Car & Bike Car scratches- DIY methods or an easy way to fix it yourself

[nRiTeCh]

We all know and have experienced such scratches on our car esp. bumpers at sometime or other or even frequently. Mostly, thanks to bumper-bumper city traffic and premium add-ons of bikers rushing in between those tiny gaps.

We know how much it hurts as it looks too much ugly esp. on white or light colors.

While a paint job is the most viable option, it does comes at a price and who even wants to get the entire bumper painted for just a scratch.

So, I thought about opening this thread to discuss and share on techniques people use or know esp. some proven tried and tested methods to fix such scratches at home with minimum efforts and tools. Esp. getting rid of these black marks or covering the black paint with the original color etc.

 

[PunkX 75]

I have a white car, and it pains me to see those annoying little micro scratches caused (mostly) by bikers. Helpful tips would be appreciated.

 

[enthusiast29]

Just get a matching spray can of the paint from amazon or somewhere local.
Spray it in some plastic cup so that it's enough to apply with some brush manually.

No matter what you do you can't restore the condition unless it goes back in for a paint job. This just won't look as bad and won't be immediately eye catching.

 

[Heisen]

These scratches are huge, nothing can be done at home. If they were in small dot form, then you could do touch up with a very fine tip brush.

You have to go the denting-painting guys, they will fix it up. Avoid the service centers for these kinds of issues.

 

[chyawanprash]

These are deep scratches. 1 layer of clear-coat and 2~3 layers of actual paint are gone. As long as it's not metallic or some exotic paint, you can do a fairly good repair job at home.

1) Wash affected area with detergent to degrease it and cover the unaffected area.
2) Sand down with 180 grit sandpaper. Clean the area with IPA. Sand again with 320 grit sandpaper and wipe down with IPA.
3) Spray a coat of primer*. If using brush, then wet sand with around 1000 grit sandpaper after the primer has dried.
4) Apply first coat of paint and after it has dried, check for any undulations. If required, smooth it out with around 1000 grit sandpaper**.
5) Apply 2~3 coats of paint with proper drying time in-between.

Smooth out hard edges by uncovering the surrounding area a bit and feathering in the new paint. Use sandpaper. As the surrounding area still has the clear coat intact, you need to sand it lightly to allow new paint to smoothly merge into it. You can judge this step by look and feel.​

6) Remove cover from the unaffected area and apply a clear coat on the newly painted area. Wet sand with around 3000 grit or above sandpaper to merge clear coat with old paint.
7) If you can splurge, apply compound and polish at this point to help remove any haze.
8) Wax the car after a few days of observing how the new paint is curing.

*Get appropriate primer to use on plastic and metal.
**Thin coats and proper sanding help in reducing the orange-peel effect.

 

[Heisen]

These are deep scratches. 1 layer of clear-coat and 2~3 layers of actual paint are gone. As long as it's not metallic or some exotic paint, you can do a fairly good repair job at home.

1) Wash affected area with detergent to degrease it and cover the unaffected area.
2) Sand down with 180 grit sandpaper. Clean the area with IPA. Sand again with 320 grit sandpaper and wipe down with IPA.
3) Spray a coat of primer*. If using brush, then wet sand with around 1000 grit sandpaper after the primer has dried.
4) Apply first coat of paint and after it has dried, check for any undulations. If required, smooth it out with around 1000 grit sandpaper**.
5) Apply 2~3 coats of paint with proper drying time in-between.

Smooth out hard edges by uncovering the surrounding area a bit and feathering in the new paint. Use sandpaper. As the surrounding area still has the clear coat intact, you need to sand it lightly to allow new paint to smoothly merge into it. You can judge this step by look and feel.​

6) Remove cover from the unaffected area and apply a clear coat on the newly painted area. Wet sand with around 3000 grit or above sandpaper to merge clear coat with old paint.
7) If you can splurge, apply compound and polish at this point to help remove any haze.
8) Wax the car after a few days of observing how the new paint is curing.

*Get appropriate primer to use on plastic and metal.
**Thin coats and proper sanding help in reducing the orange-peel effect.

This is a job of a detailer, if one has no experience with all this, he shouldn't try this at home, instead paying someone who do this on daily basis, to do it for you is the wise choice.

 

[nRiTeCh]

Some nice responses out there..

Just get a matching spray can of the paint from amazon or somewhere local.
Spray it in some plastic cup so that it's enough to apply with some brush manually.

No matter what you do you can't restore the condition unless it goes back in for a paint job. This just won't look as bad and won't be immediately eye catching.

Tried but unfortunately ready made color aren't available straightaway as its either pure white or off white same goes for blue and maroons. One needs to make his own color to closely resemble to the original color.

These scratches are huge, nothing can be done at home. If they were in small dot form, then you could do touch up with a very fine tip brush.

There are fixes but seems those products aren't available in India, unfortunately.

These are deep scratches. 1 layer of clear-coat and 2~3 layers of actual paint are gone. As long as it's not metallic or some exotic paint, you can do a fairly good repair job at home.

1) Wash affected area with detergent to degrease it and cover the unaffected area.
2) Sand down with 180 grit sandpaper. Clean the area with IPA. Sand again with 320 grit sandpaper and wipe down with IPA.
3) Spray a coat of primer*. If using brush, then wet sand with around 1000 grit sandpaper after the primer has dried.
4) Apply first coat of paint and after it has dried, check for any undulations. If required, smooth it out with around 1000 grit sandpaper**.
5) Apply 2~3 coats of paint with proper drying time in-between.

Smooth out hard edges by uncovering the surrounding area a bit and feathering in the new paint. Use sandpaper. As the surrounding area still has the clear coat intact, you need to sand it lightly to allow new paint to smoothly merge into it. You can judge this step by look and feel.​

6) Remove cover from the unaffected area and apply a clear coat on the newly painted area. Wet sand with around 3000 grit or above sandpaper to merge clear coat with old paint.
7) If you can splurge, apply compound and polish at this point to help remove any haze.
8) Wax the car after a few days of observing how the new paint is curing.

*Get appropriate primer to use on plastic and metal.
**Thin coats and proper sanding help in reducing the orange-peel effect.

The sanding, primer etc. job is too pro for an average user so its best left with the garage.

Have witnessed people doing such Rnd from YT and ended up spoiling a major portion of the bumper. A small scratch costed them even more, eventually leading to paint the entire bumper.

There's something like a magic marker eraser, scratch seleant (matching color) etc. but not too common or hard to find here.

 

[enginear]

I have a white car, and it pains me to see those annoying little micro scratches caused (mostly) by bikers. Helpful tips would be appreciated.

My cousin has a tourist car and every few months he has to do patch paint jobs as its too obvious for tourists cars to end up getting frequent scratches and marks all over the body. He too is looking for a cheap self-maintaining option. He is now thinking to completely paint his car in black or a blue shade.

I believe light shade cars have a lot of headaches in paint maintenance as such scratches are easy to make out even from a distance compared to darker shades..

 

[Heisen]

I believe light shade cars have a lot of headaches in paint maintenance as such scratches are easy to make out even from a distance compared to darker shades..

True, the hardest paint to maintain is pure black. If anyone has OCD, don't buy a black car.

 

[cellar_door]

Just make a bigger scratch next to the scratch you have. Or a huge dent.

Then no one (even yourself) will even notice the smaller scratch. Guaranteed easy fix.

 

[letmein]

Homely?