scratches

[mmanus88]

well, i parallel parked today and while i was gone two idiots decided to sandwhich me so close between their two cars that the only way i could get out was nudging the Jeep in front of me. of course, teh jeep didn't get scratched with its rubber molding but i did get scratches . nothing major, but u can see white streaks. i ordered obsidian black paint specific to our legacy from http://www.paintscratch.com. got the 12.5 oz spray can along wiht the clear coat, rubbing compound, acryllic thinner, and grease/wax remover. i also went to leow's and bought the #600 grit sandpaper needed to do the job. the website offers directions here:

 

http://www.paintscratch.com/spraycan.htm

 

here are the directions given, and i put questions i have about them right afterwards:

 

Quick Steps-Spray Cans

1) Clean the area (soap and water or wax and grease remover). (understood)

2) Scuff the area well with wet and dry sandpaper. (how much should i scuff it?)

3) Check humidity (below 50%) and temperature (around 70ºF). (understood)

4) Spray even wet coats of basecoat. You can sand the paint between coats, but don't sand the final coat. Two wet coats should be sufficient. Allow each coat to dry 20 minutes before recoating. Some colors require more paint. (sand between coats? do i have to?)

5) Make sure the basecoat has dried thoroughly and then spray the clearcoat. Spray the clearcoat beyond the basecoat to a good stopping point such as the edge of the panel. Two wet coats should be sufficient. (what do they mena by stopping point? and do they mean two clear coats?)

6) Let the clearcoat dry for at least three days. Use Rubbing Compound (apply with clean soft cotton only, paper products or dirty fabrics will scratch your paint surface) to smooth and shine the area. Always test the rubbing compound on your vehicle in an inconspicuous place to check for surface compatibility and shine. Without this step, the paint will not shine properly. (let it dry for 3 days? i can still dirve the car just make sure its not touched correct?)

7) If this is your first time, try one small area from start to finish before repairing other areas.

 

if u guys could adress my questions (i've never done this sort of thing before) that would be great. thanks!

[OCDetails]

Are you sure there is paint missing? If you got white scratches then those can be buffed out. That kind of thing is exactly what I use Meguiar's ScratchX for. You can get ScratchX anywhere. You may want to try that before doing touch up. Unless you are using an air brush I would definitely suggest not using a spray can to touch up scratches. The spray can is for painting whole body panels or pieces. Spray some into a tin can or something so you can brush it in.

 

Something else you might want to look into is a product called "Langka". It is made for touch up repair projects. You can do a search on Google for it. There are several places you can order it from. I believe Mother's has either rebranded Langka or something similar that you can buy off the shelf wherever they sell autobody paint supply stuff.

[mmanus88]

dammit. paint was alreayd mixed, and their cancellation policy is all or nothing. so i'm stuck wiht it . i will try the mcguires scratch x, because all i have is white scratches. dam my ignorance .

 

anyone interested in any obsidian black spray?

[mmanus88]

fortunately i was able ot cancel the order. whew

 

i ordered some scratch x it shoudl do the job. thanks!

[OCDetails]

Let me know if that doesn't work. If you need to touch up still then you can reorder the paint. Just have them give you a jar instead of a can. Spray paint is messy stuff and not really good for touch up unless you are ready to mask off the entire vehicle. lol

 

The best way to use ScratchX is to apply it to the corner of a folded shop towel. Then rub in the direction of the scratch. You may have to rub pretty hard and fast to get the white mark off. There may be an indentation in the paint or some minor little scratches left after you are done, but its a lot better than that white mark. If you can live with whatever is under that scuff then you should be fine.

[mmanus88]

does a terry towel do the job?

[OCDetails]

Using something like flour sack or even just a folded blue shop towel would be preferable. I'm leary of terry cloth. I'm a microfiber or flour sack kind of guy. Terry cloth has more of a tendency to leave swirls because of the coarsness of the fibers. Its pretty soft, but not as soft as microfiber.

[mmanus88]

ok well i tried the mcguires stuff, it did not get out the accident scratches i wanted it to, but it did work great for light blemishes and stuff like that. i could see it being a great soltuion to get rid of the "swirly" scratches athat u can only see in the sunlight while bending sideways. it was not a waste of money in that respect. but i'm still stuck with teh scratches from nudging out of those two cars. i ran my finger nail in the oppositie direction (verticlly) through them and it caught, so i guess the scratchx won't do much. what the most effective way of going about this?

[OCDetails]

If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail then you'll need a bottle of touch up paint. You can get that at paintscratch.com or the dealership. Touchup is kind of tricky. Take a look at THIS SITE. I don't do touch up work generally because I feel that it is something that you should do in stages and that is difficult to do on a customer's car that you only have for a couple hours. I've read that there is a little bit of a learning curve involved with Lanka, but the end result is actually quite nice. All you need is some factory paint and the Langka kit and you can probably fix what the ScratchX couldn't. Hopefully that helps. Without seeing pictures of the damage it is really hard to come up with the best solution. If ScratchX doesn't do the trick then painting is the next option.