By herky on Thursday, July 05, 2001 - 07:34 pm: Edit

I have mangled one side of my disco pretty good, light branches through the clear coat. Is there someway to maybe buff this out when I am done playing? I know it is going to take a beating but need to at least attempt to keep wife happy! I am sure noone knows what I am talking about!! Matt G

By Brett on Friday, July 06, 2001 - 03:11 am: Edit

Matt--

3M makes a product called Imperial Hand Glaze. It is only available to body shops, but if you know someone or can go directly to an auto shop supplier, you can get some. It comes in a large bottle and costs around $55. This will actually allow you to smooth the clear coat back out and decrease the noticable appearance of the scratches. Wash your truck throughly and dry it. Put it in the shade or in the garage. If the surface of the truck is hot to touch, these products will not be nearly as successful. Use a soft, 100% cotton cloth. Work the Imperial Hand Glaze into the clear coat in small, firm circular motions. It will dry to a haze in a matter of minutes. Use another cotton cloth (cloth baby diaper) to take it off again using the same small, firm circular motions. Only do a small area at a time, and be very careful to keep it off of plastic and glass. It has some properties that can etch glass permanently and discolor plastic. I recommend that you do the entire vehicle so that your finish remains consistent. Only use this product by hand. It is not for machine use. Once you get done with that, switch to a Carnuba wax and wax the entire car. My favorite is Mother's Carnuba. Put the wax on with yet another cotton cloth doing 1/2 of a panel at a time. It will dry shortly to a haze, at which time you should buff it off with another clean cotton cloth. Be liberal in your application of the wax, but again take care not to get it on plastic or trim. It will permanently stain it. Remember to change cloths often. On my Disco, I use approximately 12 cloths when I do this procedure. If you have additional scratches or swirl marks, use an orbital polisher to take the wax off and buff the finish. The next time you have scratches from tree limbs, etc. you will be able to wash your truck and reapply wax to that area to make them disappear. My truck is a 95 and is Black. Most people think that it is new because of its appearance. Good luck. These products work really well.

By herky on Friday, July 06, 2001 - 05:04 am: Edit

Thanks for the info, I have a friend from high school that owns a body shop now. appreciate your help, Matt G

By Matt Milbrandt (95discovery) on Friday, July 06, 2001 - 06:21 am: Edit

You can get 3M Imperial Hand Glaze at NAPA.

By DeanBrown3D on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 10:44 am: Edit

If you get it muddy enough, the wife won't see the scratches!

Dean

By Marc on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 02:02 pm: Edit

I am with Dean!

By Ryan on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 02:22 pm: Edit

...but she'll be pissed off because the mud will get on the garage floor!

By MA on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 02:24 pm: Edit

Don't use GS-27 "scratch" remover, it doesn't do crap. The only advantage about it is that it polishes the spot where you rubbed so the scratch is even more visible!!

By Andy Nix (Andy) on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 02:29 pm: Edit

I've used the 3M stuff and it rocks !

Andy