How to remove paint scratch?

[taffyc]

Hi there,
A few evenings ago someone deliberately scratched our mini S convertible. The scratch is about 2 inches long and looks to have been made with something sharp and fine-pointed like a fine nail perhaps. The paint is the lightning blue metallic color.

I'm looking for a way to repair the scratch and preferably return the area to a new appearance. I'd like to avoid having to have the panel re-sprayed if at all possible.

I've seen a few products promoted but would really appreciate advice on the best way to fix this. We love our MCC and she is perfect except for the scratch!

TC
Thanks for your help.

[kenchan]

Some people are a-holes. Sorry to hear. I've had that happen on a few of my cars in the past right after ownership. Someone keyed it from the front door all the way to the back. One time UPS truck even backed into my car that wasn't even 650miles old.

Anyway about the scratch, is the white primer showing through? If so you will need to paint it. if not, does your nail catch the scratch when to gently rub it? If so that's still probably too deep.

If your nails don't catch, then ScratchX with a foam pad and some elbowgrease should take care of it. . Do 5-6 apps.

Wax afterwards. Hope that helps.

[taffyc]

Thanks Kenshan!

I can definitely catch it with my finger so its a problem. I have seen acouple of products which claim to be effective:

Quixx - they say they are german TUV certified

LANGKA Scratch Repair System

Any thoughts or experience with these products??

Thanks .... TC

[Detailers Paradise]

Originally Posted by taffyc

Thanks Kenshan!

I can definitely catch it with my finger so its a problem. I have seen acouple of products which claim to be effective:

Quixx - they say they are german TUV certified

LANGKA Scratch Repair System

Any thoughts or experience with these products??

Thanks .... TC

I haven't used Quixx but Langka works very well. I also like Autovisuals' paint pens. They're color-matching is excellent and the pen makes the repair super easy.

Whichever system you use, be sure to apply a very thin layer then allow it to fully dry (at least 24 hours) then apply the next layer. It's ok to add layers until you're just above your surrounding paint level and then abrade it down by hand just a bit using a medium abrasive like Prima Swirl or Scatch-X. (note that touch-up paint is much softer than manufacturer paint so it will abrade at a much faster rate) Taking the time to layer and dry, layer and dry, will pay off in the end!

-Heather

[Capt_bj]

another source for paint pens
http://www.automotivetouchup.com/paintpen.asp
altho I've gone back to bottles myself cuz the paint pen flow is difficult to control especially after the tip has been used a time or two. My source also sells replacement tips (dunno about the other) which is recommended if you are going to stick with pens.

I find applying paint with a 000 artists brush allows much more control ... also most t/up paint is really really thick so thin it down .... and note that today most t/up color is 'base coat' so you need to follow up with clear coat....

I use LANGKA and am happy with it for chip repairs. I have not had great luck with it for scratches. IME a scratch tends to be less deep than a chip and getting color in there w/out wiping back off with the LAN' just doesn't happen for me. Go to the Lang' web site for plenty of FAQ and videos ...
http://www.langka.com/ This is a good product and I use it ... but you do need a little experience b4 everything works as advertised IME.

I have had success with a more intense process but if you really don't want to spray the entire panel - aka the right way to fix it .... I mix up a little one step color...one step is the b4 base clear system....color and clear in one step and use an air brush to cover the booboo area then use the langka or even just a mild rubbing compound to attack the overspray trying to avoid lifting the paint out of the scratch.

Labor intense ... tool intense ... material intense ...

I'm retired, what else have I got to do?

OTOH

a keying should be covered under comprehensive coverage ... just like a windshield break ... knot your fault. Is your deduct too high to consider a claim? If so you might want to ask what the premium difference would be to go to a ZERO deductable on your comp'. U might be very surprised...I was.

[richs10]

I had a couple of paint chips on my black roof along with a fairly deep scratch about an inch and a half long which was down to the white undercoat. I bought the kit from Dr. ColorChip. It did a semi-decent job on the chips, but I'm really not satified with the results on the scratch. I re-applied it several times over several days, but it just does not hide the scratch (it doesn't seem to buff up and just looks like the scratch has been filled with flat paint).

Generally, I am disappointed with the results. The kit was not cheap and I guess I was expecting too much. Maybe I should have tried a paint-pen first.

Rich

[OctaneGuy]

Frankly, any scratch or chip will look better from a few feet away by applying color so that the underlying primer isn't visible. The chips just "seem" to disappear.

Products like Dr. ColorChip rely on this fact. Look at the black and white photos they have in various magazines and you can see the "after" side obviously has paint smeared over the whole side and it doesn't properly blend into the existing paint. I.e., like makeup foundation, you can see where the edges are. But the "chips" are gone. lol.

Key scratches are very hard to fix. No touchup kit addresses the fact that applying metallic touchup will never blend with the original metallic flakes. The repair will always look darker.

The best repair you can do is:

1.) Thoroughly clean the scratch
2.) Clay it to remove any paint transfer from the object that scratched the paint.
3.) Apply touchup using anything but the brush that's included. I don't like the pens either..getting them to flow is very tedious since most key scratches are on the vertical sides of the car. I use the Microbrushes I sell on my site which wick a blob of paint into the scratched area. You still need a very steady hand, but the results are excellent.

The end result might be good enough for you. As a pro, I would do 3 to 4 coats, then wetsand with 2500 Unigrit papers, then polish and blend it before saying I'm done. And even then, the results are mixed.

Richard