Detailers Domain, and then cashed in some Amex reward points on Amazon for a Griots DA polisher. With my DD order, I got some stuff specifically to work on the Taurus - some Optimum Compound II and Polish II, along with a few different 6" pads for the machine.

This pics below show the before and after of the rear passenger side door which had the worst and longest scratches.

My process was as follows:
- ONR two-bucket wash then dry
- Clay bar (Meguiars clay kit using the Megs Quick Detailer as a clay lube)
- 1st attempt at scratch removal was the OPT Comp II on a yellow cutting pad - no success with that
- 2nd attempt at scratch repair had me break out the 2000 grit paper, and I proceeded to wet sand the scratches out; this worked like a charm. It was my first time ever wet sanding on a car, so I was very careful not to go any deeper than necessary.*
- used the OPT Comp II with the yellow pad and polished out the wet sanding, bringing the paint back nicely
- hit the area with the OPT Polish II on an orange pad to really bring out a shine
- wiped down with a clean MF towel
- applied some Megs Techwax (the only product from my previous stock that I kept and which I really like) for protection and luster.

I was pleased with the results.

Passenger door before: (pay no mind to my uncharacteristically messy garage)


...and after:



* I did get a bit too aggressive with the wet sanding on the fuel filler door. The scratch must have been deeper there due to the way the paint and clear coat are layered on that part, which is plastic. A bit too much pressure and I went through the clear coat and created about a dime sized area where I started to go through the paint. Not really noticeable unless looking for it, but I am still a little pissed about that.

[Jesstzn]

Looks great .... The gas filler is part of the learning curve ... we all go through them..