paint scratch DIY

[OldGuy]

This was scary but I decided to try it on my saphhire black 4.8is. I have done the dove/clay/ porter cable 7424 polisher but have never used wet sanding. but in a black car the scratches show. So I got 2000wetdry and worked on big scratch on the rear bumper. I first taped off the area with blue painters tape. I sanded really delicately till the scratch was removed from the clear coat. I would wet sand keeping everything wet and toweling off frequently to see the scratch disappearing. once it was gone I got out the orbital and used 3m finisse it Machine polish. this took about 10-15 minutes of buffing with the orbital and then wiping off the stuff. You dont want to burn in the polish-keep it moist I used that with the most agressive pad I have from topoftheline.com Then I went to a less aggressive pad to use the 3m swirlmark remover for dark colored cars again with the orbital for about 10-15 minutes All these with the porter cable set at the 3 speed. then it was really polished up so then I used a real carnuba wax over the area and wiped it down. It looks great and the scratch is gone. I tried the same proceedure with out the sanding and its just not agressive enough to get the scratch out. I have 2 more scratches to remove and then I will be done!! The only problem is when youre done the rest of the car doesnt look as good as the work area you did!!