G3 Scratch Trauma

[Ian28]

Hi,
I had a scratch on my tailgate which G3 has managed to reduce & make less obvious, unfortunately there is now a dull area where the G3 was applied. Being Starlight Blue it shows up easily. The tube says not to panic if this happens but to buy some G3 paint restorer/shine retriever or some such and all will be well!
Any one had a similar experience? I’m assuming it would be a professional job at a VW place to get the scratch out completely?
Cheers,
Ian

 

[Dellmassive]

Just go over it with TCut or similar... then wash and give it a good coat of wax.

Then report back.

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[RedUn]

No idea what G3 is but assume it's some sort of cutting compound? You need to be really careful you don't go through the clear coat, it's probably 50 microns at best...

 

[Ian28]

Its a ‘professional scratch remover’ apparently. Assume a cutting compound of very fine particles. Any recommendations for wax to polish the dull area? I’d like to do just the offending area as the rest of the vehicle looks fine.

 

[Dellmassive]

I used this.....

 

[RedUn]

Its a ‘professional scratch remover’ apparently. Assume a cutting compound of very fine particles. Any recommendations for wax to polish the dull area? I’d like to do just the offending area as the rest of the vehicle looks fine.

Yeah just googled it, cutting compound indeed.

A wax won't bring it back it'll need polishing with a finer polish, super resin as posted will do it.

 

[Bargy62]

Do the whole van with G3 then you wont have an odd spot it will all look the same

 

[Tourershine]

This product has come up before in here, with the same problems. See here with the magic 'search' box Wax, Polish Or Other?
These products are just a cutting compound that start off as an abrasive to remove the scratch, then the more you work it, the finer it gets, releasing oily silicon to give what appears as a glossy finish, when in reality this finishing silicon, or what ever it uses as a finish, will only last as long as this is on the surface. A few washes later and this has vanished, exposing the dull patch that the initial compound has caused.

Dulling off the topcoat in laymens terms is just a way of removing a tiny layer of lacquer, therefor removing the scratch if it isn't too deep, and this is the right way to do this, however... once removed, you should then be dropping to finer and finer compounds, until you are using an ultra fine product. This will give the shine back on the panel, which can then be protected with a wax. Products like Super Resin polish will only mask this for a short period.

It's easier to imagine that all you are doing with compounds are introducing a scratch pattern into the surface, and it's this pattern you have to get finer and finer, until it's invisible to the eye, giving you a shine.

As per all these 'magic' products, in my opinion they are jobs that are best left to a professional detailer, or bodyshop, or you end up in either these situations, or a vehicle covered in machine polishing holograms. Something that's far more obvious on darker colours.

 

[Ian28]

Cheers Tourershine, that all makes sense. It’s only a tiny area so will leave it and look to a body shop in future.