ron36330

Some how , some where I received a scratch on the driver's door. Only the clearcoat is scratched, not the paint. My question is how does one repair such a scratch, ie clearcoat only.
Thanks in advance
Ron

LexusSC430

There are numerous one step cleaners that will truly amaze you at how well they repair a scratch. In actuality, it is just removing the surface around the scratch to match it. Some may disagree, but turtle wax scratch removal got a mark out of my car that i still shake my head at. It was amazing. Its in a green spray bottle. Im sure others can suggest similar things. 3M makes a good one, but you may have a hard time getting it, the one sold to the public pales in comparison to the dealer version.

babyboy

i have had a lot of experience with scratches and i have found the 3m line to be the best. To get scratches out (if not that deep) use a mild rubbing compound followed by a silcone based sealent(the name of it is escaping me right now) that basically fills the scratch. after that rub some wax over it and it should look good as new. Becareful with any compounds though sometimes they can make it look worse than before especially with a dark color car.

Ill check on the name of that product as soon as i get a chance

hope that helps

Daddy-O

ron36330,

Can you feel it with your fingertips?

What color is this car?

ron36330

DAD;
To answer your question: Yes you can feel the scratch with your finger tips, but the base color is not scratched.
The color is Absolutely Red.
The way I found the scratch was while washing the car I looked along the side of the body (rear to front) and noticed the defect. Looking straight on you can't see it.
Thanks
Ron

Guitarman

I think what Daddy-O is getting at is, that usually anything that can redily be felt with the fingernail is likely to be deep enough to either prove impossible to remove altogether, or at best be risky to remove.

What color is the scratch? Is it whitish? Or red?

ron36330

The scratch can be felt because the clearcoat only is gone. The underlying base color (red) is not damaged in any way, ergo no color to the scratch. As I had previously mentioned, if you look directly at the the scratch, ie 90 degrees (or perpendicular) to the scratch, you can't even identify a defect. You either have to feel the defect, with your finger tip or look parallel to the panel to see the missing clearcoat.
Thanks to all who responded to my problem
Ron

Guitarman

Well then it 's just a matter of how much of a gambling man you want to be. You might get lucky. At the least you can make it a bit less obvious.
Myself, I'd either use my rotary buffer with 3M Perfect-It III rubbing compound, then use 3M Perfect -It III Machine Glaze (a polish) OR ...wet sand it with 2000 grit wet paper, then follow with those same 2 compounds. You would instead use more hand- app friendly stuff like 3M fine cut rubbing compound, followed by 3M Finesse-it II Finishing Material (many other products you can substitute for these , these are some that I use).
Problem is, most people have no experience wet sanding, and it can be scary, and risky too. Here's my wet-sanding link if you want to mull it over;

http://pub29.ezboard.com/fthunderbir...icID=129.topic

Ok, if that's not for you then your other more laborious route is to slowly take the area down with a rubbing compound or scratch remover by itself. Even something like Meguiar's Scratch X is a reasonable substitute compound. It will take quite a bit of time and effort to see a difference, but that gives you some control before you remove too much paint. Your arm will be sore.

The rubbing compound (whichever one you use) will leave a haze, especially on a dark colored car , so will have to be followed by a polishing compound (i.e. the Finesse-It II Finishing Material is such).

If all this scares you, just take it to a pro , they will tell you right off whether or not it's do-able and how much $$. Good luck, If you were in Florida near me I'd be happy to help you gratis. CL member and all.

P.S. If you chicken out on all this, you can always try to touch it up carefully. (yes, that could possibly be even more visible). DAN H

ron36330

I live in Enterprise, Alabama. Which is due north of Panama City.
Yep I'm afraid of the wet-sanding method, but will try the 3M route.
Thanks for your detailed response. Very good info.
Ron

cheapsk8

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Guitarman
[B]Well then it 's just a matter of how much of a gambling man you want to be. You might get lucky. At the least you can make it a bit less obvious.
Myself, I'd either use my rotary buffer with 3M Perfect-It III rubbing compound, then use 3M Perfect -It III

how do u like perf.III i've always used perf II compound and glaze because 3M was having some trouble with fogging on the III line

chris

Guitarman

I have been using 3M machine glaze for final polishing and haven't noticed much if any hazing. I will say though, that 3M swirl remover DOES do this on dark colors, you really have to work it well to avoid it, and even then...

I have also found Finesse-It II finishing material to cause slight hazing on some dark and black cars, but not all. Still a very good product. I sometimes have to use some of my old liquid ebony to clean it up. I suppose different manufacturers using different paint brands at the factory possibly being the reason it's not consistent. Cheers.