really bad swirls/scratches removed from trunklid

[TjMonsen5]

hey there,
my friends car has some nasty scratches on its trunk, looks to me like whoever owned it before him always set their briefcase or backpack on the trunk. You can imagine what these scratches looked like. Today i tried my best at removing them with my PC.
Process:
DP clay
XMT3 orange LC pad
Klasse AIO white CCS pad
Klasse SG grey CCS pad
tomarrow i plan on putting some Liquid Souveran on it to finish it off.

you can notice that the trunk is pretty dull, and the rear bumper is even worse. it looks like the clearcoat is completely gone!
swirls:


and then after:

I think I did a pretty good job, but you can still see alot of remains of the scratches, they just arent as noticable anymore. Im not sure if my pads are aggressive enough. Do any of you find XMT2 to barely remove anything? XMT3 seems like it is perfect for swirls and slight scratches.

[Nuke33]

Great job looks great

[D&D Auto Detailing]

Very nice, looks great.

[paradog]

nice work!

[sparkie]

Nice job bro!

[scottgt]

sweet dude...looks awesome...i really think if you want a start up kit...just skip xmt 2 and get 3....seems to be the rite thing to do..im glad i got 3 over 2

[Nica]

Well done....just look at the difference, the shine is really nice and I don't know if I missed them but I couldn't see any scratches...but it's one thing to be standing looking at the hood and it's another sitting here looking at the pictues. Either way it looks really good to me.

As for XMT #3 vs #2. XMT #3 really does the job but XMT #2 is really for minor, minor...did i say minor..minor swirls lol. XMT #1 I found to be good to "jewell" the paint, I like using XMT #1 I like the looks it gives...well that's just my opinion.

[Whitethunder46]

Looks great bro, don't forget, you can always step up to a yellow cutting pad to give #3 more bite.


As for #2, like Nica said, minor minor swirls. Until XMT #4 came out, I really felt like the XMT line was really missing something. Usually, my first polish I try to use is #3 and a green Edge Pad. If the swirls are worse, then #3 and a yellow pad.

If there are some very nasty scratches or very strange scratches (such as a tree branches, key scratch, etc. ) I then step up to XMT4 with yellow or green pad accordingly. I get hazing and light trail marks with XMT 4 everynow and then. I then use a wave Orange pad and XMT2 to remove this and any micromarring.

I hardly ever, very rarely, basically never at all, use XMT #1 on customer's cars. It's just too fine to do anything. I use it on my vehicle to remove any LSP's and to jewel the paint with a blue Edge pad. Works very well for this purpose.

Also, I can get XMT3 and 2 LSP ready with any pad no problem.

[ltoman]

WOw - a lovely turnaround! She looks sooo much better! T- riffic!!!

[TjMonsen5]

thank you whitethunder and nica for the great tips! I think i will be able to use my XMT2 on my own car in a few months once the swirls come back. But right now im polishing mine with XMT3 and orange pad. Its as aggressive as i can get right now because i didnt order a yellow pad or XMT4. I have removed all swirls from my own car but there are still fine scratches from what looks like a REALLY dirty wash mit or a brush from a carwash. Ill have to order a yellow pad and some more orange ones. Do any of you find that the PC wobbles WAY too much with 6.5 inch CCS pads when on speed 6? I cant do it, i feel like the PC will wobble off the car. My 5.5inch orange pad works great at speed 6 though.