Worth trying to repair this scratch myself?

[designforlife]

...or leave it to a SMART repairer? I've got a few quotes from traditional bodyshops, but they are all asking for £500+ (Hertfordshire bodyshops for you).

it's a 15mm scratch on the rear arch of my integra DC5. it's gone deep enough to go down to the primer, and looks like its down to the metal in the middle. I have a touch up set on order, but i've never really attempted to do a decent repair with one beyond dotting in the odd stone chip.

Any input appreciated.

[V8covin]

£500 !!!!!!!! For that !!!!!!
Jeez,I'm going to start advertising in your area,you'd get that done for £150 in my area (Stoke on trent) no problem.

In fact it would be worth you booking it in to a bodyshop up here and spending the night in a hotel ......our hotels are probably half the price too lol

[hman]

yes - do it yourself, light coats of paint and allow plenty of time for the paint to dry in between. Then flat and polish and I doubt you'll every notice it was there.

[Sheepshanks]

V8covin said:

£500 !!!!!!!! For that !!!!!!
Jeez,I'm going to start advertising in your area,you'd get that done for £150 in my area (Stoke on trent) no problem.

In fact it would be worth you booking it in to a bodyshop up here and spending the night in a hotel ......our hotels are probably half the price too lol

I would guess they're saying they don't want the job, especially if the OP has come across as a bit fussy. Red on an older car will be a nightmare to match.

[Adamski69]

Hmm, Integra DC5, Milano Red? Most honda's painted Milano Red were lacquered over paint so when the paint fades you can't correct it unless you paint the panel. And if you paint 1 panel then you paint the lot as it will be a different couor. Possibly as above mentioned, they didn't want the job, or they knew what they were talking about and knew it would be a c**t to get right... Either way, you will always find someone to paint something for peanuts, but as the saying goes, buy cheap buy twice... You can't loose too much by having a go at a careful self repair, you already have a scratch so how much worse can you make it. Go slow, let the layers cure before adding more and if it goes tits, get a pro in. :-) Great car by the way.

[designforlife]

thanks for the input all, echoing my thoughts and sentiments tbh.

I had a couple of quotes back from smart repairers in the region of £200, although they did say the price would be north of this if they needed to blend further. I admit to being a bit wary, as i've had mixed results with smart repairs in the past (admittedly on silver cars, which is never going to be easy).

I got in touch with a bodyshop I used on my old mitsubishi a couple years back, a bit further north so outside the st albans price bubble. He is going to do the panel for £240, and blow over a scrape on the front splitter for an additional £90, so got it booked in at the end of the month.

Going to touch it in by hand as i've got a couple of shows this month, then i'll have the peace of mind when it gets properly sprayed and sealed away from the elements.

This Integra has zero rust on the bodywork and i want to keep it that way!

The car has at some point in the recent past had a respray (there are a few telltale signs), as it is nowhere near as pink as it should be for a red Honda..I'm hoping this should make matching and blending new paint a little easier than it otherwise would be.

Edited by designforlife on Thursday 1st June 10:47

[designforlife]

As an aside, quite a few St albans and surrounding herts bodyshops run at £400+ per panel, it's part of the prevailing sentiment down here that everyone is rich and therefore will blindly pay whatever they're quoted.