Suggestions on how to cover a scratch

[csmaan12]

Welp, I screwed up. I have a one car garage, was taking out trash with car parked inside...piece of scrap metal inside trash bag (not poking out), was careful not to touch car but the bag brushed up against the lower part of my door and I heard a zzzzip. Left a very fine and narrow scratch. Running my nail across it feels like it has a lip. Scratch is about 2" long.

So is it worth touching that up with a touch up pen or is it better to leave it alone? Scratch isn't very visible at all, you have to shine a light on it and get very close to see it, but I'm afraid it went down to metal. Any other suggestions, would a detail shop be able to do something about it?

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[oesman]

You really need to post a pic of a few angles. Even if it's through the clear, into the paint and into the primer if it's very thin, like razor thin, you can smooth it out quite a bit with just a good three step compound process. It will be much less noticeable unless you know where to look in the right light. However, if it's basically a gash and there are flakes of torn up paint; At the minimum fill it with one of the ford pens or like dr. color chip, etc... With good prep, good build up of layers of paint and clear and a wet sand + buff after you can make it much better. No like... >90% solution short of re-painting if it's a gash though.

 

[csmaan12]

You really need to post a pic of a few angles. Even if it's through the clear, into the paint and into the primer if it's very thin, like razor thin, you can smooth it out quite a bit with just a good three step compound process. It will be much less noticeable unless you know where to look in the right light. However, if it's basically a gash and there are flakes of torn up paint; At the minimum fill it with one of the ford pens or like dr. color chip, etc... With good prep, good build up of layers of paint and clear and a wet sand + buff after you can make it much better. No like... >90% solution short of re-painting if it's a gash though.

Ok good news, I went down to look at it...and it doesn't look like it went down to metal. Lets go with the razor thin scratch because that's how I can best describe it. Camera cannot capture it and I basically have to get down to like 6-8 inches from it to find where it is on the door. It does catch my fingernail. So now what to use to polish it and smooth it down? Weather is pretty grimy here so it will likely be a few weeks before I can actually get a good day to do it.

I don't really have a good understanding of polishing compounds and in which way to use them. The most experience I have is using various types of wax through experimenting, but nothing major like polishing.

 

[oesman]

Ok good news, I went down to look at it...and it doesn't look like it went down to metal. Lets go with the razor thin scratch because that's how I can best describe it. Camera cannot capture it and I basically have to get down to like 6-8 inches from it to find where it is on the door. It does catch my fingernail. So now what to use to polish it and smooth it down? Weather is pretty grimy here so it will likely be a few weeks before I can actually get a good day to do it.

I don't really have a good understanding of polishing compounds and in which way to use them. The most experience I have is using various types of wax through experimenting, but nothing major like polishing.

If it's razor thin and not flaking the paint I think the best thing is a 3-step polishing compound solution with an orbital, rotary or hybrid polisher. Followed by some wax.

Here is what I use:

Flex XC3401VRG - This is my general go-to polisher. It has a hybrid system of orbital and forced rotation. It's pretty easy to use and cuts a lot faster than a basic orbital. I think it's fairly novice friendly if you are patient and good at following directions.

A more basic random orbital polisher can be had cheaper. They're much less aggressive and will take a lot longer to do the same job. Some prefer them for first time use. Mind the quality, you don't want a backing plate breaking and damaging your car on a $39.99 crappy one that might be tempting to buy for a single use.

Personally I think the hybrid type systems like the Flex with some forced rotation are great. They are relatively easy to use and safe. The Flex will grow with your skill and confidence level, while the weak random orbital will likely seem like a pain in the ass by the second or third time you use it. There are a bunch of other good units too; The Rupes LHR 21 Mark II Big Foot comes to mind. Beyond those products I think going with something more advanced like a full rotary with more cutting power may not be worth it unless you start doing this professionally and need the speed to work multiple jobs and have the technique to back it up.

Safety wise just use common sense. Don't run it on the highest setting and park it in the middle of a concave bend or on top of a crease in the body line for a few minutes. Think about basic physics of a spinning foam pad with abrasive goop on it and where it's going to get hottest as you drag it around. Use your hand to feel the temperature, spritz on some detail spray onto the pad as needed and cool down. Watch some youtube videos, Adam's Polishes had some good ones, a few other big sites/channels do too.

Here are the supporting products that I use with my setup:

Adam's Correcting Compound, Correcting Polish & Paint Finishing Polish - They sell this as a combo and separately. A little will go a long way unless you're a pro and do a lot of cars. This is one of my favorite 3-step systems. There are several other good ones I've tried. Personally I think this is a good choice you can't go wrong with as a first timer. It's not crazy aggressive, it's just right.

One I won't recommend, despite potentially catching some hate over, is the Griot's 3-step system. They have a few cool products, but this is not one of them. I found Griot's to be weakest cutting stuff I've ever used. I tried their heaviest compound on a heavily marred and scratched Suburban and found it was like using tanning lotion as a compound; It was absolutely hopeless after a bunch of passes. Switched to the Adam's system and we were flying.

[ame]

Starts around 8:33 where you can see the work we did.

Lake Country Waffle Pro 6.5 Inch Orange Heavy Polishing Pad - This is the heavy pad for the Flex with my particular backing plate that takes a 6.5" diameter pad.

Lake Country Waffle Pro 6.5 Inch Black Finishing Pad - Medium cutting pad.

Lake Country Waffle Pro 6.5 Inch Blue Finessing Pad - Lightest cutting pad.

Basically you use them in order from heaviest to lightest with heaviest to lightest compounds. Always go heavy to light.

 

[aks0605]

If your nail catches on it there is a chance it cant be compounded or polished out. But you can probably wetsand it out then compound and polish.

 

[RIBS]

I bought a DR Colorchip touch up kit for a similar cut, the results were not stellar but better than a paint pen. I may try a few more applications of layers to build up the paint in the scratch...I had a piece of road debris Frisbee up across my roof and leave a similar cut.

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