Lincolnshire MINI Club

andy b · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Lincoln

Can anyone please help. Was washing my car the other day and noticed a 2-3 inch scratch on the rear passenger side quarter panel. Buffed this lightly with some T cut which got rid of most of it, I then used some Auto Glym super resin polish which made the area shinny again.
Problem is now that when its really sunny/bright the area looks very swirled/cob web like which looks bad in direct sunlight.
Is there anything which can be applied by hand which can correct this without taking too much top coat laquer off?
Thougt about maguires X, but do these products work or just disguise the problem with fillers?

lammy · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 1068

I'd try some sort of clay bar. I use Zymol meself but i'm sure there are cheaper alternatives out there Cool

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andy b · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Lincoln

will a clay bar remove swirl marks as thought these were fine scratches, look like a skater has been on it when the sun hits the area?

Merlin 2 · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 1:41 pm Post subject:

the only thing I can suggest is to use finer and finer grade polishes thereby leaving less swirl each time - it is going to be one of those lots of elbow grease jobs I think.

Have you tried the Meguiars stage 1 (paint cleaner) as it has taken loads of fine stuff out for me in the past.
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andy b · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Lincoln

will give it a try, I think using the T cut has flattened the area a little as minis and BMWs allways have a dimply paint effect and it has smoothed this off a little too much.

Promoter · LMC Team Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 959 Location: Lincoln

That 'dimply effect' is called 'orange peel' and is actually a fault in the paintwork.

Many years ago, when I was just a boy, cars would have been rejected and sent back to the manufacturer for 'orange peel' effect on paintwork. Unfortunately, we have come to expect and accept poorer workmanship over the years. How do I know? I am the son of a 'Warranty Engineer' who used to work for Mondial who cover BMW Warranties. It was my Dad that BMW dealers would call to get authorisation for warranty work. Also, I used to work for Solicitors in Coventry, (Newsome Vaughan and Company), and Sir William Lyons, the founder of Jaguar Cars was one of our clients. I was a regular visitor to the factory in Browns Lane both on legal and financial matters.

So if you have got rid of the 'orange peel' effect, you only got the rest of the car to do until it is perfect. Laughing

Oh and if you all now think you can make ya warranty claims through me to my Dad - think again coz he is dead. I am good, but I aint that good. Laughing

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andy b · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Lincoln

Must admit I have heard of orange peel effect but to be honest every BMW including recent Compacts and the 4 new shape MINIs I have had have suffered from this and is especially noticeable on the Red ones. Did think that it was just normal on the Mini and now looking at other makes I think that the Mini is one of the worst though it pains me to say this. My wife has a brand new Tigra in red and the paint work is far better. My new Red car and the previous White R56 both had/have dimples in the paint and also the odd fleck of dirt where as the vauxhall is near perfect.
I recently looked at a BMW Z4 which was about £37,000 and it also had paint defects, how does BMW get away with this.
I have also noticed on my new car that where the internal door skins are bonded to the outer door (bottom edges) in bright light you can see marks on the outside of the door where they have been pressed/bonded together, the same applies to the boot edges.

This is obviously something we put up with for the love of the car. I did ask once about paintwork defects and was told that there has to be so many within a certain area before it is deemed to be a defect I also know that many cars with defects are sometimes sprayed or rubbed away prior to selling the car to a customer without their knowledge.

Well that is enough of my ranting and back to the original question, I will try the Meguirs and see how it works.

Promoter · LMC Team Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 959 Location: Lincoln

In 2002 I bought a Land Rover Discovery in Silver (Brand New). When you stood away from it, the offside front wing, offside drivers door and part of the roof was a different shade of Silver. I took it back the very next day and parked about 100 feet away from ther front door of the dealership. When the 'Sales Manager' and 'Service Manager' walked out of the showroom, the 'Service Manager' said, "Your cars two shades of Silver". I replied that I was glad they had noticed. I immediately left it with them and demanded a loan car. To be honest, it did get very nasty, but I am ex-Solicitors and don't stand for any nonsense. The fine print does say that they must be given a chance to correct the fault before rejection, and that includes re-spraying the car. However, I was wise enough to put in writing a '2 Months deadline'. The day before I was due to pick the car up, (thats one day before the end of the 2 months deadline), they had only just started rubbing it down. I exercised my legal rights and rejected the car and managed to get an upgrade to the 'Top of the Range' at just 50% of the additional cost. Always put your complaint in writing. Write to the dealer, but also copy in the manufacturers 'Customer Service Department' and the 'Finance Company'. Under relatively new laws, the Finance Company are also responsible for the quality of the car. Word of Warning; if you try to correct the problem yourself first, you don't have a leg to stand on.
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Promoter · LMC Team Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 959 Location: Lincoln

AND NOW THE SECRET REMEDY TO YOUR PROBLEM.
There is a car body repairers called 'Bowmans' in a small industrial estate just off Monks Road near the bend as it leads up to Outer Circle Road, they are on the right as you leave town. Pop in there, they are really nice people. Matt (MiNT) had a scratch like yours on an old Fiesta he once had. They gave me, Yes! Gave Me, Free, no spondoolies, a small jam jar of white cream to rub on it and buff up. No idea what it is, I call it 'Magic Cream' and have since been back and scrounged more, sorry don't have any now though. It works a treat. Scratch? What scratch - they just seem to dissappear. Even if you have to pay a small amount, they will point you in the right direction. I find that better than experimenting with these things. If in doubt - ask the experts. Hey!!!! Maybe I could get a 'Sponsorship Deal'?

Here is a link to their website;

http://www.ejbowman.com/

I have just spoken with the Receptionist at Bowmans and I have arranged to call Mr. Bowman about a 'Sponsorship Arrangement' and possible free samples of cream/paste tomorrow. So just hold ya horses guys and gals, leave it to the 'Famous' - 'LMC Promoter'. Watch this space.
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lammy · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 1068

Orange Peel??? Are you taking the pith??? Laughing

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Promoter · LMC Team Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Posts: 959 Location: Lincoln

No! I am not 'taking the pith', but I will let you know when I run out of juice. Laughing

Having said that I have checked the paintwork on 'Promo Mini' and the finish is perfect. Piano Black interior creeks and sunroof rattled tonight, but paintwork is perfect.
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Merlin 2 · Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:25 pm Post subject:

when you have orange peel on paintwork the idea is to colour sand it before the clear coat is applied so that the base coat is as flat as possible before the clear coat hits it. If you colour sand base coat and dont get all the high spots out of it then it is called fat ladies cellulite as you get a semi flattened orange peel.

once the clear coat is on then the only solution is to flat the clear with a mop wheel and hope you can get as much out as possible without going down to the base coat underneath.
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andy b · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Lincoln

oh my this has opened a kettle of worms, I tried some supaguard paint seal cream yesterday and that seems to have hidden most of the problem area though this is high in caranuba wax and has probably just disgiused it.