I WANT PICS!!!!!!

 

OK, as promised, here a couple of pics of the damage (and another of my MINI just for fun). The pics are kinda crappy because I was running out of daylight and in a hurry but hopefully you get the idea.

 

If it were my car I would get some 1500 grit sand paper and wet sand the scratches. Then buy some of this:

3M™ Finesse-It™ II Finishing Material

Designed for use on O.E.M. and fully cured automotive paints, can remove grade 1500 sand scratches and removes swirl marks after compounding, while leaving a glazed finish.

Follow the directions on the bottle and see what you end up with. The worst that can happen is that you will be out around $25 and discover that your scratches are too deep to repair without taking your car to a body shop. The best that can happen is that you can make the car look brand new again. And what will probably happen is somewhere in between. But maybe it will get out the vast majority of the scratches and you can live with the rest.

 

Although I'm currently view this thread on my QVGA phone the scrapes remind me of dog claw scratches and those can be improved. In fact i did just that on a BRG MINI as yours and that was only using a buffer. If the scrapers were wood try claying the spots first. That will remove any wood fiber transfer in the scratches.

Richard

 

I'm sorry but this is very bad advice to give to someone that has never wetsanded. He has another option you haven't even considered. A professional with wet sanding experience might be able to improve the paint, but in the wrong hands all it takes is one stroke too many to ruin any potential for success. Further if the scratches are only through the clear, it's possible that the cost of the repair could be minimized if the base hasn't been penetrated. In experienced hands, you know when to stop once you've broken through the clear. And I certainly wouldn't start with 1500 grit for a beginner. If you're going to learn on your own paint, start with 2500 or 3000 grit on a sanding block and expect to make no more than 10 superlight strokes along the scratches.Use bad sanding techniques and you might leave permanent sanding marks that can look as bad as the original scratches.

 

i think i got glass in my eyes right now looking at those picts.

 

Wait, is that a wooden chisel or a metal chisel for wood carving??? lol

 

metal chisel, i think. :impatient

 

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. While more information would need to be provided in order to make sure the person followed the right procedure a slow and careful approach can yield very acceptable results, assuming that acceptable results are even possible. If one avoids using mechanical sanding or polishing the work goes slow enough that if you are careful you can avoid bad results. Your suggestion of 2500 or 3000 grit would be a wise decision. The person can always take it slow and easy until they get the hang of it, especially starting to work on the scratches that arent all that deep. In fact, hand applying the 3M product without sanding might take out some of those scratches without much risk at all. My two cents but I suspect that if the owner doesnt feel comfortable with the idea they probably wont venture blindly. Respectfully submitted with no offense taken nor none intended.

 

That's right, it was a metal chisel for wood carving. Very sharp! And wide.

 

Actually, I'd probably prefer to take it to a pro since the time and patience to do it right are what I'm short on at the moment. Nevertheless, this is exactly the kind of advice I need to know what kind of pro to look for and what questions to ask. Some of these things I didn't even know were possible and so I had nothing to respond with when the body shop guy said to repaint the whole thing.

Thanks All!

 

looking at those picts, i think if you want to fully repair the paint you will
have to repaint it.

looks like it's down to the primer.

 

Sorry I think I came off a little strong and didn't mean to. It's just that as much experience that I have with wetsanding paint--both factory and fresh paint--I couldn't recommend an owner to sand their paint without knowing what they are doing--and even with knowing what you're doing--it's still scary, lol. I just don't feel comfortable sanding factory paint. I had an inquiry from a 2007 Corvette owner recently wanting to know if I would sand his orange peel out and I had to refuse--the risk was just too high--and he agreed.

Now that I'm looking at this on my large monitor, I still can't see how deep they are. Look at these scratches on this BRG MINI I did awhile back. They are similar, and they were fixed.



This one was much less severe

 

I would ship the kid's off to a third world country in order to work off their debt. All Joking aside, sell them to pay for the body work.

Sorry for the lose, Im sure your kid's will be missed

 

True, but it's still a good excuse to go buy one.


So afxok, have you let the kids out of their room yet??


On a serious note, if you have them repaint, do go over the repair very carefully. My horror story - needed to get a door painted, checked out door at completion, all good. Next day I notice fish eyes on the rear quarter panel. Turns out they 'tried new vendor' and couldn't get a good color match, so they painted the entire side of the car without telling me! :impatient THAT was a fun conversation.

 

yah, the second one looks 90-95% repairable with some polish.

 

Or better yet, apprentice the kids to the body shop, then when they get older you'll be able to have them do all this kind of work for free.

 

No worries, I am hard to offend. I understand your hesitation. I guess my response was tempered by my own experience where I had very good luck this past fall wet sanding and buffing out some of the finish on my TR6. And I guess my other thought was that if the owner was going to have the car repainted anyways there was nothing to lose if wet sanding and buffing were tried since if that didnt work the car would be "professionally" repaired anyways.

And I think your last comment is spot on. It IS hard to tell the extent of the damage unless you are looking at the car in person. If we were standing next to the car together it would probably be easier for us to discuss options and decide what course of action might be best.