How do i Repair a Scratch on my Cars Paintwork
We have all felt that sinking feeling when admiring our freshly washed car you start to notice all is not as it should be! Whether it happened in the store car park or the kids have been getting careless with their bikes, one way or another most vehicles suffer some minor paint damage at some point. Before taking it to a local body-shop, where a re-paint of the damaged panels could cost hundreds of dollars, try this professional method for removing fine surface scratches from auto paintwork.
Firstly, you must examine how deep the scratch is, this tutorial is aimed at removing fine scratches in the clear-coat or lacquer. If the scratch has penetrated the colour-coat underneath, then this method is not suitable.
Sometimes you may even find that what initially looked like a major scratch is simply material transfer from whatever object struck it, and all that is required is a buff with polishing compound as described in the final two steps of this tutorial.
Once you have ascertained that the scratch is no deeper than the clear-coat, thoroughly clean the entire panel with soap and warm water to remove any and all surface dirt. This process is important; any dust left on the surface of the paint will cause additional damage whilst removing the initial scratch.
Now the panel is clean, take a sheet of p2000 grade wet and dry emery paper, wrap it around a hard rubber sanding-block, and now lightly wet both the paper and surface of the damaged paint with soapy water from a spray bottle.
Now using short strokes on an angle to the direction of the scratch start to remove a very fine layer of the clear-coat, this must be done with great care as modern factory paint-jobs have very little excess material to play with!
After every few strokes, dry the face of the panel and examine the damaged area, when completely dry the scratch will usually seem to be highlighted in white due to residue sat in the bottom of it until it is completely removed. If the scratch is still visible, re-apply clean water to the panel and emery paper and repeat the process a little at a time until the scratch is no longer visible.
Change to a sheet of p3000 grade emery paper and give a very light additional sanding slightly larger than the previous area, this is purely to remove the p2000 marks and make it easier to polish back to a full gloss.
Next take a good quality microfiber cloth, damp it and wring out tightly, apply a professional grade polishing compound to the cloth and use it to hand polish the dulled area of paint created by flatting. This can be quite labour intensive as modern paint finishes are extremely durable.
Use a clean dry microfiber cloth to remove compound residue and buff to a shine. If there are still fine scratches visible from sanding, repeat the above step until the repaired area matches surrounding paintwork.
