Reading Topic: first scratch!
The trick to getting a good repair is patience, patience, and patience.
You want to fill in the scratch and keep the paint INSIDE the scratch trying your best not to go outside the scratch. It may happen but deal with it.
With patience you can achieve a good clean repair.
First, get the correct paint. You will use very small amounts so it won't matter if it stick pen or not.
The important thing to remember is that the repair will NOT be made in one attempt at one time.
It will take a few steps and time. You will want to clean the area and make sure that you do NOT have any wax inside the scratch area. If you do, then use wax remover/cleaner to get it out of there. Paint sticks to metal and other paint not to wax.
Make sure the temperture of the metal and the air is what the paint manufacuter wants you to use.
You will need paint, very SMALL brush or something think enough to be able to get the paint inside the scratch. You want to use SMALL amounts of paint thus you will avoid drops and sags.
Some paints stick are not thin enough to use in certains scratches. If so, then get enough paint out of the stick and onto a piece of plastic or something. Then use your brush. If no brush you can use a paper clip or a paper match (the paper side); or even a small piece of wood that is thin enough to get into the scratch. The point is to find a way to get the paint inside the scratch in very think coats. So, find what works.
Patience. Patience. I have to stress this because most people don't get good results because they can't wait to get it "fixed". Put enough paint in the scratch to start a base that is thin. Then STOP.
Let that paint dry. Let it dry. That is important. You want to fill the scratch slowly making sure each layer of paint drys first. What you are doing is building up the paint in the scratch until it is slightly above the OEM paint. IOW, the fill in paint you are doing will eventually be a bit higher than the cars paint. Why? Because you will then take that filled in paint down to the level of the cars paint with some sanding. That is what will blend the paint and fix the scratch and it will look great. Thus, you can see why you want to go slow with this. Fill in the scratch with a light coat of paint and give it some time to dry and then repeat. If humidity is low enough the paint will dry fairly quickly, maybe a few minutes in between coats. Higher humidity, the longer it will take to dry between coats. Eventually you will have the scratch filled in and the paint will be slightly above the cars original paint. That's GOOD. Now you have material to work with so that you can bring the filled in paint to the surface and create a smooth finish.
STOP! Before the sanding part, let the paint dry for at least 24 hours. This is more of the patience thing.
You want the paint to be dry completely. If it's not dry, then as you sand you will smear the paint coats under it and you won't get a good clean glossy finish. So, let the paint dry completely. The next day you will need some 3000,2000, and 1000 grit (rating) sand paper.
The lower the number in grit the rougher the sand paper. The thing we are doing here is cutting the filled in paint down to the original finish and then we want to finally buff that to a smooth glossy finish. Take your time, be slow and methodical and see what you want to do first before doing it. Use the 1000 or 2000 grit to bring the dry paint down and level. Do this slowly and keep the sand paper clean as it works better. The thing you want to do is get the paint that's higher sanded down. Be careful to not sand the cars original finish. Sure, you might hit it with the sand paper a few times, but don't worry the following steps will take care of that as well. Continue working the paint down and keep small circular motions in a controlled manner so that you are only sanding down the paint you put in. You could use masking tape around the scratch so that you don't too wild and scratch your good paint.
Go slow. You can use some water as well to help sand, this is like "wet sanding". It keeps the surface lubricated and clean. If you use 3000 grit and 2000 then use them in order. 1000 to cut the paint down and then 2000 as you get almost there. I find that 2000 works well too and can help to not scratch the good paint. But, it does take longer as the grit is finer and doesn't cut as much. Once you get to the paint level then use the 3000 grit and a little water to blend the filler paint to the car paint. 3000 is very fine and you can blend with it, just be judicious and get the look you're after. Once the paint is sanded and blended there will be some "haze" but you'll get that off too. You will need some 3M "perfect it II". This is a polishing product that contains silica which is fine sand. This will help smooth the imperfections that the other steps may have created. Read the label to find the product you need. 3M makes a LOT of products. You want to have some "cutting agent" that will help smooth the paint and remove the swirl marks created by the sanding. The 3M product is a liquid and you want to shake it up very well to blend the ingredients. Apply the 3M and use a CLEAN rag in circular motions to start, then maybe back and forth to smooth. This may take a few applications but don't do too many and do NOT rub too hard. This product does remove some of the clear coat so be judicious and careful. It will NOT remove all of the clear coat. You will feel the drag of the product and then you feel that something goes soft and smooth. I think this is the clear coat softening just slightly so that you can smooth what you are fixing. You'll feel what I am trying to describe but it will smooth everything out and bring out some gloss. When that is done then you'll want to apply some paint polish or clear coat polish, something that will give you some protection to the area.
If you want you can do the whole car with polish at this point.
Once the repair is done and finalized with the 3M compound you can wash and wax as normal.
Make sure you use at least some wax on the repair to keep it looking fresh and clean, but that goes for your whole car. I like to wash, then polish or clear coat protect and then wax for the shine.
I use "Liquid Glass" as a polish. It is also a clear coat protectant. Goes on very easily and smoothly and won't haze black plastic the way wax can. It leaves good protecting coat on the paint. In fact, if you need to have damage repaired and painted you have to have a cleaner to remove the Liquid Glass. But, it works great. After all that then I wax with some Carnauba type wax to get a wet gloss look. Spray, quick waxes are great for in between waxing.
So, that's it. Take your time and you can get a great repair that you probably won't be able to see when it's done. I've done this a few times and it's amazing how well this process works.
I saw it done on a show and have had it explained by some body repair people. It does work if you take your time.
That was a LONG post but there it is. Even if you don't use it, someone else might and besides I felt like writing it, it helps to remind how to do it if I need it again.
Tome
