Oh no, a scratch!

[Mustang81]

I think some of us have been there, you clean the car and then notice. . .the scratch.

I was giving my car an ONR bath this evening when I came across her first scratch. It was pretty nasty in my mind, on the front right fender. I have no idea where it came from. It was too deep for me to remove with Megs UC by hand. I've got pictures of the before and after for what I tried. Note, I started with SwirlX, moved onto ScrachX 2.0, then finished up with UC. After I did the UC I went over it again with SwirlX.

Before
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/Before19.JPG

After the SwirlX, ScratchX 2.0, UC "process"
http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/after19.JPG

I know it's hard to see, but it's still there. My finger nail does catch on it slightly. What's the correct procedure to fix this? Is this something I can do myself, or should I be bringing it to a professional? I had more pictures, but I'm having a real hard time getting them to upload, even after following the directions.

[slickooz]

The 2nd photo is really hard to see how badly it still is. I'm assuming you did these all by hand. Do you have a DA? Maybe something like Surfbuf pad wit M105 should level it better. Wet sanding can also work if the paint is not down to metal or primer.

If all else fails, I have seem some really good touch ups. Where it needed to be wet sanded to level it out. Then compounded and polished out. Or you can bring it to body shop and shell out 300+.

[Rayaz]

That does suck! There are some great threads on wet and damp sanding that may be just the trick for this type of scratch (one that catches the finger nail). The big worry is going thru the clear coat but, worse case scenario is you do and have to re-spray. IMHO, it would be worth a try since the alternative is a respray anyway, right?

You did a great job so far:xyxthumbs:

[Mustang81]

I'll ask my wife to take the pictures again. She's much better with the camera than I am. The scratch looks a lot better, but it's still noticeable. What I've done has soften the edges of the scratch.

[Stang Man]

It looks like you did a pretty damn good job with what you've got on hand, IMHO.

The next steps would be to wet sand, and then compound/polish, like the others have said.

[lokichaos]

If your finger nail catches in it than its a fairly deep scratch. My recommendation is to use Dr. Colorchip. Works great.

The next suggestion is in this thread:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/43535-key-repair-step-step-procedure.html

Richy did an AMAZING job getting rid of the key marks. Good luck and hope it comes out ok!

From my experience it may look blended in right now, but after awhile it starts to resurface. I have a few vertical scratches on the DD, and I thought I got them out using scratch X and UC, but after about a week they started to reappear again.

[Mustang81]

I looked at that thread a while ago and the results were amazing! I'm also a realist though and just starting out with detailing in any great, er, detail. I'm afraid I'd make it a lot worse than it already is if I tried to wet sand.

Just from what everybody has said, it sounds like I can have a REPUTABLE mobile detailer come and take care of this problem for me instead of bringing it into a body shop. I might go that route.

Or I might wet sand my wife's car while she's sleeping to see how hard it actually is!

[lokichaos]

Or I might wet sand my wife's car while she's sleeping to see how hard it actually is!

LMAO hahaha.
"Honey, why does my car look like a sand storm blew through the garage?"
Hides sandpaper and pads under car with foot
"No idea, I wonder why?"

Good luck though which ever way you do go. It always sucks when you find a new scratch on the car.

[Mustang81]

So here's another photo, to give a better idea of what I've got. I think I know the correct procedure at this point, but I'm hoping somebody will look and this and be like, "oh yea, use product X and it'll go right away!"

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/500/medium/scratchdirty.JPG

Sorry, the car is a little dirty from being on the road and sitting in the garage. This makes the scratch look a bit worse than it actually is.

At this point, the build up with paint, wet sand down procedure sounds like it would be the best fix, but it also scares the bajesus out of me. I've never even used a DA let alone some of the other techniques described in the other thread.

Any good detailers in the Bolingbrook, IL area? :help: