[husker boxster]

There are 2 keys to success with these processes:

1. Fill the scratch or chip in so there's new paint just above the surrounding area. Not a huge blob, not a valley between the good paint areas.

2. Sand as little of the surrounding area as possible. You don't want to burn thru the clear coat.

For #1: I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a pkg of paint brushes that came in various sizes. Some were very small and work great on thin scratches. DC used to come with just 1 brush and it was generally too big and stiff for small stuff. They now send 3 brushes (for SIXTY bucks they should!) but they still may not be the proper size. Having the proper size will make the job easier and better in the long run. (That's what she said.)

For #2: The idea is to sand the minimum you can to get the new paint to the level of the existing paint. If you did a good job with #1, you shouldn't need to do a lot of sanding to get it smooth. The more you sand, the more surrounding clear coat you take off. If you find a spot that needs more paint (you don't always get 100% coverage in a scratch the 1st time thru), paint in the low spot and sand just that area when it's dry. Once you get the chip / scratch filled in and smoothed over to the good paint, stop sanding.

You can use a buffer with the rubbing compound, but keep it contained to the sanded area as it will be removing clear coat too. But it's really overkill using a buffer if you've contained the sanding to a small area. If possible, I'll try to do the rubbing compound step by hand. You just want to get the scratches from sanding smoothed out. It probably won't shine much. The shine comes back when you use the swirl compound. That's when you want to look for any remaining marks or sand scratches. If you find some, try rubbing compound by hand or use a higher grit sand paper to smooth them out and start the process again. As stated before, go minimum with these steps and only repeat if necessary where necessary. The polish & wax steps are when you're happy with the result. You only do these steps once.

Seal brings up a good point - the area needs to be free of wax before you start. Paint won't stick to wax. I use bug & tar remover to clean an area. Whatever you use, be sure it's dry before you paint. Paint won't stick to wet surfaces either. Patience and nerves of a cat burgler are necessary. Take your time.

A friend wanted me to polish his Basalt Blk 07 Cayman S. It had an 8" scratch across the top and side of the rt fender. Someone had filled in the scratch with paint but it looked like a scar because it was overfilled. He hadn't mentioned anything to me about this scratch, but I figured I could "fix" it. When I was done, the fender looked perfect. He was very happy. I was too.