Paintwork detail

[richyt]

Basically I was a idiot and reversed into a concrete pillar in a multi story car-park, some of the yellow paint went onto my car. Back home I got the car washed, used some nail polisher and a sponge (type you wash dishes with) to remove it. The yellow paint came off, but because I used the scratch side (green) part of the sponge, it has scratched the paintwork and taken off the lacquer. Its now dull, how can I revive the paintwork and make it as good as new? Ive got T cut but haven't tried it yet...

[Joe333]

Have you got any pictures?

[paintman]

Wet the damaged area. If the surface appears normal again then chances are your uses of the abrasive pad have just scuffed the lacquer & careful use of a polishing compound - NOT T-Cut as its far too coarse - should restore the shine. You may not remove all the scratches & taking the 'eye' off them might be as good as it gets.
If when wet the paint in the damaged area looks a different colour to the surrounding area then likely you've gone into the paint & its respray/SMART repair time.
Paint off pillars/other cars etc can usually be removed by careful use of solvents & using abrasives as a start is not something I would recommend.

I did once see the consequences of a customer who had decided to get some brownie points by washing his wife's newish silver car. Because the dead flies weren't coming off quickly enough he got the washing up sponge/scourer & did the bonnet, front bumper & both wings. Looked fine when wet....... She was NOT amused.
Took me a couple of hours compounding to get it back to normal.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 18th March 09:11

[richyt]

paintman said:

Wet the damaged area. If the surface appears normal again then chances are your uses of the abrasive pad have just scuffed the lacquer & careful use of a polishing compound - NOT T-Cut as its far too coarse - should restore the shine. You may not remove all the scratches & taking the 'eye' off them might be as good as it gets.
If when wet the paint in the damaged area looks a different colour to the surrounding area then likely you've gone into the paint & its respray/SMART repair time.
Paint off pillars/other cars etc can usually be removed by careful use of solvents & using abrasives as a start is not something I would recommend.

I did once see the consequences of a customer who had decided to get some brownie points by washing his wife's newish silver car. Because the dead flies weren't coming off quickly enough he got the washing up sponge/scourer & did the bonnet, front bumper & both wings. Looked fine when wet....... She was NOT amused.
Took me a couple of hours compounding to get it back to normal.

Edited by paintman on Tuesday 18th March 09:11

Thank You! I think its just the lacquer thats been scuffed...what polishing compound do you recommend?

[paintman]

Farecla G3 liquid compound with soft or medium mops.
Works with polishing cloths, just takes longer.

[Munkeyfeet]

Sorry to hi-jack the post

paint man will that product also work where someone has scraped the side of the car on a concrete post - new black corsa - thumbnail test is all good and polish on the white scrape makes them turn black again briefly?

Also would this stuff minimise a long scratch where my wives car got keyed?

Thanks

[richyt]

paintman said:

Farecla G3 liquid compound with soft or medium mops.
Works with polishing cloths, just takes longer.

Thank you! I shall try that out

[paintman]

Munkeyfeet said:

Sorry to hi-jack the post

paint man will that product also work where someone has scraped the side of the car on a concrete post - new black corsa - thumbnail test is all good and polish on the white scrape makes them turn black again briefly?

Also would this stuff minimise a long scratch where my wives car got keyed?

Thanks

I've used it on a lot of different scratches, sometimes it works as the surface wasn't really much damaged in the first place & sometimes it won't or might just take the 'eye' away from it.
What you need to bear in mind is that if the scratch is roughed up lacquer - or solid topcoat - & it disappears when wet then using the polish smooths the rough surface & removes the opacity of the damage.
The nail test is also a reasonable indicator, if the nail clicks in & stops then taking the 'eye' is about as much as you can hope for.
Don't forget that you are removing paint & you risk making the damage wider & deeper & more noticable.

I have had some success on deeper scratches by masking tight to both sides of the scratch then applying unthinned 2k clearcoat (I use a 10 minute bake hardener)along the scratch with a thin artists brush. Apply a second coat & then, before it hardens remove the tape. Allow to cure - I infrared bake - then VERY CAREFULLY flat the ridge smooth with wet&dry 1500 or 2000 used wet & polish.
Its risky as there is a chance you could break through but as the alternative could be a panel respray then you've not got a lot to lose. To minimise the risk I use a plastic filler spreader between the sanding block & the wet&dry, but you must be scrupulously clean as even a tiny speck caught between the paper & the work or the paper & the plastic can give you a whole new collection of scratches to deal with.

Edited by paintman on Wednesday 19th March 00:00