Would I use T-Cut on my car to remove a area with light scratches ?

[jamieuk23]

I own a Mazda RX8 which is my pride and joy. I love keeping it clean all the time and enjoy looking after it. I notice a area on my bonet has some very mild surface scratches. To get rid of these should I use some T-cut ?

Am a little unsure what T-cut is used for can you explain when I should use it ?.. I did use some T-cut scratch remover on this area and it didnt work.

Thanks for help!!

All so how do I remove stone chippings ? :-)

[Zak33]

T cut is the devils work.. it's uber aggresive and yes it COULD remove a small scratch.. but it might leave you with a swirly whirly spot on your paint work.

Any chance, with a good camera, and at the right angle, you might get us a piccy?

My advice WITHOUT having seen it, is to mix 1/3 T cut with 2/3 polish on a very soft cloth.. and polish the area with that... then... polish it over again with 100% polish to remove ALL signs of the T cut.

[GoNz0]

you cant "remove" stone chips and if tcut scratch remover failed give up now and pay for chipmaster to do it

[alpha channel]

I'd suggest Turtlewax Polish - Halfords. I use the dark Blue on my Coupe and works a treat, the wax stick (combined with the polish) is handy as well for the deeper scratches.

[eshrules]

you cant "remove" stone chips and if tcut scratch remover failed give up now and pay for chipmaster to do it

Depending on the depth of the chip, a decent machine (with the correct measurements being taken to protect the clearcoat) with the correct compound can remove most chips/light scratches.

If it's down to primer/paint, a respray will be the only course of action.

T-Cut oxidises paint and ought to be banned from general sale imho - use it at your peril.

[[GSV]Myocardial]

I've used this method of repairing stone chips with pretty good results:

Equipment:

• lollypop stick
• small piece of chammy leather
• T cut (do not use it straight as it's far to abrasive on modern clearcoated paints)
• polish wax (you can use the coloured ones matching your car but I don't bother)
• cocktail stick
• Paint matching car, either touch up stick or spray can (I prefer a spray can as you get a fair bit more paint and I use it to respray the odd component before replacement on the vehicle).

Procedure:

1. Remove dirt/grime from around chipped area.
2. Spray a little paint into the cap
3. Using a cocktail stick dab paint into chipped area so that it is slightly proud of the surface, depending on how large the chip is you can build up in stages with a short gap inbetween applications to allow paint to go tacky.
4. Allow to dry for a couple of hours but not so long that the paint is too hard. It must be set, but still a little soft. Check the paint left in the cap to see how soft it is.
5. Now mix a little T cut and the polish together (same sort of mix as Zak suggested, 1/3 T Cut, 2/3 Polish or even a little less of the T Cut).
6. Wrap the chammy around the lolly stick
7. Dip the chammy into the polish mix
8. Using the end of the lolly stick or the flat part of the lolly stick,Carefully cut/polish the mound of paint untill it is as flat as the normal surface. If you've left the paint too long and it has gone harder then you may need to get a fine sheet of wet and dry and flat it back BUT take care that you don't sand through the surrounding clearcoat.
9. Once finished, polish the area and apply a decent wax.

If you have a 2 part paint with a laquer, then you can modify step 3 above to apply the colour coat leaving this at a level below that of the surrounding paint surface, leave this to dry as per the manufacturers specifications and then apply the laquer coat and following the procedure as above to level it with the surrounding paint.

[Behemoth]

I used t-cut on my first car, and used rather too much. That resulted in HAVING a very faded bonnet, never did that again.

[Avenger1324]

I also have an RX-8 but would avoid using T-cut on it because the paint work is very thin and T-cut an abrasive polish.

Meguiars do a 3 step programme for preparing, polishing and waxing. All of these are currently available in Halfords as part of their 3 for 2 deal, so while Meguiars is still expensive, it works out a bit cheaper than normal.

The first stage is probably the product you need, designed to remove swirling scratches from paintwork in preparation for polishing. It is less abrasive, but this will be good, as you can always apply a little more and gently remove the scratch, rather than remove too much and have more of a problem.