How to fix those little scratches

[Dayvo]

There’s only one thing worse than than scratches on your paintwork and that is the globs of touchup paint when you fix them. The car detailer who looks after our company cars showed me a good way to fix it. First clean the scratch then apply the touch up paint as usual making sure you build it up with two or three coats, making sure the area is just higher than the original paint then wait till it completely dries. Then get hold of an icy pole stick. Get some double-sided tape and stick about 10 cm onto it then stick some 1200 wet and dry to the tape. Add some dishwashing liquid to a bucket of water and carefully start sanding the painted area using plenty water. Only do about 10 strokes then check to see how smooth the surface is. Don’t rub too much as you will cut through the clear coat. This is the time consuming part when the surface is smooth polish with “ T-cut metallic paint restorer” as this is only a very mild abrasive or” Meguirs scratch x “(which is also good for getting rid of those scuff marks under the door handles) when smooth throw on a bit of polish and the job is done. I done a few on my black VX and they came out quite good
A few tips
Don’t build up the paint too much as you will only have to rub it all back,
Don’t use anything wider than a ice pole stick as you only want to rub down the repaired area not the surrounding area.
Use plenty of dishwashing liquid as this acts as a lubricant when rubbing back.
Obviously the detailer that showed me this had all the proper gear I just used a icy pole stick as a substitute as it is not too wide and it is flexible enough to use on curved panels .Also I bought a small paintbrush from a hobby shop as I found that the one supplied with the touch up paint was too stiff and too wide. You can also use a spray can and spray some into the lid and then paint it on .

 

[VY Equipe]

thanks for the tip

 

[ULOOK-2]

thanx buddy

 

[Dayvo]

I have to do one on my drivers side door. heres a good tip , never open your door with your keys in the same hand . I will post a before and after pic when i get around to do it

 

[Dexn]

Thanks Dayvo, Havn't read anything about doing touch-up's before - and I need to do some now.

Cheers.

 

[genIIIbandit]

great tip i'll give it a shot. THANKS

 

[chevy_big_block_bro]

Another way is do the same with the globs but only leave for 30-40 minutes then apply heaps of thinners to a SOFT rag and prety much let the weight of the rag rub the excess off, dont rub too hard and make sure the rag is soft cotton.

Then just polish the excess away about 30 minutes later

 

[wes_v8]

yeah thanx for the tip

 

[Craftsman]

I'm giving this a go tomorrow on a bloody shopping trolley scratch. Thanks for the tip, hopefully I wont stuff it up.

 

[Dead Head]

Try this with 2pac only, once the touch up is built up to fill the chip and dryed out , best the next day, take a brand new razor blade and put tape at both ends and carefully cut the top of the blob off then cut & polish.