DetailedByPrecision: 2016 Subaru Sti New Car Prep & 3" scratch removal success. SF Bay Area Auto Det

CG6Lemon · May 15, 2016

2016 Subaru Sti New Car Prep & 3" scratch removal success

This job was a referral of the white tacoma truck I did beforehand. The customer is a coworker of the tacoma owner and commented on how clean his truck looked parked at work. They had a conversation and my contact information was given to get in touch with me. Had a couple brief text messages and set up an inspection to go over the car and talk about the customers concerns and goals for his new to him car. He stopped by and he wanted the same job done as his co workers truck, but on top of that also polish out the right fender and hood for scratches. But, his main concern was a 3 inch scratch on his rear bumper which he did not know how it got there. I went over the options with him and explained my process clearly and thoroughly so we are both on the same page and no miscommunication. I advised him to buy a bottle of touch up from the dealer just in case I needed to use it on the scratch. We set up a drop off day for me to work on the car and his anticipation to see the end outcome of the 3" scratch was exciting.

Worked on the exhaust tips first

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Started the wash, decontamination process with foaming the car, Iron X, Claybar

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Applied Carpro Hydro onto the wheels for protection

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Post claying, a lot of defects showed up on various panels. I'm pretty sure the dealer slapped on some glaze to prepare the car for sale and the claybar removed it and the original defects resurfaced at this point. Some glue residue on the windows and some bird poop shape stains on the hood with some scratches.

Used FG400 and Menz203

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Onto the film residue. Used Menz203 by hand

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Couple 50/50's from polishing the hood and driver fender

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Now the fun part and most pressure to perform.... the 3" scratch. I assessed it under LED lighting and using my finger nail to see if it catches or not before I dialed in my process. It barely caught my finger nail so there was hope of not having to use the touch up.

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I hit the scratch with M101 w/ MF pad first to see if there is an improvement or not. Not as obvious anymore...

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Was not satisfied with the result. I decided to use 2000 grit block and wetsanded the area.

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Polished out using same combo listed above

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After polishing it out, the damage minimized a lot at this point. I took a look at it and decided I can push it a little more to get that last percent of correction.

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Success! You cannot see it in day time unless you have LED lights blasting at it and looking at it within inches like this....

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Sealed the paint afterwards with Blackfire wet diamond paint sealant

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Finished pics of the car

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Took some shots of the interior to appreciate the mods done to it. I did not work on the interior.

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Total time: 8 hr 18 mins

What I learned from this job:

You can't tell the paint's real condition until you wash and clay it. Not just a wash alone.

The paint was easy to correct and did not have micro marring occur upon wiping off polish residue. Easy to work with.

Never get too confident with sanding isolated deep scratches. I need to focus on task 110% of the time. One slip up is a repaint.

Thanks for viewing for those who made it this far. Appreciate comments and questions are welcomed. I had a lot of fun working on this car. I accepted a challenge and I prevailed. The customer was extremely happy I did not have to resort to touching it up.