paint scratch/ding repairs

[riceK]

Originally Posted by I Vtec, do you?

So I gotta ask.. was it worth buying the Scratch fix kit? All you used was the sanding block and paper right? i thought for sure you were going to use the rubbing compound.

Anyways I'm gonna give this a try since your results seem really good. Probably use 2000 grit paper though, I'm paranoid about dulling the finish on all the good paint around it ;(

You are half way correct, at first I only ended up using the sand block and sand paper that came with the kit, but for some of the rock hits I had I ended up using the filler and primer paint that came with the kit. if you want to test the paint to see if it matches your car try testing the paint on the door jambs or door well (inside part of your door when you open it) that is the most obscure area I can think of without anyone noticing you are just testing the paint.

[JeShUa]

Making a shopping list

[JeShUa]

Where can I get that kit :]?

[riceK]

Originally Posted by JeShUa

Where can I get that kit :]?

I got it from PeP boys

[TheSni]

Has anyone who got their car keyed tried this? My NHBP 4 door si got ganked last week and I'm debating whether to try this or get it taken care of professionally. It's a 3 foot scratch starting from the left tail light to about where the keyhole is on the trunk. Let me know it works

[JeShUa]

Originally Posted by riceK

I got it from PeP boys

I went to pep boys and 2 autozones.. then I went to Kragen and they had it :x.

[riceK]

Originally Posted by JeShUa

I went to pep boys and 2 autozones.. then I went to Kragen and they had it :x.

Yeah there's no kragen where I live

To TheSni, here's the thing, you doing it yourself will take prolly the cost of the scracth kit, less than $20 for the touch-up paint and some sweat and tears. Total cost less than $50. And there is a chance you will get it right.

You can pay a professional to do it. But what's the harm in doing it yourself? it's already scratched so if you make a mistake then take it to a professional. They will repaint the entire panel anyway because it's easier that way.

I say this because if you are debating wether to take it to a professional or not tells me that you can afford to take it to a professional, where in my case I couldn't (not without sacrificing groceries or bills or anything)

So I say what's the harm? Not unless you royally screw this one up somehow.

[Si_Jeff]

^^ that's what i thought too. my car got keyed also a while back and the shop wanted 800 for the entire panel. i say f it and just do it yourself.

[R4DG]

how come you did not apply some of the clearcoat, that came with the kit, on top of the touch up paint?

[riceK]

Originally Posted by R4DG

how come you did not apply some of the clearcoat, that came with the kit, on top of the touch up paint?

Gud question, Once I saw the result of the touch-up paint I didn't see the need for the clear coat. However, when I did my other car, which is a darker color than my Si (dark blue) I did have to use the clear coat to match the OEM paint.

I decided to stop messing around with the paint once I have achieved the match of the paint. For me, I am happy with the result and did not feel the need to just keep messing around with it because I might end up screwing it all up and have to somehow "band-aid" my screw-ups.

[R4DG]

so if you did use clearcoat

would you apply the touch up paint and sand it down to paint level and then add clearcoat and resand?

[riceK]

Originally Posted by R4DG

so if you did use clearcoat

would you apply the touch up paint and sand it down to paint level and then add clearcoat and resand?

yes I applied the touch-up paint sand it down just below the oem paint (you can feel for it) and then add the clearcoat and resand down to the level of the paint.

[wiganda]

i thought the purpse of clear coat is to make it glossy. but if like you said, add the clearcoat and resand down to the level of the paint. Wouldnt that be getting rid of the glossiness?

i just had recently ruined the paint of my front bumper too. its much worse than those rock chips of yours. The whole surface is jagged and there are some parts where i can see the black plastic underneath. its terrifying to look at.
would this DIY work on that?
i have read many DIY where they need to use primer, rubbing compound, etc. how come you dont use them?
also one more thing. would spray painting work better in my case? or in any case?

thanks.

