Should I try it?

[dsm_racing]

I bought a black 2000 Corvette coupe this summer. When I bought it, there were some scratches that had been gone over with a heavy layer of touch-up paint. I just drove it and enjoyed it over the summer, but now that the weather is cooling off I've been spending time in the garage seeing what I could do. I've wet sanded a couple of the worst spots and they turned out better then I expected. I've also gone over some of the panels with a DA and Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.


Before:


After:


So here's my dilemma. First, should I try to get it better, or leave well enough alone? Some of the scratches are bad enough I can hang my nail on them. And second, if I work on it more how should I proceed?

Should I just continue to make more passes with the DA? Should I look at using a more aggressive compound? I have a Dewalt 7" rotary that I could use, but I'm concerned about burning the clear or leaving holograms on the black. What would y'all do?

Once I get the paint "good enough" my plan is to go over it with Mequiar's Ultimate Polish and then finish with the Wet-ice Over Fire.

Thanks,

Jason

[GSKR]

Don't try to be a hero and end up burning the clear.No body can give you advice because there not there.Get them as best as you can is all the advice.A da won't level out deep sanding marring you will need a rotary and a wool pad and take it slowly.

[Rsurfer]

If you can feel the scratch with your finger nail, it's too deep to buff out. You need to fill with touch up paint, wet sand and buff. Not as easy as it sounds.

[Paul A.]

I would question the thickness of your clear after 17 years and not knowing it's care history. Having said that and knowing how tough and hard Corvette paint tends to be, I would probably want to work the Ultimate Compound some more with your DA to try to level the remaining swirls and scratches and then refine it with Ultimate Polish to gloss the heck out of it.

One thing I would NOT suggest is to try and attack any remaining deep scratches with a rotary, Ult Compound and an aggressive pad.

Really deep scratches that still really bother you are only correctly addressed like Rsurfer said, i.e. paint touchup and level down.