Scratch repair gone bad

**pipspeak** · 01-10-2007, 09:20 PM

I managed to mess up on the last stage of a scratch repair and wondered if there`s any way back.

After several layers of touch-up paint to fill in a short scratch, followed by a layer of clearcoat, I just had to lightly sand the repair flush to the surrounding paint. By hand, I used 2000-grit wet`n`dry, followed by polishing compound then ScratchX -- a method I`ve tried with success many time before on chip repairs.

This time, however, I think I messed up and took off too much clear. Now I have a circular area around the scratch in which the paint is a lighter shade of gray than the original. Does that indicate a loss of clearcoat? Or is there some other reason for this.

If it is clearcoat damage, is there any way of repairing or masking, other than applying new clearcoat over the affected area? Luckily it`s small -- about an inch across -- but is right in line of sight on the tailgate and bugs me every time I see it.

I`m almost inclined to take it to a bodyshop and have them try to repair it before I do more damage.

**AuAltima3.5** · 01-10-2007, 09:36 PM

Pictures would be helpful, but...

From what I have seen and what you have described, if you have already tried using a fine polish, then you have removed too much clearcoat.

I can never hurt to try to DIY, if you plan to be doing to the bodyshop anyway. $12<$200 at teh body shop.

**pipspeak** · 01-10-2007, 10:41 PM

Any advice on touching up such a small amount of clearcoat? To spray or not to spray?

**MorBid** · 01-11-2007, 12:45 AM

As the man said, pics would help. I`ve seen repairs gone bad and can tell by sight when you`ve broken the clear.

Try polishing it out first to see if you can bring the shine back. Let the touch-up paint cure for a couple of hours/days (depending on the ambient air temperature where your at) first so you don`t end up removing it.

To answer your other question, the paint manufactuer`s reccommended procedure for repairs to the Clear Coat is to knock down the panel and re-apply edge to edge. This is what any bodyshop will do.

There have been some great strides in trying to "blend" clear coat repairs that would not require the whole panel to be re-shot but just the area affected. However most shops won`t do it as it is more of a hassle than just doing the first method and there can be issues later if it isn`t done correctly.

PDR guys will though.

But you cannot just simply mask and shoot clear over a tiny spot and expect it to stay put let alone look like nothing ever happened.

MorBiD

**velobard** · 01-11-2007, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by pipspeak

Any advice on touching up such a small amount of clearcoat? To spray or not to spray?

How good are you with an airbrush? I could be off here, but I`m fairly sure that a decent shop could do a light touch-up with clear that wouldn`t be too bad. You can bet that when they do spot repairs because they messed something up on a paint job that most shops won`t repaint the whole panel.

**brwill2005** · 01-12-2007, 09:50 AM

My guess is that you have not completely polished out either the sanding scratches or the compound haze. What compound did you use, and did you compound/polish by hand or machine?

**ScottFern** · 01-12-2007, 10:09 AM

Are auto body shops usually better than the average person at doing a touch up? I am contemplating doing a repair myself vs. taking it to a body shop?

**sixty7mustang22** · 01-12-2007, 10:10 AM

Originally Posted by brwill2005

My guess is that you have not completely polished out either the sanding scratches or the compound haze. What compound did you use, and did you compound/polish by hand or machine?

Yeah, I would guess that you have not removed the maring done by the sandpaper. Especially if you have done it by hand.

**MorBid** · 01-12-2007, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by ScottFern

Are auto body shops usually better than the average person at doing a touch up? I am contemplating doing a repair myself vs. taking it to a body shop?

Depends on your idea of Touch-up. Autobody repair facilities have some significant costs. Mostly in the Power it takes to run the booths (heating, lighting, and ventilation) and they make very little on the materials.

As such they tend to focus on the "quick turn" so for even a little chip, dent or scratch they are going to redo the entire panel. It`s cheaper in the long run that way and the repair can be guaranteed to last. Not to mention the customer will be more satisfied with the results.

There are a new breed of "mobile" painters who specialize in small dings, dents, and chips. The stuff the regular shops don`t want to deal with or the customer doesn`t want to pay for the entire panel to be done.

Check the yellow pages

**Conundrum** · 01-12-2007, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by MorBid

As such they tend to focus on the "quick turn" so for even a little chip, dent or scratch they are going to redo the entire panel. It`s cheaper in the long run that way and the repair can be guaranteed to last. Not to mention the customer will be more satisfied with the results.

Heh...reminds me of when I first got my car and scratched it while washing the roof (leaned against the car ever so slightly, something I`d never do again). Anyhow I ended up leaving around a 1 inch scratch that went partway into the clear and around a 2mm spot that went through the clear and base (down to primer). So I took my car to a bodyshop to see if they could do anything simple (car was only 3 or less weeks old), and they told me they wanted 900-1200 to repaint the entire side of the car!

Needless to say, I took my car to my uncle`s who restores paintjobs on classics for a living and he got most of the clear damage out, and I used touchup paint on the little spot that went through the base coat.