Advice needed on how to remove a scratch from car bodywork

Munkey

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G'day

Some slag decided to run his key down the side of my car. I need some advice on if it is possible to do a DIY job or if I need to get the scratch resprayed (which I'm guessing is going to cost a fair bit) by the professionals.

Does anyone have any experience in making good to cars paintwork after it has been 'keyed'

Thanks
 
1st - how deep is the scratch ?

if its gone straight to the metal then you will need to get it sprayed, however there are a few simple things to make it better,

wash the car etc,

apply this polish - auto glymm Super Resin Polish, work it in, and then buff of with a microfibre cloth.

then apply a wax on top of it,

it wont get rid of the scratch completly however it will make it better
 
get paint to match and using an artists brush
brush it into the scratch leave it to dry then when dry get some rubbing compound use this to rub the paint down untill smooth then use a good wax and buff it up
 
The scratch is fairly deep. The paint was fringing and curling out along the scratch if that makes any sense.

I've attached a photo I took outside my mums this morning. Unfortunately I didn't take any closes ups of the scratch as I just took the photo for the sake of insurance.

I dont think that it has gone through to the metal though as the colour is white underneath instead of silver (is that the colour of the metal?)

I'll try your technique as I have the Auto Glym already.

davidh - When you mean paint to match, will any metal paint be sufficient like Hammerright?

Thanks for the tips.
 
The scratch is fairly deep. The paint was fringing and curling out along the scratch if that makes any sense.

I've attached a photo I took outside my mums this morning. Unfortunately I didn't take any closes ups of the scratch as I just took the photo for the sake of insurance.

I dont think that it has gone through to the metal though as the colour is white underneath instead of silver (is that the colour of the metal?)

I'll try your technique as I have the Auto Glym already.

davidh - When you mean paint to match, will any metal paint be sufficient like Hammerright?

Thanks for the tips.

No! get the paint number from the engine compartment and get an exact match.
 
if its through the paint ie you can see the undercoat or metal you will need the services of someone like http://www.carmedic.ltd.uk/franchise/car-medic.asp
there will be one local to you try yell.com if its not gone through your in luck and it can be done yourself
even deep ones can be removed with some G3 compound on a cotton rag and a lot of elbow grease then some hand glaze and a coat of good wax ..... if ya have a buffer a few minutes by hand an age lol
 
Munkey,
Sorry to hear about your troubles, it happened to my car a few years ago I had it touched up but I knew it was there and for the rest of the time I had the car I kept looking at it. Anyone who keys a car needs their Jacobs cut off. If the window is smashed to nick something I can sort of understand it but to key a car for fun is just plain wrong.
DD:frown:
 
if its through the paint ie you can see the undercoat or metal you will need the services of someone like http://www.carmedic.ltd.uk/franchise/car-medic.asp
there will be one local to you try yell.com if its not gone through your in luck and it can be done yourself
even deep ones can be removed with some G3 compound on a cotton rag and a lot of elbow grease then some hand glaze and a coat of good wax ..... if ya have a buffer a few minutes by hand an age lol

Thanks for the advice. It's not good news then as I can see the base coat for sure.

I just checked out that G3 compound and it seems straightforward enough. The elbow work shouldn't pose too much of a problem as I have a Dremel for the hard work.

I think I'm going to try davidh's suggestion of painting in the scratch and polishing. Failing that I'll give the G3 compound a go.

Do you have any experience in dealing with carmedic? I wonder what their quality of work is like?

edit - I just called carmedic and they do not offer their services in London :(

As a last resort there is always a spray job but judging by the length of the scratch they will have to paint the whole side and that I think will cost ££££'s
 
http://www.carbodyrepairs-uk.info/ they are based in London and cover Essex

Are ya sure ya can see the base coat it often looks like you can , Wet the scratch and if its still white /gray then g3 wont help !! there is a diy option of filling the scratch with a matched touch up see halfords
do this in coats and allow to dry between coats Then flat off the paint thats not in the scratch using fine grade wet and dry use penty of water and washing up liquid then use the g3 to bring back the shine where the wet and dry has been used the aim is just to remove the paint thats not in the scratch and not the cars orig paint
so do this carefully the pros use small circles of wet and dry on the ends of there finger you can just rip a bit off and tread carfully !!! this method can bring nr inviable repairs
 
http://www.carbodyrepairs-uk.info/ they are based in London and cover Essex

Are ya sure ya can see the base coat it often looks like you can , Wet the scratch and if its still white /gray then g3 wont help !! there is a diy option of filling the scratch with a matched touch up see halfords
do this in coats and allow to dry between coats Then flat off the paint thats not in the scratch using fine grade wet and dry use penty of water and washing up liquid then use the g3 to bring back the shine where the wet and dry has been used the aim is just to remove the paint thats not in the scratch and not the cars orig paint
so do this carefully the pros use small circles of wet and dry on the ends of there finger you can just rip a bit off and tread carfully !!! this method can bring nr inviable repairs

Thanks for the link. I'm going to attempt the DIY repair job tomorrow if it stops raining. I tried your method of wetting the scratch and now I have learnt that the scratch is not consistent from beginning to end. Its much deeper in places where the vandal really dug his key in.

I think the DIY option is best for now. If I screw it up the pro's can take care of it. Thanks for your suggestions.

Munkey,
Sorry to hear about your troubles, it happened to my car a few years ago I had it touched up but I knew it was there and for the rest of the time I had the car I kept looking at it. Anyone who keys a car needs their Jacobs cut off. If the window is smashed to nick something I can sort of understand it but to key a car for fun is just plain wrong.
DD:frown:

My car is always filthy so hopefully I wont be noticing my botched repairs LOL. I have been trying to figure out why someone would do such a thing and I cant for the life of me figure it out. Aside from one or two at DW I'm pretty well likeable :)
 
I have been trying to figure out why someone would do such a thing and I cant for the life of me figure it out. Aside from one or two at DW I'm pretty well likeable :)


Reckon Herbie has found ya lol


Sorry to hear about your troubles chum, had it done to my car not so long ago, not funny

And since solvent based paint is now banned and sprayers are forced to work with water based paint the price of spray repairs has rocketed, so hopefully the DIY option works for ya :Cheers:
 
Reckon Herbie has found ya lol


Sorry to hear about your troubles chum, had it done to my car not so long ago, not funny

And since solvent based paint is now banned and sprayers are forced to work with water based paint the price of spray repairs has rocketed, so hopefully the DIY option works for ya :Cheers:

Bwhah ha thats funny. I'm sure Herbie had nothing to do with it... I'd say it was more nara's stlye :)

Damn I always have a sniff of the paint before I use it, all this water based stuff is literally killing my buzz.
 
Bwhah ha thats funny. I'm sure Herbie had nothing to do with it... I'd say it was more nara's stlye :)

I'm hurt! :CRYBABY:

(.....and if i wanted to do somebody's car, I'd opt for a tin of Nitromors. :sneaky:)
 
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