JPritch

Dealer put this in my one month old bodykit

I've gotten lighter scratches out of my car in the past with a wet q tip and some rubbing compound followed by scratch-x then zaino ...good as new. But this bad boy is not coming out. I am unsure if it is in or through the clearcoat. It is a whitish type scratch, so I'm thinking it's just in the clearcoat, but then again I do feel a slight groove in the scratch.

How should I go about trying to buff this out? If suggested methods don't work and I need to repaint, can bodyshops repaint just that general spot and not the rest of the kit? I'd hate to have a one month old sidekit piece with otherwise perfect paint have to be repainted so soon. I understand spot painting wouldn't be perfect, but would it still come out nice?

Here are pics. Any suggestions much appreciated!

Whiskers

Make said dealer fix.

TOGWT

A surface scratch that will `catch' your fingernail is approximately 0.004" deep will usually require wet-sanding and refinishing

JonM

TSX7

I'd fill it with touchup paint, wet sand it, polish, then wax.

vp911

Make the dealer fix it.

matelot

it's tiny, live with it

JPritch

Won't live it. That's just not my personality, especially when it comes to cars.

***UPDATE***
I wetsanded the scratch with 2000 grit 3M sandpaper. I then followed up with some Polishing compound and Meguiar's Scratch-X, then some Z-5 as a final step. It turned out pretty good, but there is still some minor hazing that is only apparent when the sun hits the spot just right. Otherwise you can't tell anything is there.

I was scared to wet sand as I've never done this before, but I was reassured during the sanding because when I kept applying the spray over the spot the paint was still shiny through the water, so I knew I didn't sand too deep. Weird how with water over the paint it looked perfect, but without the water it looked hazy.


***I have one new question though, what product and applicator do you recommend to get rid of the slight hazing/dullness I still have? I think I need something that cuts a little more than the Scratch-X, but not as much as the Turtle Wax Polishing Compound. Any ideas? I'd really like for this spot to be transparent, regardless of where the sun hits it!

Here are the new pics:

You can see the small spot where I sanded (spot right in the middle of the pic, not the big sun reflection near the bottom):

Here you can hardly tell there was ever a scratch! :

boku

iTrader: (1)

???make them fix it???

I'm new to this section; but how does one make the dealer fix a scratch?

99 SSM TL

Im new to the Zine. However, I would imagine the typical problem with dealers or any shops for that matter being, that ulitimatley the dealer/shop has to accept that they put the scratch there in the first place. Im sure you can see the arguement brewing here. The look right off the bat that somehow your trying to scam them and the scratch was there before you brought the car in. then "my guys didn't do that!. etc. etc. etc. Forget about getting any future work done there.

Anthony Orosco

If you are looking to remove the fine sanding marks I would recommend either Menzerna IP or Optimum Polish.

The IP cuts faster but the Opt polish will finish out better.

Anthony

JPritch

Thanks for the help Anthony. Ordered some Optimum Polish today along with a yellow cutting pad. Hopefully this will do the trick.

LTRAIN

Wet Sand!!

N12ER

He already did, and that removed the scratch beautifully.

Wet sanding leaves marks that you need to buff out further.

akim31

hmm not too sure with the turtle wax compound and Meg scratch-X. I do wet sand, then 3M_PI_III RC, then 3M_PI-III MG w/ PC and then Z5 etc. I got my NBP baby keyed (hood) 2nd month I owned it. I cleaned it up pretty well using the above but as someone mentioned, if you can fingernail the scratch then the only other way to "completely" fix it would be filling the scratch (touch up), wetsanding, polish etc. Yours doesn't look too bad. Should look good after a good polishing. Try 3M_PI-III MG first and see. If you still have the haze then 3M_PI_III RC, then 3M_PI-III MG again.