Ooops. I goofed!

[cleanfreak0419]

Hello there mates,
I am new to the community. I am from South Ga and what seems to be the love bug capital of the world this time of year.

I have an 2011 Infinity M37S in Liquid Platinum. This weekend I goofed while using a kitchen sponge to remove the love bugs from the front of the vehicle and headlamps.

Now the paint is dull with surface scratches in the areas I worked and the headlamps are in the same shape.

Please tell me there is a way to correct this mess? I researched McGuire's scratch X and such, but I would like confirmation and I also need to know if it will work on the headlamps.

cheers
Jason

[Setec Astronomy]

It's probably going to take a bit of work to correct that--is that something you really want to attempt yourself or do you want to find a local professional to help you?

EDIT: If the answer is you want to do it yourself, do you want to invest in buying a polishing machine or do you want to try it by hand? If you want to do it by hand, a better bet than Scratch-X is probably going to be Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with terry cotton or microfiber applicator. If the scratches are gone but the gloss isn't to your liking, follow up with Ultimate Polish.

Then please follow that with some sort of wax to make future bug removal easier, and do it on a regular basis before the bugs etch into the surface. A rinseless (spray) or waterless wash can also be found locally and will make it easier to accomplish the bug cleaning.

[cleanfreak0419]

I would really like to try myself mate.

Maybe it sounds worse than it really is, my missus does not even see the damage. LOL.

[cleanfreak0419]

I just saw your EDIT post. Thanks for the info mate.

I will be doing this by hand, so I may try the scratch X and if that doesn't work I will get the ultimate compound.

I also have the Wolf Polish/Sealer I purchased from here that I can use afterwards to get the shine back methinks.

Also,
Will the scratch X be safe for the headlamps?

cheers

[af90]

I have doubts you'll be able to succeed by hand. Best of luck but I wouldn't go ahead with expectations of it working well or easily. A machine will help knock down your time considerably, lead to better results, and set you up to do many other things in the future.

[cleanfreak0419]

Well I purchased some scratch X 2.0 and some plastic X.

I have to say they worked perfectly. The plastic X did an amazing job on the headlamps and I did a test area of the chrome pieces that had water stains in them. All are gone and look brand new. The imperfection on the front were easily done with the scratch X and they look like new as well. After applying the scratch X, I did a coat of wolf polish/sealer and she is back to shining like new.

While at the store, I purchased some clay and did the hood and truck as I found "how to's" after searching here for "rough spots on hood removal". Add a coat of the polish and man this thing really looks like a showroom car.

Great forum here with lots of info.

Thanks for the help mates

Cheers
Jason

[Setec Astronomy]

Wow, great success story--congrats!

[rmagnus]

It's probably going to take a bit of work to correct that--is that something you really want to attempt yourself or do you want to find a local professional to help you?

EDIT: If the answer is you want to do it yourself, do you want to invest in buying a polishing machine or do you want to try it by hand? If you want to do it by hand, a better bet than Scratch-X is probably going to be Meguiar's Ultimate Compound with terry cotton or microfiber applicator. If the scratches are gone but the gloss isn't to your liking, follow up with Ultimate Polish.

Then please follow that with some sort of wax to make future bug removal easier, and do it on a regular basis before the bugs etch into the surface. A rinseless (spray) or waterless wash can also be found locally and will make it easier to accomplish the bug cleaning.

Great advise; +1 on success story!

[cleanfreak0419]

thanks fellas!

I am reading the forum and there are some recommendation to wax the car after the claying and polishing.....and then perhaps a final polish.

What is the wax of choice to do this?

cheers
jason

[c8n]

Wax should be the last step.