[riceK]

Originally Posted by wiganda

i thought the purpse of clear coat is to make it glossy. but if like you said, add the clearcoat and resand down to the level of the paint. Wouldnt that be getting rid of the glossiness?

i just had recently ruined the paint of my front bumper too. its much worse than those rock chips of yours. The whole surface is jagged and there are some parts where i can see the black plastic underneath. its terrifying to look at.
would this DIY work on that?
i have read many DIY where they need to use primer, rubbing compound, etc. how come you dont use them?
also one more thing. would spray painting work better in my case? or in any case?

thanks.

For your first question, you use the scratch X to get rid of the scratches, then the 3 step meguairs to make it shiny again.

Second, this DIY are for rock chips and scratches if the width of your damage is larger than those and has dents this DIY is not for you.

Third, I didn't use all those things because I was only trying to repair "rock chips" and dings not large areas of paint damage, nor fender benders, nor colission repair.

I pick up trash for a living so I wouldn't know what would be best for you, if I have to guess, if you plan on spraying your paint damage I would imagine you will run into over spray. It seems to me that your paint damage is way larger for this DIY.

[flushdereal87]

awesome man...great explaination i needa get that scratch remover

[mijc13]

So it looks like someone skimmed by the front of my car (right over the drivers side wheel) today in a parking lot. As far as I can tell, they were driving a white or silver car... There doesn't appear to be any damage (it is dark out, so I can't really tell)which means it was probably done while they were parking. There is now whitish paint over about a foot long area of my black SI

PISSED!!!!

Is this going to be a bitch to get off? Any ideas? Will this DIY work for me?

[riceK]

The respond to your question is "it depends".

I am currently trying to repair a 2 inch scratch that's on my rear passenger side wheel well. And one thing I learned from that is, because of the contour that specific location even sanding the lightest I can I ended up sanding deeper into the OEM paint than I intended. But I was still able to patch it I'll redo this DIY to show how I patched it up.

What I would do first is clean that section of the best you can to remove all the transferred paint. I would use some goo gone or something to remove the transferred paint, and if worse comes to worst I'd try rubbing it off with my fingers or finger nail, you don't have to take that route but that's just me.
Also rub some scratch removers on it like (again for me) ScratchX or something. So that you can see the extent of the major scratches and maybe able to fix the minor ones.

After that is done inspect for dents by comparing it to the other side of the car that is not damaged. If there are dents I'd get that repaired through PDR if you can, if not I wouldn't try and patch the scratched paint while there is a dent on the affected area because it's a whole lot more headache to match the tone of the paint to the original OEM, specially on black because I use to have a black 01 civic and it was a bitch to match the NBP.

I know this indirectly answered your question so I say this try fixing the affected area using cleaning chemicals first. If there are no dents try to patch up the paint or wait till I update this DIY.

thanks,

[mijc13]

Originally Posted by riceK

The respond to your question is "it depends".

I am currently trying to repair a 2 inch scratch that's on my rear passenger side wheel well. And one thing I learned from that is, because of the contour that specific location even sanding the lightest I can I ended up sanding deeper into the OEM paint than I intended. But I was still able to patch it I'll redo this DIY to show how I patched it up.

What I would do first is clean that section of the best you can to remove all the transferred paint. I would use some goo gone or something to remove the transferred paint, and if worse comes to worst I'd try rubbing it off with my fingers or finger nail, you don't have to take that route but that's just me.
Also rub some scratch removers on it like (again for me) ScratchX or something. So that you can see the extent of the major scratches and maybe able to fix the minor ones.

After that is done inspect for dents by comparing it to the other side of the car that is not damaged. If there are dents I'd get that repaired through PDR if you can, if not I wouldn't try and patch the scratched paint while there is a dent on the affected area because it's a whole lot more headache to match the tone of the paint to the original OEM, specially on black because I use to have a black 01 civic and it was a bitch to match the NBP.

I know this indirectly answered your question so I say this try fixing the affected area using cleaning chemicals first. If there are no dents try to patch up the paint or wait till I update this DIY.

thanks,

Thanks! I will try and remember to take a picture of it, just so my story is a little more clear. I think that some scratchX, and the "touch up paint" might be able to fix it... But I am not sure yet.

[kuad]

sounds good but the 'sanding' of a year old car scares me.

[kuad]

me too.