I have this black dinali to do full exterior correction on this weekend and I have this question for those of you who do scratch repairs like this one. The scratch is in the clear and is not quite down to the base coat. So my question is would you fill this scratch with clear or would you use black touch up paint? My plan is to tape right up to the edge of the scratch and fill the scratch with the paint using multiple coats then use a prep all solvent on a cotton T shirt over a rubber squeegie to knock down the blob. Any better Ideas welcome. Thanks,TD
If you're sure it's not into (or through) the paint, I'd get some Langka and use clear coat. Not sure if you could get it by the weekend, but it'll definitely come in handy in the future anyway. If it's in the clear, you should be able to wet sand it out, or buff it out with a medium or heavy cut compound followed by a less aggressive polish. That thing looks deep from the pics, so I'm not completely sure if that's doable though.
this scratch is pretty deep, looking at it up close and personal I can see that it is not quite into the basecoat , it's like right there though. What I am wondering is will clear touch up make it so it is not noticable as far as the sides are concerned? I was thinking that black may be the way to go to hide the white-ish mark from the sides of the scratch. One thing is that I believe that whether I use clear or black, it will most likely look better than now. Thanks for your experience, TD
Hmm. I would use some black to just barely cover the whitish edges (don't fill the scratch though) let it dry, then fill the rest in with clear coat. Scratch repairs are always more noticable if not finished with clear coat on cars that have one. I always use a 00 size modeling paint brush. Hope this helps.
^ I disagree. You'll needlessly introduce wax and polish which would need to be removed (with alcohol or other kind of paint prep) and will result in balling up a finish you just tried to perfect and may prevent the paint from adhering properly. As well, clear coat is needed cuz over time the black will dull and be very noticable. I always tell people that scratch fixes like this take multiple steps.
Re: scratch repair advice needed -
06-06-2009, 01:46 AM
This is one of those cases where one needs to make a choice, is this going to be a show vehicle, or is this a daily driver, how "nice" does it need to be, and is the labor involved going to be justified within budget?
All of the methods outlined will work, yes one of the best methods would be to lay down a layer or two of matched black paint, on a cleaned prepped (not fully detailed) surface, then layer on clear until it is higher than the surrounding area, followed with a light colorsand and buff. So is buffing out the vehicle then dabbing on some reducer/prepsolv and touching up with a single stage black. At 20' it may be hard to tell which method you chose to do. However is this a $$$ touch-up on a $$$$ detail a $$ touch-up on a $$$ detail, or is it only a $ touch-up on a $$ detail?
On a concourse/show vehicle, of course, we know the answer -- on a daily driver/leased vehicle that will be sold or traded in a year or two, or a vehicle that is being prepped for sale -- this decision may not be so easy.
Of course this might also just be an opportunity to hone ones skills. And if thats the case, try whichever method you are comfortable with.
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I would suggest polishing it first (not necessarily the entire car, but the scratch area) just to see how much polishing improves it. Then, as dr detail said, once the choice is made where you want to go with this, you can either polish a couple more times to cover more of it up slightly, or go with filling it in little by little.
Just note that filling it in is never as easy as it sounds an it's long and tedious process. You have to fill it in little by little, allowing the layers below to dry, until you're level with the paint. Then wet sanding and buffing to make it unnoticeable.
Definitely polish it first with a more aggressive combo then do a IPA wipe down to see what happens. It should improve it at least a bit.
Good luck with that.
-Ivan LUSTR Auto Detailing
"Always start with the least aggressive method!"
... An unhappy one tells many friends 
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