Wax for a potentially damaged clearcoat?
 

This is a super up-close shot, but on my 00 XJ, I had used some of that Meguiars ultimate compound and it came out looking all shiny (at least on the good parts) but I never followed up with a regular wax because I didn't know better, and was soon left with these tiny cross-cross scratches everywhere on the body. It's not obvious from far away, and my Jeep isn't really a looker anyway but... if I bought some tinted car wax or something, would I have a chance of filling this back in without a repaint? My hood is all scuffed and chipped too but I may use bedliner on that.

wax won't fix it. you need a sand/paint and clear coat.

A body-colored wax will 'mask it'. If you leave it like it is, eventually the white (unsightly) wax caught in the cracks will weather away.

Caged is right, the only way to resolve is to sand down to primer (not just a surface sand), and repaint. It's a lot of work, but in the end what you get is a product you can be extremely proud of ..and it'll renew your love for your XJ.

I don't know if I want to pour that kind of time into the exterior... but I totally get what you mean, a fresh coat would look awesome on it. I was intending on a "mask" if you will, or at the very least, something to protect it from getting worse.

i haven't used plastidip, but this may mask it for a while and help protect it for now.

all depends on how much you care about the final appearance.

If it's original paint ....or even one re-spray, it wouldn't be as bad to just get on it with some #320 wet sanding paper and soapy water. Do like one or two panels a day. Probably get the whole vehicle sanded down in 2 days of fairly light work with lots of breaks. Then hunt around for some guy you know who can re-spray it for you (unless you have an adequate compressor, do yourself). Mask off with newsprint, etc. Or you could hire a Maaco job too once you've got it ready to paint. People tend to think a job like this requires special equipment and air sanders -- it doesn't. If you have an arm and water, you can do just as well ...even better. B/c doing by hand you can pay closer attention to detail as you go. You don't need to go to steel, just to the original base primer should be enough.

Ideally, a guy *should* put a coat of epoxy primer on it (and again wetsand it down with a finer sandpaper like 400#, or 600#) prior to painting. If you're going to go to that much work ...finer sand paper will give you a lot better finished product, but in a pinch you could skip the finer primers/sand step. Primer is a lot easier sanding ...half a day's work and you're done, if you get on it. A person work as quick or be more careful around any bodywork as they care to be ..depending on how quick they want to finish ....or how good you want it to look. Mask up with cheaper tape and newspaper. You don't need to buy top-dollar finishes. Just get some NAPA Cross Fire paint and spray a 2-part system on it (2-3 coats). My brother has sprayed lots of cars with Cross Fire urethane base/clear, including several 68 Mustangs. It holds up well. I switched over to using Nason (a DuPont 2nd tier paint) years ago. I have several vehicles that have never been garaged that have held up 13 years out in rain, snow, heat and -20f temps. The paint has held up just as well as vehicles I used much more expensive PPG or Martin Senour clears on. Paint technology has been out of the bag for years now, and less expensive products are quite good.

My point is, you really *can* get a paint job done on the cheap if you put some work into it. About the same amt of work as changing an engine. Costs can be however much you want to spend, but there's ways and products to match any budget. The pay-off is great. The mistake a lot of people make is they talk to someone who gives them a load of BS on all the expensive work and products they need to do and the estimate comes out really expensive. Sure a guy can do all that, but you can also get a job done which matches your budget.

One word of caution though, if you were to consider re-painting your vehicle ..even a little inkling of maybe repainting it, hold off on the waxing . Wax and paint don't go well together, especially for beginners. Any wax residue can ruin what could have been a nice new paint job, and beginners never know enough about good paint higeine (which is why I suggested wetsanding with "Soapy" water).

My Jeep needs a paint job too. It was suppose to happen last summer. Maybe this summer...