Definitive Car

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Thread: How to fix deep key scratches with touch up paint - STEP BY STEP

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Melbourne, VIC
    Posts
    48
    Users Country Flag

    How to fix deep key scratches with touch up paint - STEP BY STEP

    I parked my car at a car park the other day and came back to see that the entire passenger side had been keyed to the metal.

    I got a few quotes from panel beaters. They wanted over $1000. Of course they do it properly and have the panels sanded back, all the door handles removed and resprayed etc.

    The touch up guys wanted $500, for a quick and dirty.

    I also considered going through my insurance, but that would mean an increase in premium next year even though I keep my rating 1. And i have to pay an excess.

    I gave my DIY a try because i had nothing to lose. If it came out worse, then i was going to get it done at the panel beaters anyway.

    Here is how i fixed it with before and after pictures for those interested in the DIY. It turned out quite well. I am quite fussy and it passes for me. If you really try, you will still see it, but if you weren't told, you won't know it's there.

    Steps:
    1. Wash the scratched area with prepsol and let it dry.

    2. Apply touch up paint (I find auto paint stores that mix on the spot match better than factory touch up bottles. Especially for Honda's). Make sure you apply carefully directly onto the scratch using a fine brush. Buy one from a craft store, don't use the one the paint comes with. It's too fat. I did 2 thin coats. Let it dry 10 mins in between coats. Don't worry if if blobs up a little bit, that's what we want. But make sure it's not all over the place though because that will make step 4 harder. This step takes patiences depending on how long the scratch is.

    3. Apply clear coat. I bought good quality clear coat in a can. Sprayed it into the lid and used it with a fine brush i bought from the craft store. 2 thin coats. Let it dry 10 mins between each coat. Let final coat dry overnight. Note. At this stage, it looks crap!

    4. I had a meguiars clay bar kit. Spray the lubricant onto the touched up areas and rub the clay bar over it to smooth out the blob. This also takes a lot of patients and elbow grease, but the efforts are worth it in the end. It took me around 30 minutes per scratch 50cms long. The clay bar is normally used to remove contaminants of the surface of the paint. In this case, it does no damage the paint but removes the touch up paint until it is level with the cars original paint. For the first 5-10 mins you might feel nothing is happening. Trust me, keep going and you will soon start to see the results. Focus on a small section at a time. When you start to see specs of touch up paint on the clay bar, make sure you fold it over or move it to another side. I cut up the original clay bar, so i had more little pieces to work with the size of a fifty cent coin.

    5. Once clay bar has been done give the area a wash, rinse and dry.

    6. Polish and buff.

    7. Wax and buff.

    8. Sit back and admire your hard work.

    Before
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89969755/Sc...-%20Before.jpg

    After (Note, I added a few pics to show reflections of my garage door, so you can see there's no more scratch!)
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89969755/Sc...0After%201.jpg
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89969755/Sc...0After%202.jpg
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/89969755/Sc...0After%203.jpg
    Last edited by minircc; 25-07-2012 at 10:05 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Melbourne, VIC
    Posts
    48
    Users Country Flag Thread Starter
    Forgot to mention, i have also been advised you can use low grit 2000 sandpaper and wet sand in place on the clay bar.
    However, i wasn't game enough to do that.

    I also know clay bar is less damaging to the paint. ie. very hard to stuff it up

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Adelaide hills, SA
    Posts
    9,708
    Users Country Flag
    Top job! Great stuff!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Melbourne, VIC
    Posts
    48
    Users Country Flag Thread Starter
    Thanks Transporter. I felt pretty crap when it happened. I feel a lot better now

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Geelong, Victoria
    Posts
    859
    Users Country Flag
    looks really good, nice work
    My build thread here: 1.6 sr into 1.8T http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/foru...-8t-63249.html

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Sydney, NSW
    Posts
    691
    Users Country Flag
    WOW Great results! I'll show this to the old man who drove his brand spanking new RR Sport into my bike in the garage It hit the brake lever and made a ~30cm scratch. It was only 4 days old when he did that.
    TRADED THE BEE'12 Sport Yellow/Black Citroen DS3 DSport THP155(155cv/153bhp) 6-spd manual w/ tech pack.

    '18 BMW 125i M-Sport | Sunset Orange | Sunroof | ZF 8-spd auto

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    3,874
    Great work and some nice tips there. Did you take any photos from the "it looks crap" stage before claying? Where'd you buy the prepsol and touch up paint + clear coat from?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Melbourne, VIC
    Posts
    48
    Users Country Flag Thread Starter
    I got my prepsol from bunnings many years ago. i got my touch up paint and clearcoat from a paint store in sunshine. Olarenshaws Paint Centre - Specialist Colour Matching and suppliers of Automotive, Domestic, Industrial and Marine Paints. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

    Got the clay bar kit from supercheapauto.

    i didnt take any pictures of the blob, but wish i did because a few people have asked. i didnt bother at the time because that is what touch up paint normally looks like when people try to apply it, but they leave it like that. The blob makes it look even worse than the scratch because of the way it reflects light and it stands out.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Sunshine Coast
    Posts
    1,771
    Users Country Flag
    You did well getting prepsol from Bunnings (they aren't legally allowed to sell it)
    8VSS2L/16 E9E9 XG MP SPP1 4ZD 6XK CSC5P with an extra free 10kW

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    3,874

    Sunshine is a bit out of my way but I might go for a drive one day and visit them just for their assessment and any extra advice. Have already purchased touch up paint from the dealer and have clay from CCP but should really get around to fixing up some small chips from a not-so-friendly semi-trailer driver who decided to wander out of the lane shooting stones into my car.



    Just need some nice weather as well

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
| |