deep scratch
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 612
Likes: 1
From: Boston
Harley, you should not be looking to wet sand as your first approach to repair this. You should first try to polish it out with either a random orbital or rotary polisher. I live very close to you in Easton. Send me a photo of the scratch and maybe I could help you polish it out. I have both types of polishers mentioned above.
Patrick
Patrick
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 18,102
Likes: 1,609
Harley, you should not be looking to wet sand as your first approach to repair this. You should first try to polish it out with either a random orbital or rotary polisher. I live very close to you in Easton. Send me a photo of the scratch and maybe I could help you polish it out. I have both types of polishers mentioned above.
Patrick
Patrick
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,151
Likes: 0
From: Strongsville Ohio
2000 or 3k WET sand paper with baby shampoo or detailing spray as a lube, which ever you can find at autozone ect grit . spray lube/water and sand in a up and down motion till you see the scratch gone. Clean area with water. Buff with a compound to remove majority of fine scratches from the sand paper. Then polish to remove them all and finish with a wax !
Don't take the paper to tuff to the paint, very light. The white you will see when sanding is your clear coat fyi
Don't take the paper to tuff to the paint, very light. The white you will see when sanding is your clear coat fyi
Last edited by derekguzz; Mar 4, 2012 at 08:11 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 6,640
Likes: 279
From: Muscle Shoals, AL
Cruise-In VI Veteran
Cruise-In VII Veteran
If the scratch is not through the paint, I would use something like Griott's Random Orbital Polisher and one or two of their polishes, I've always been able to polish a scratch out when it wasn't through the paint.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 209
Likes: 0
From: lakeville mass
Harley, you should not be looking to wet sand as your first approach to repair this. You should first try to polish it out with either a random orbital or rotary polisher. I live very close to you in Easton. Send me a photo of the scratch and maybe I could help you polish it out. I have both types of polishers mentioned above.
Patrick
Patrick
I did try a orbital with some Compound ..but the scratch is just deep in the clear coat has not gone through to the paint..if i hit it with some wet sand paper and buff it out ill be good just not sure what sand paper would be safe to start with, BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE OFFER
YOU ARE ONE OF THE REASONS THIS FORUM IS SO GREAT......
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Brett Foote
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 612
Likes: 1
From: Boston
Harley, your very welcome. Play it safe and try some 2000 grit and see what that does for you. Remember to use either your flat palm or a sanding sponge to avoid leaving finger grooves. Let me know if you need my rotary.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 393
Likes: 7
From: Fuquay Varina NC
Depending on the length of that scratch, I would strongly consider another approach. If it isn't to long, I would start by filling the scratch extremely carefully and slowly to build up the area some. You might even consider the Langka or Dr. Color Chip options to start with. If not, and that scratch is deep enough, one of two things can happen easily. One is the obvious where you may break through the clear and the other would be that in order to work a deep scratch, you will knock down too much of the surrounding material enough to create a slight cavity or valley that will be as visible as the scratch is. Good luck.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 209
Likes: 0
From: lakeville mass
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 185
Likes: 0
From: Sleepy town Va
Unless you are skilled with nubbing and polishing clear coat I would suggest you take it to a good Detailer or a good body shop you can really get yourself in alot of trouble if you have no idea. Trust me
Burning Brakes
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 940
Likes: 1
From: Long Island NY
Wet sanding definately takes some practice, and the clear coat is VERY thin so be careful. That being said, start with the finest grit you can get. It will just take longer, but is safer. I like 2500 or 3000. It still takes the paint off surprisingly quick but is easy to polish the scratches out. Like was said, lubricate and very light pressure. I would practice somewhere else first.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 22,885
Likes: 1,700
From: South Carolina
THANK YOU .THANK YOU..
I did try a orbital with some Compound ..but the scratch is just deep in the clear coat has not gone through to the paint..if i hit it with some wet sand paper and buff it out ill be good just not sure what sand paper would be safe to start with, BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE OFFERYOU ARE ONE OF THE REASONS THIS FORUM IS SO GREAT......
I did try a orbital with some Compound ..but the scratch is just deep in the clear coat has not gone through to the paint..if i hit it with some wet sand paper and buff it out ill be good just not sure what sand paper would be safe to start with, BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE OFFER
YOU ARE ONE OF THE REASONS THIS FORUM IS SO GREAT......First off don't sweat it...If it is deep enough to bother you it's worth trying to fix it yourself.. worse thing you can do is get to primer...
2000 and wet sand..I use dawn and water. I am only trying to haze the scratch....basically clouding the area and I am using my index finger and no block for single relatively straight scratches.
Keep it wet and light back and forth until you think you leveled the scratch...which is all you are trying to do is smooth the edge. Then buff with meguiers new car glaze number five and an orange pad...
err on the conservative side and do baby steps...It is easy to do if you have the buffer...and its a permanent fix unlike hiding it with fillers.
Good luck...I mean if you go too deep you were going to pay to fix it anyway right?
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 10,477
Likes: 1,155
From: Wayne Township WI
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 2,790
Likes: 108
From: On the coast North of SF bay
Good advice above, but for a deep scratch you may want to start by filling in the scratch with some spray-on clear coat (read that as one part, not the type that uses a catalyst - it comes in a spray can most everywhere). Spray some into a small container and with a very small brush, like 00 or 000, fill in the scratch.
Immediately lightly run you finger the length of the scratch while rolling your finger to keep the excess from spreading to the unaffected area nearby. Then check for any spread of the wet clear coat and remove carefully. Let it dry and check to see if it's still depressed by running your fingernail through scratch. Repeat until it's pretty level with the surrounding area.
Then sand, polish and wax. This will prevent from having the sanded area lose the protection provided by the thickness of the original clear coat. In other words, without filling the scratch, the surrounding area needs to be brought down to the depth of the scratch, which in this case could be right at the level of the paint underneath.
Hope this helps...........
Immediately lightly run you finger the length of the scratch while rolling your finger to keep the excess from spreading to the unaffected area nearby. Then check for any spread of the wet clear coat and remove carefully. Let it dry and check to see if it's still depressed by running your fingernail through scratch. Repeat until it's pretty level with the surrounding area.
Then sand, polish and wax. This will prevent from having the sanded area lose the protection provided by the thickness of the original clear coat. In other words, without filling the scratch, the surrounding area needs to be brought down to the depth of the scratch, which in this case could be right at the level of the paint underneath.
Hope this helps...........
Last edited by pcguy2u; Mar 5, 2012 at 03:01 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,554
Likes: 158
I am all about fixing my own car but I know what I am comfortable with and not. I am not a Corvette paint specialist. Unless you are consider you could make it worse which would then require a speciality shop to be fixed right. Why not start there. Shouldn't cost anything but time for them to look at the scratch and advise you based on seeing your car.
