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Help with poorly maintained car by previous owner

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Llew:
If you want to get scratches out use 1500 paper and keep it constantly wet applying just enough pressure in circular motions to let the 1500 do the cutting to remove scratch -if you have loads of scratches in an area work the circular motions to the size of your hand about 6 inch in diameter then move onto next section -light scratches should take about 5 -10 minutes with deeper scratches a bit longer with a bit more pressure applied . Just make sure the 1500 grade does the cutting and not your elbow grease. When it comes to using the polishing machine if you are not used to it put it on the slowest speed and make sure you keep it moving all the time never leave it in one spot -apply pressure to the machine but let the compound do the cutting- the machine can be motioned horizontally about 10 inches back and forth you can keep putting compound on it (the car)and water for cooling but most important is to keep the machine moving- the faster the machine rotates the swifter your horizontal strokes will be and the same applies to  horizontal strokes -the smaller the strokes the swifter the movement- don't stay in one area too long unless if you add water -you can work another area and come back to it just watch a video on you tube and you,ll get the joist of what I am saying  about handling the machine hope this helps

Rhys_Gti:
another idea which is what im doing to really get to grips with wet sanding is having a one to one session with your local detailer - get your car worked on at the same time then so you pick up some extra tips for the future but still come out with your car detailed. Win win in my book.

any way good luck with it :happy2:

stealthwolf:
In all honesty, if you have no experience, you can ruin your car. Remember that polishing removes maybe 1 micron of clear coat and with wet sanding you can remove 10-20 microns without realising it.

You would need a paint depth gauge to check the thickness of the clearcoat. You would need to varying grades of wet and dry paper. You need a polisher + polishes + polishing pads. That lot alone would cost you in the region of £400. Compare this to a detailer who might charge £250 but will have the experience to know when to wetsand, when to polish, and when to aim for minimising scratches rather than attempt to remove them.

Not all scratches will be removable. You won't be able to fill in and flat back every stone chip.

Personally, I'd get the car professionally detailed and then just maintain it. Meanwhile, you can buy scrap panels to practise on and develop your technique.

cuprajake:
Not to mention a paint depth gauge that can just measure clear coat is a grand plus. All others just tell you how much paints on the metal so kinda useless

stealthwolf:
Not really. You measure where there's little or no clearcoat eg door shut, and you compare this to the reading for the panel. Subtract and you have the reading for the clearcoat.

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