While my car was parked someone decided they were bored and that my car needed a nice gouge down the passenger side.

You can feel the scratch if you run your finger over it so it is pretty deep.

Anyone have any good advice for trying to get this out?

Wash the area down with dishwashing liquid.
Take your paint code to supercheap and get the right can of paint for your car (Ask them if it requires a clearcoat)
Use the supplied touch up brush to aply the paint over the scratch.
Give it a good day or too for it to dry.

Now get some 2000Grit sandpaper (extreamly fine sandpaper) and sand down the area you have painted, as the paint you have applied will be higher on some surfaces (i.e. on top of exsisting paint) then others (i.e. the scratch)

Wet rub it (soak the sandpaper in water for 20ish minutes) until the paint is completly smooth. You should find that you have sanded off any paint not needed, and left the paint sitting in the groove of the scratch.

Once this is done, go over the whole area with Megauirs Scratch X (About $18) Until you are completly happy with the result.
-Paul

']Wash the area down with dishwashing liquid.
Take your paint code to supercheap and get the right can of paint for your car (Ask them if it requires a clearcoat)
Use the supplied touch up brush to aply the paint over the scratch.
Give it a good day or too for it to dry.

Now get some 2000Grit sandpaper (extreamly fine sandpaper) and sand down the area you have painted, as the paint you have applied will be higher on some surfaces (i.e. on top of exsisting paint) then others (i.e. the scratch)

Wet rub it (soak the sandpaper in water for 20ish minutes) until the paint is completly smooth. You should find that you have sanded off any paint not needed, and left the paint sitting in the groove of the scratch.

Once this is done, go over the whole area with Megauirs Scratch X (About $18) Until you are completly happy with the result.
-Paul


nice post paul, can any novice do this or does it require a bit of practice?

Dish detergent is salty, will promote Rust... I prefer to use Wax & Grease Remover solvent.
(get it from same place as auto paint)

I fill the cleaned scratch with touchup paint then let it dry for a few days.
Try and build it up as much as possible inside the valley, do it a few times if necessary.

Then I get a sharp blade and 'shave' off the excess new paint - level with the original paint.

Using sandpaper probably takes more skill, you need to be very careful about not
damaging the existing clearcoat & paint... if you do it'll look far worse.

Dish detergent is salty, will promote Rust... I prefer to use Wax & Grease Remover solvent.
(get it from same place as auto paint)

I fill the cleaned scratch with touchup paint then let it dry for a few days.
Try and build it up as much as possible inside the valley, do it a few times if necessary.

Then I get a sharp blade and 'shave' off the excess new paint - level with the original paint.

Using sandpaper probably takes more skill, you need to be very careful about not
damaging the existing clearcoat & paint... if you do it'll look far worse.

dishwasher liquid salty - no its not.

cleaning excess with a knife?

I just redid my mudflaps with K&H bumper paint and they look sweet. Might consider it for your door trims as they look a bit faded like my mudflaps were.

If you decide all the spraying is too hard, just <carefully> brush the touch up paint into the scratch and clean up the excess over spill with the edge of a business card (keep a few cards on hand). Any smearing of paint outside of the groove can be wiped off with a cloth dipped in wax and grease remover while the paint is still wet.

The trick is to GRADUALLY build up the paint to build up the required thickness - ie dont be surprised if you have to repeat the above process 4 or 5 times. When the scratch is filled - do the sanding trick above - I use 1200 grit wet and dry very carefully first (just on the new paint area), then step up to 1600 and 2000 fanning out to the surrounding paint. After that, several grades of buff/polish - which a panel beater could do for you for next to nothing.

As people said above, use wax and grease remover before paint to ensure the scratch and surrounds is perfectly clean. Its only a few bucks for a spray can or bottle at Superthief and is handy stuff to have around for cleaning tree sap and other crap from your paint and glass.

Dish detergent is salty, will promote Rust... I prefer to use Wax & Grease Remover solvent.
(get it from same place as auto paint)

I fill the cleaned scratch with touchup paint then let it dry for a few days.
Try and build it up as much as possible inside the valley, do it a few times if necessary.

Then I get a sharp blade and 'shave' off the excess new paint - level with the original paint.

Using sandpaper probably takes more skill, you need to be very careful about not
damaging the existing clearcoat & paint... if you do it'll look far worse.

No its not, it'll do fine.

Use a sharp toothpick to layer it in the scratch crevice.

Using sharp blade is a big no-no. As mentioned previously, just flatten it down with a 2000grit wet rub. Just dont rub too fast or you'll end up with burns.

After that... lots of buffing comes into play.

Zactly

I wouldnt use a paint scraper on my car dood!!
Just use the 1500-2000 or whatever, and then yeah, buff the rest of the swirls out.

And thats what i forgot to mention, do biuld up the paint so it fills the "valley"
:thumbsup:

Pick up the phone and call that guy that does scratch repairs.

The present invention relates to high-foaming liquid detergent compositions suitable for use in fabric washing, shampoos, and above all, in manual dishwashing operations in both hard and soft water. ..............................................

The first essential ingredient (a) of the composition of the invention is a salt of a dialkyl ester of sulphosuccinio acid, hereinafter referred to as a dialkyl sulphosuccinate. This may if desired be constituted by a mixture of materials of different chain lengths, of which the individual dialkyl sulphosuccinates themselves may be either symmetrical (both alkyl groups the same) or unsymmetrical (with two different alkyl groups).

here is the whole artical
http://www.stickebana.com/scitech/in...positions.html
__________________

I was just about to say that! :roll: lol