First off i just want to say it’s great to be here and i am hoping one of you guys can help me out.
I am a prod owner of the Acura Integra and she has never let me down. I spend my weekends making sure that she is well looked after cleaned and maintained.
The other day i woke up and started eating my breakfast happily, as you do in the morning. I remembered i left some paperwork in the car so i went to get it. When arriving at my drivers side door i have noticed a big scratch that looks like some C*** has been using a key to create art on my car door…, Annoyed is an understatement and if i find who did it i will be visiting there house with a set of keys… Anyway the picture will be below. What can i use to fix this or will it need a fresh paint job? I have been looking into T-cut and other products for sale but there might be a trick i don’t know about (hoping).
I have seen these mad candy paints that might do the job also - check these out http://www.canada.for-sale.com/car-paint
Looking forward to your reply’s guys get this fixed asap!! i hate seeing an eye saw on my motor!!!
Rule of thumb is if you can stick your finger nail into the scratch. No amount of polish or compound with remove it. Conventional repair would be the only option. Metalic colour. So a touch up will show. Depending on where the scratch on the panel is located. The colour will need to be faded into the adjacent panel.
I have just been and checked now my nail doesn’t fall into any dent, it just feels a little rough where the paint has been removed, Maybe a slight dent but not even mm. so i should be able to give it a try. What would you recommend for me to use and what steps should i take?
Wow. That sucks man, sorry. I am not a professional detailer, but I have been surprised at how Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound works on the Polar White paint of my '90 sedan. A small amount on a clean cloth will tell you quickly if it will do the job on that scratch or not.
Also, this guy Larry Kosilla on YouTube is a straight up genius with paint. Check out his channel AMMO NYC for diy tips. Good luck!
Its hard to tell from a picture how deep the scratch is. Worst case scenario you need to repaint that whole area - so if you want to try and get away with less you kinda can’t do more damage than is already there (assuming it needs paint in the end anyway). You can start with a light polishing compound and then move to progressively heavier compounds if the scratch isn’t coming out. At some point, if the scratch isn’t coming out with polish you can then move to more aggressive cutting - i.e. sand paper. But with sand paper you can only go so aggressive until it just needs to be painted. Do some searches online to see if you’re comfortable trying to use compounds/sanding to get it out. If you’re not then just contact a pro.
The bad thing about metallic paint is that if can not be blended. If a respray is required a shop will need to get the factory paint code then match the fade. You should buff out a panel and take it to the shop clean so the color match is better. If they don’t use a UV lite to match the swatches against your paint, then you are at the wrong shop.
Well sounds like there is a lot of work that is about to go into the scratch… I’m a little worried about using sand paper because before you know it i won’t have any car door left so that will have to be a last resort. I will give the YouTube channel above a watch and see what i can learn from that fella then see what ,my next plan is and what kind of teqnique i am going to use to try and remove the scratch. Be back soo guys!! Thanks so much for all the help
Refinishing is not required.
If your finger nail doesn’t fall/dig into the scratch. That is good news. It’s only the topcoat/clearcoat that is damaged. Not the basecoat.
I would start off with 1000 grit sandpaper. Dry sand the scratch along the same direction. Not across. This will create an area around the scratch for the clearcoat to stick onto.
Dust it off, clean with wax & grease remover. Or dish soap. Then use automotive clear coat and brush touch up the scratches. The key is to fill it in. Its ok if the clear goes on wider than the scratch itself.
Use at least a few coats with 10 min drying time in between, depending on weather. Once its filled in slightly higher than the paint surface. Let it dry for at least a day. Clearcoat needs to cure completely before the next step.
Then wetsand block the dry filled in scratches with 1000, 1500, 2000 in that order. A small flat metal block is recommended to use with the sandpaper. Once done buff out with rubbing compound and polish. I use 3M products myself.
If done correctly, the scratches should be at least 99% gone.
Basically this process fills in the scratches, sanded/blocked down until its flush with the rest of the paint, then polished.
Good luck!
Take it to detailing shop and ask if they can buff it out first, some shops will try and start it, if it works will charge you to finish if not, then it is off to a paint shop. They will do a much better job than any first time person attempting this and risking sand through to metal. my two cents…
