Help with scratches on a Mercedes hood

[Morrison]

I have some straight line scratches that I have not been able to get out of my hood of a Mercedes C250. I’ve tried menzerna 400 with a lake county thin orange pad with a rupes 21. I don’t know if maybe I need to try another type pad or if they are just there for good. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Will try and upload pic later. App is not letting me at the moment


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[DaveT435]

Do you have any pictures?? If you run your nail over the scratch does it catch??

[Morrison]

I do have a picture but can’t seem to get it uploaded. Keeps giving me a error. You can not feel it with your nail

[DaveT435]

If your nail doesn't catch you should be able to fix it. You may have to lightly wet sand it. If you don't have any wet sanding experience you may to have someone who does help you. The White Griot's Boss cutting pad and some Griot's Fast Correcting Cream may remove them. I've removed some pretty serious defects with that combination. Do you have a blue Rupes pad??

[Morrison]

No I don’t. Only have lake country. Was thinking about trying a microfiber cutting pad

[Kamakaz1961]

IMO you may have to wet sand the hood. I had a similar situation and FG400 did not do anything. I had to wet sand the hood. But that is my guess.

[Morrison]

Not sure I’m comfortable wet sanding. That’s a little out of my comfort zone


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[Kamakaz1961]

Not sure I’m comfortable wet sanding. That’s a little out of my comfort zone


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Another option would be a compound that has more cut than FG400 I would look into Menzerna SHC300 That may do the trick. I have not used it, however, I did buy some in case I come up with something difficult to correct. I am with you, I don't like wet sanding, however, I will do it only if I can't correct with the compounds I have.

Menzerna Super Heavy Cut Compound 300 8 oz. (http://www.autogeek.net/menzerna-super-heavy-cut-compound-shc-300.html)

[Ronin47]

The orange pad is a light cutting pad, try a more aggressive pad with slower arm speed for difficult defects.

[minerigger]

Where does menzerna liquid matt compare to shc300? I have a small bottle at work and it is like liquid sandpaper. Just curious as I may grab it and try some trouble spots. Would a surbuff and m105 touch them?

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[MikeC78]

I’d try an LC microfiber as stated above before sanding anything. An orange pad is a light cutting pad and you could always try a firmer one too. FG400 can remove some nasty scratches with the right pad.

[Morrison]

Want to think everyone for the help. I was able to get most of the scratches out with a meguiars micro fiber cutting pad and menzerna 400. The ones that are still there are barely noticeable


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[DaveT435]

Want to think everyone for the help. I was able to get most of the scratches out with a meguiars micro fiber cutting pad and menzerna 400. The ones that are still there are barely noticeable


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That's great. Glad it worked out.

[mwoywod]

Where does menzerna liquid matt compare to shc300? I have a small bottle at work and it is like liquid sandpaper. Just curious as I may grab it and try some trouble spots. Would a surbuff and m105 touch them?

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There is a massive difference between SHC300 and a matting compound. Menzerna's "liquid Matte" and Scholl's "SO Matting Compound" are meant to be "alternatives to sanding"

Matting compounds are meant to be used as "liquid sandpaper" although not as effective as sanding, they can remove orange peel, bird etchings, deep scratches, etc that would otherwise require sanding. Personally I only would consider using a matting compound on isolated RIDS on repainted vehicles that have plenty of paint.

What makes Menzerna SHC300 so special IMO is that it's the heaviest compound I've found that I can still easily 2-step. It works exceptionally well on heavily oxidized paints and is heavily lubricated. I've found it works well on both Rotary and DA but in most cases I prefer using it on Rotary with LambsWool. Unless you are using it with a Twisted Wool pad on a rotary I have always been able to follow it up with a finishing polish like HD Polish+ or Scholl Concepts S30+

The only negative I've found with Menzerna 300 is that while it initially cuts much more than HC400 or Jescar Correction Compound, it's diminishing abrasives really break down a bit too fast. I personally do a ton of sanding and orange peel removal on repainted classic cars and when removing my sanding scratches the SMAT abrasives utilized in M101 may not initially cut nearly as much initially, but because SMAT abrasive break down so much slower M101 cuts just as much by the time both compounds are fully worked.

In my opinion, you would love SHC 300. Lots of guys think of it of a rocks in a bottle compound, other guys assume it's the same as FG400, but it really is a much heavier compound than FG400.

One other thing, you cannot 1-step SHC300 like you may with other compounds. Even with a foam pad it will leave a haze