Scratches in Paintwork

[MrGTST]

Hmmmm I took the car to the mechanic the other day to get my gearbox oil changed ...... and when I got it home I noticed what looks to be a rather nasty scratch in the passenger door

I obviously cant prove he did it so I am asking is there any product that can help cover up my scratch?

The skyline is black and the scratch has come out white!!!! It looks really bad ... Its only about 1 and a half cm's long but its the principle of the matter .... I spend over a month finding my line with a body in really good condition and the very first time I take it somewhere they bash the door ... probably on the hoist...

I was thinking of getting a bit of paint mixed up to match and putting it on very carefully with a small brush...

Comments???? Ideas????

Please help....

MrGTST

[Zahos]

I know exactly where you are coming from, I spent 3 months trying to find one with a near perfect spray job (only to realise later that the car was in-fact re-sprayed!!! - No matter, its a good job). Anyhow, same thing, one mechanic put a long scratch into my right guard, but luckily it was only a scratch in the clear coat and not the paint, So I just gave it a good cut using a cutting compound, and then waxed it. Came up good, I can only notice it now if I look closely. Take a close look at yours, it might not go through the paint, so this might be an option.

If it does go through, a paint shop should be able to match your paint, and put it in a can for you to spray over, but I recomend you don't take this road unless you have sprayed a few cars before and know exacly what you are doing. I've sprayed a few cars in my time, and still cant get these touch up jobs 100% as it is near impossible! I've done a few where it appeared to look OK, but in certain angles of sunlight, the respray was visible...

If it is as small as you say, then a touch up texta, or a very fine brush will be your best bet, as you will cover the smallest amout of surface area with new paint, hence the chance of it being noticed is minimised.

Where abouts are you located? If you are in melbourne, I can recoment a paint shop that does a good job when it comes to matching the color of your car...

Zahos

[MrGTST]

Hmmmm thanks for that advice... I think that it has gone through the paint .... I will go get some paint mixed ( I am in Perth ) and be very carefull and see how we go ... luckily there a couple of out of the way spots that I can test first so I can see how it is going to go...

Mr GTST

[UNREAL]

Yeah, I'd just get some colour matched paint and do a touch up.

On, my birthday a motorbike ran into the back of my car in the National Park. The left footpeg smashed the right indicator and he smacked into a tree.

[Blitz]

MrGTST

A good panel shop can either buff the scratch out depending on severity or do a good job of touching it up then buffing it so u cant notice it.

I have 2 small scratches on my passenger dor which were there when i bought my car, I have someone lined up to remove them.

[MrGTST]

Hmmmm thanks for your opinions ..... I have gone and got some touch up paint .... I will give it a go tonight and see how it looks ( I will test it on some more discreet spots first though. )

I hope it comes out alright .... I was very proud of the cars conditions prior to this happening.

MrGTST

[Zahos]

just remember to clean the brush well with thinners or turps after testing it, otherwise it will harden and make it difficult to do a good job on the door!

Also use a generous amount of paint on the brush, but only let it **VERY LIGHTLY** brush up against the panel...

If you get this technique right, you wont get the brush look, and it will come out looking much smoother and less noticeable.

Clean the area of application VERY WELL, and air dry it with a compressor or a hair dryer before application. After the paint has dried for about 24 hours, give it a good buff, so it may blend in a little more. (This rarely makes a difference, but possibly can).

Cant think of any more hints....

Zahos

[adam 32]

mrgtst

one of my mates works at a panel n paint shop who will have a look at it for ya, i got a couple of scratches on my black paintwork and he buffed them out for me with the electric buffer and some comound.

if your scratch isnt too bad im sure we could work something out!

[MrGTST]

Hiya Again.....

Well let us just say that the touch up paint didnt work.... It came out pretty bad so I very carefully scratched it off....

So I am back where I started .... I need a professional job.

I will take it to my local Panel Beater ( I have used him once for my last car ) to get a quote but Adam 32 I am interested in finding out more from your friend???

I am a perfectionist and want to make sure a good job is done ( nothing is too good for my baby :uh-huh: ) and dont want to just randomly pick something out of the yellow pages

Therefore as I said Adam 32 can ya help me out!!!!

Thanks

MrGTST

[adam 32]

mr gtst

take it down to the local panel beaters or wherever you were going to take it

ask them if they would either repsray the entire panel (if the scratch is bad) or whther they could buff it out with the electric buffer

if they saf theyd just buff it out then let me know and we can do it on the weekend

if they say respray then the scratch is probably too deep to buff out and will need to be painted. if this is the case my mate will still do it for you but will cost almost the same as anywhere else as they have to mix-up the minimum amount of paint of that particular paintcode do no matter how little paint you need the minimum is like 2L or something so theywill charge you for it.

either way let me know and good luck!!

[MrGTST]

Hmmmm I went to the panel shop ....

The guy looked at it and said it would need to be resprayed....

The quote ..... $400 ....

The want to basically rub the whole door back and respray the whole thing.

Hmmm $400 is a bit excessive for about a 1cm scratch.

Maybe I will just have to live with it

Out of curiosity what would happen if you tried to buff it out but the scratch is too deep???? Would it make it look better/worse???

Is it worth trying.

MrGTST

[Birty]

If it won't buff out it won't buff out. But I'd go to someone you trust before laying down any money.

[MrGTST]

Hmmm but I havent really done much apart from try touch up paint, which didnt look good at all...

The only other thing I have done is tried polish but that was just with an old t-shirt

I am hoping a proper buffing job could make it look better.... obviously it wont be perfect but if I could just get it to be less noticeable that would be good.

[adam 32]

yeh buffing wont do any damage but if the scratch is too deep then it wont help at all

from the sounds of it, try another touch-up job.....