My jeep has all kinds of scratches in the clear coat, almost as if someone tried to fix some scratches by scuffing them, but never buffed the scuffs. Paint correction is an equipment intensive process but you can have your jeep (and any other vehicle you own) looking better than new. This process will fix issues in the clear coat but will not fix scratches down to the primer or metal. Follow instructions on your products
I have spent years practicing this as well as hours researching technique and have finally settled on some products that work. I recommend scoping paint correction to small areas as each area can take several hours — doing the entire vehicle in one day would be extremely difficult by yourself and not yield great results. Don't try to boil the ocean — the more time/patience/attention to detail will yield better results. I started with my hood and then moved to front quarter panel, then driver door, rear quarter, etc. This job is so much easier to do in the day light. I usually tackle this after my kids go to sleep and it is harder to spot scratches using fluorescent light than sunlight. Top tip for night workers: inspect the surface and mark with tape during the day if you plan to work at night.
Here is what you will need:
With the vehicle clean and dry, its time to remove anything that the wash did not remove. Auto clay can remove anything from the paint (ex: sap, tar, dead bugs, etc). This is where the detailing begins. To clay the surface, tear off a small piece and knead it into a smaller flat piece. Wet the surface with the detail spray and slowly glide the clay over the surface. If it drags, the surface needs more spray. Wipe off the spray you have run the clay over a small part of paint and knead the clay into a new piece. Throw the clay away if it gets course from debris it removes, or if you drop it on the ground. Continue to clay the surface until its smooth before starting paint correction.
Once you have clay'd the surface its time to break out the polisher and start to correct the paint. Only work on the area you did the clay bar on. Grab a microfiber towel, spray the surface with your water/alcohol mix and wipe the surface free of any debris (Buffing debris will only result in more scratches). Grab your polisher, attach the cutting pad, and put five dime sized globs of 105 compound onto cutting pad in a star pattern. Gently dab the pad/compound onto the paint surface and dab the compound onto the area you're going to polish to prevent it from flinging off. Turn your polisher onto the lowest setting to spread the product you just dabbed on. Turn the polisher onto 70-100% once you have the product spread and go over it a two-three times in varying patterns (up/down, side/side, etc). Apply GENTLE pressure as needed for deeper scratches on the first few passes and then do 2-3 passes without pressure at full speed. Stop the polisher and wipe off the residue with a microfiber cloth to view results. Repeat as many times as necessary to remove scratches. The 105 compound will throw out a white residue so make sure to wipe off any new polish area with your alcohol/water mix and microfiber towel. Your paint should be extremely smooth and glossy at this point. Once you have removed scratches it is time to polish.
Swap pads to your polish pad. Wipe down the area with your microfiber towel alcohol mix to remove anything loose from the surface. Repeat the prior process with the 205 compound on the polishing pad. This step should be easy and quick since the bulk of the work has already been done in the prior step. The paint should be really smooth/glossy/abrasion free after this step.
At this point your paint is polished and should look amazing and what you do now is up to you. You should wax it at the bare minimum, but if you really want it to have a ridiculous finish you can apply a coat of this stuff to seal the paint (amazon) before waxing. I really love the collinite 845 wax because it lasts a long time and looks awesome and the bottle will probably last you the rest of your life unless you have 10+ cars that you detail several times a year (same with jescar too).
Example before/after here, and the 'after' shot is in an unpolished/unwaxed/unprotected state: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/paint-correction-progress.27361/. Simple paint correction will give so much life into your paint. I will post pics as I progress.
I have spent years practicing this as well as hours researching technique and have finally settled on some products that work. I recommend scoping paint correction to small areas as each area can take several hours — doing the entire vehicle in one day would be extremely difficult by yourself and not yield great results. Don't try to boil the ocean — the more time/patience/attention to detail will yield better results. I started with my hood and then moved to front quarter panel, then driver door, rear quarter, etc. This job is so much easier to do in the day light. I usually tackle this after my kids go to sleep and it is harder to spot scratches using fluorescent light than sunlight. Top tip for night workers: inspect the surface and mark with tape during the day if you plan to work at night.
Here is what you will need:
- Dual action orbital polisher (I have the predecessor to this model, and I have owned it for 10+ years: harbor freight)
- Cutting disc for polisher (amazon)
- Abrasive cutting compound (amazon)
- Polishing compound — less abrasive (amazon)
- Polishing pad (harbor freight)
- Automotive clay (amazon)
- Your favorite wax (I use this from amazon)
- Your favorite microfiber towels
- 50% isopropyl alcohol diluted with water in spray bottle
- Your favorite car wash tools (soap, foam cannon, buckets, microfiber sponges, power washer, etc)
With the vehicle clean and dry, its time to remove anything that the wash did not remove. Auto clay can remove anything from the paint (ex: sap, tar, dead bugs, etc). This is where the detailing begins. To clay the surface, tear off a small piece and knead it into a smaller flat piece. Wet the surface with the detail spray and slowly glide the clay over the surface. If it drags, the surface needs more spray. Wipe off the spray you have run the clay over a small part of paint and knead the clay into a new piece. Throw the clay away if it gets course from debris it removes, or if you drop it on the ground. Continue to clay the surface until its smooth before starting paint correction.
Once you have clay'd the surface its time to break out the polisher and start to correct the paint. Only work on the area you did the clay bar on. Grab a microfiber towel, spray the surface with your water/alcohol mix and wipe the surface free of any debris (Buffing debris will only result in more scratches). Grab your polisher, attach the cutting pad, and put five dime sized globs of 105 compound onto cutting pad in a star pattern. Gently dab the pad/compound onto the paint surface and dab the compound onto the area you're going to polish to prevent it from flinging off. Turn your polisher onto the lowest setting to spread the product you just dabbed on. Turn the polisher onto 70-100% once you have the product spread and go over it a two-three times in varying patterns (up/down, side/side, etc). Apply GENTLE pressure as needed for deeper scratches on the first few passes and then do 2-3 passes without pressure at full speed. Stop the polisher and wipe off the residue with a microfiber cloth to view results. Repeat as many times as necessary to remove scratches. The 105 compound will throw out a white residue so make sure to wipe off any new polish area with your alcohol/water mix and microfiber towel. Your paint should be extremely smooth and glossy at this point. Once you have removed scratches it is time to polish.
Swap pads to your polish pad. Wipe down the area with your microfiber towel alcohol mix to remove anything loose from the surface. Repeat the prior process with the 205 compound on the polishing pad. This step should be easy and quick since the bulk of the work has already been done in the prior step. The paint should be really smooth/glossy/abrasion free after this step.
At this point your paint is polished and should look amazing and what you do now is up to you. You should wax it at the bare minimum, but if you really want it to have a ridiculous finish you can apply a coat of this stuff to seal the paint (amazon) before waxing. I really love the collinite 845 wax because it lasts a long time and looks awesome and the bottle will probably last you the rest of your life unless you have 10+ cars that you detail several times a year (same with jescar too).
Example before/after here, and the 'after' shot is in an unpolished/unwaxed/unprotected state: https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/paint-correction-progress.27361/. Simple paint correction will give so much life into your paint. I will post pics as I progress.
