Returning to my car tonight I found a 12" scratch, down to the metal on the right rear wing.
What is the best thing for DBM under these circumstances as I dont want a 12" rusty strip down it?
Many thanks in advance.
James

 

On a similar vein I found a small sratch on my back bumper. Not quite so cruitial but what is the best way to deal with it. I thought about some touch up paint. Anyone got any ideas?

Cheers

andy

 

Having had a custom car I built kindly "keyed" by individuals here's my advice..

firstly, you'll never make it invisible to a reasonably close inspection. totally impossible with modern finishes. Bodyshops end up spraying the side of a car to get it to match.

However, you can make it quite good..here's how.

Purchase a touch-up (and lacquer) stick and some T-Cut.

1. ensure that the scratch groove is clean.

2. Paint/Fill the groove with the colour stick. Do it slightly proud.

3. Leave to dry ! And don't rush it - WAIT !

4. WHEN DRY ! Use the T-Cut again to polish back the new paint until it's oh-ever-so-slightly below the level of the rest of the paintwork.

5. Clean area, apply lacquer as cleanly as possible.

6. Maybe polish back the lacquer a bit if you think it needs it.

7. WHEN DRY !! Clean and apply a bit of turtle wax polish.

That's all you can do as a DIY'er. Expect this to take a weekend cos it takes ages for touch up to dry properly.

DO NOT rub too hard with the T-Cut. Try and rub only the new paint otherwise you'll rub more lacquer off the surrounding good paintwork and end up creating a mess !

Hope it helps.

 

Alternatively, you could use a Turle Wax "ChipStick" kit available form all good car accessory stores. Costs about 5 quid, and comes in a range of different colours.

It is basically a wax crayon, and a de-greasing wipe. You clean the area with the wipe, then rub the crayon across the scratch until it has all filled up with the wax, then buff off with the cloth supplied.

It's not invisible, as the colours aren't a perfect match, but you can only really see if you look closely. It's not a permanent solution (they claim 12 washes before re-application, but in reality I've found it lasts a bit longer). It also prevents any down to the metal scratches from rusting.

Takes about 5 minutes to do the whole job.

 

Never heard of that one ! But 12 washes..what's the point ?

Even taking your point about it lasting a lot longer - you need something permanent to be sure of stopping rust in winter months.

 

I don't know. I had a nasty stone chip on my car appear last year. I haven't re-applied the chipstick stuff yet, and it's lasted one of the severest Scottish winters we have had for several years without any signs of rust or deterioration. (Car washed at least weekly to keep the salt off!)

I suppose it would depend on the severity of the scratch, but I would rather spend 5 quid and five minutes effort every 6 months, than several hundred pounds getting a panel resprayed, only for it to happen again a few weeks later

Even if used as a temporary measure until a proper repair job is done, it's worth the money just to stop the rust setting in