Moderate, horizontal scratch in hood

[jmrydholm]

Hi fellow D-owners,

I have a visible, rusty horizontal scrape across the front of my car's hood. Aside from being in need of a good, general polishing, what would be the best way to remove such a noticable blemish? Scotch-brite pads? (the green ones) Or should I go with fine grit sandpaper? I never really needed to polish up the car much until now as it's been sitting for a long time. Some jerk once keyed the rear quarter panel as well, so I have a smaller streak on the driver's side too.

Thanks for any advice!
-John
#10715

[outatym2001]

John.
Below is what I posted to this thread.
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?198-My-Favorite-DeLorean-Web-Sites-Part-II-of-II.

Stainless Finishers, Wolfhead
Wolfhead Wheel 2" Wide, 12 brush with 3/8" mandrel. Order 1/4" wide cut Aluminum Oxide abrasive strip loads with 60 Grit.
http://www.gandpmachinery.com/html/pages/brchrs.htm

Blending pads for Stainless Steel exterior. Scotch-Brite 7446 Grey by 3M. Grit Grade :Medium.


To do a proper scratch removing and later blending out the scratches it’s best to use 60 grit wet/dry sandpaper and blend with what I posted above.

I hand sanded my DeLorean with 80 grit wet/dry sand paper and followed it with the dark red Scotch-Brite pads since that is what I found at my local hardware store. During the hand sanding I wet the stainless steel with water to see my results. And the same with the blending pads. I wet the surface so it rinsed off the abrasive and I could see the results.
Remember to go with the grain and only in one direction. Not back and forth. And lift before the end of each stroke. Pretend like you are that flapper wheel. Press and lift, press and lift.

As far as removing the rust on the stainless you could try what I use once a year is Bar Keepers Friend powder cleanser. Or try a generic rust remover purchased at your local hardware store. I never had to remove rust from my DeLorean.

Caution do not press too hard on the Hood (Bonnet). It’s flat and you may allow the plastic X to show through on the stainless hood. It may have been what happened to me since I pressed too hard on the hood when hand sanding and now you can see an X that is the same as the X that is glued to the underside of hood.

There is already a thread titled, Regraining Stainless, with 43 posts.
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?36-Regraining-Stainless

In the end after hand sanding your entire DeLorean your arms will feel like rubber noodles. Don’t try sanding the whole car in one day. Take your time.

[jmrydholm]

Thank you for the info! Dave Hudgins of KC also pm'ed me. I have that "X" shape, but it only shows in the winter when there's frost on the hood. I also have a small dent in the upper driver's side area near the gas filler.

[john 05141]

Why is it necessary to lift the pad when blending? I blend my delorean once or twice a year and she looks fabulous. But I always go backward / forwards without lifting the pad, no problem at all. :dunno:

John

[Michael]

As far as I'm concerned, there is no reason to lift the pad and go one direction only....IF and ONLY IF you are aware of your arm's natural tendendy to arc. When you lift and repeat the "one direction" you are more apt to keep the grain straight and even. It will take longer, but your results are better. I myself go both directions, and it may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, but I have tried it both ways, and see no difference in the results(except my way is faster)

Doing a hood and tops of the fenders is the easy part, where it gets tricky is keeping the grain straight on the fender flares. It helps to lay down a strip of masking tape following the grain from the door all the way to the bumper, then you will see how the pattern goes around the fender/quarter. Be sure to crouch down to the same height as the car to make sure your grain is straight. It doesn't make much sense, but you must curve your grain and stroke here to keep it straight.

Another smaller hurdle is keeping the grain parallel on the quarter panel "C" and door "A" pillars. But as long as you pay close attention to the angle, you should match it up very close. It helps to start at the doors and make imaginary strokes across the quarter glass to determine the angle...or just use tape again to make sure your grain angle matches up.

The X is there and the short answer is there is nothing you can do about it except keep it from getting worse.

As far as your original question, I would use 60-80 grit paper to get the scratch out. If it is on the hood, then it will take longer as you cannot press very hard. In that case, try wetsanding, (using water as a lubricant) to make your paper last longer. Once the depression of the scratch is out, them move to your pads to match up the grain. I use two pads, a 60 grit stripping pad(green in color) and then as the final step, a 3m blending pad that the DMC vendors sell(gray in color) The number escapes me but a quick search should provide you with that info.

They show spraying stainless polish as a lubricant, thats an expensive lubricant and most stainless polishes are oil based which produce different results/colors that may or may not be desirable(the oil based polishes debate is a whole nother story). I sometimes dry blend which is quicker, but your pads will wear out quicker. If I do lubricate, I use window cleaner. I tend to stay away from stainless polish as I like the natural color and finish of stainless. After I'm done, the whole car gets done in window cleaner(I like the foam kind). It takes 2-3 rags, one dirty, one wet, and one dry to keep streaks out.

If you take your time and stretch it out to a 2 day process, it will be much more enjoyable, and produce much better results.

[jmrydholm]

@Michael, thanks for the photos! She's pretty. :)
I think I may start with a good car wash on the weekend. Maybe pick up some new front tires once I get paid. Mine is slowly coming back from the "dead."