How to fix this scratch, please!

K

KaiYenS

New member
Hi all,



Here's the scratch I found today on the fender right above the wheel of our Cayenne. Anyone know what might have caused this (I think someone keyed it). So I washed, polished with Menzerna SIP, 106FF, then put on Glanz Wax...but it still shows (not as white and you can see from a certain angle)...



My question is....will it get rusted if I leave it the way it is (yes, I can feel this scratch with my finger-nail)? What do I need to do now? How do I fill/fix this scratch?



Thank you in advance for your input...



John



01.JPG
 
Rust depends on if you "think" or "know" it went down to bare metal. In terms of fixing it short of a re-paint, there's a tutorial that Picus put together on his process on fixing such a scratch. Check it out here.



Hope this helps,

Mike
 
Hard to tell just looking at the pic, but I don't think that's down to metal/gonna rust.



That one might be a good candidate for touching up with (only) clear and then Langka-ing level. I'd hate to start down the wetsanding road on that vehicle :think:



If it were mine, I'd probably just compound (maybe with PFW)/polish/ignore it. At least for starters. I do think you need to get a lot more aggressive than you have been, but don't overdo it and end up needing a spotted-in repair by a paintshop. Just round the edges of the scratch more and see if it's something you can live with.
 
Thank you, Mike and Accumulator...



I will look into what 'Langka-ing level' is...thanks!



What do you think of 'spot spray'?
 
I'm a HUGE fan of OEM paint and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Accumulator is even a BIGGER fan of OEM paint than I!



With that said, I would not recommend spot spraying it. I'm not quite sure of the Langka leveling method but if it's less aggressive than filling and wetsanding, I would go that route FIRST. If the outcome is not to your expectations, then perhaps it may be worth trying Picus' tutorial.



One other idea is to pay one of your local Autopians to help fix the scratch.



-Mike
 
i had a "rock" chip on my car it made cuts on the hood where it hit, took down everything to bare metal.... little bit of primer than paint on top of it plus slight touch of clear, i taped the area around it, after it was nice and dry, clay bar to remove the excess of paint, sure its still visible... :( but at least no rust so far... (fingers crossed)
 
Doubt it was keyed. Looks like someone rubbed against it with either their bag or maybe the metal fasteners on their pants.
 
KaiYenS- The Langka is basically a mix of paint thinner-type solvent and fine polish. It works better for some people (and/or on some jobs) than others, but it's safe; the worst it can do is remove your touchup and put you back at square one. I'm leaning more towards wetsanding these days, but that's just me and I've been at this for a while. A few months ago I was leaning more towards the Langka and even now it just depends on the job.



mixxmstrmike said:
I'm a HUGE fan of OEM paint and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Accumulator is even a BIGGER fan of OEM paint than I!
Click to expand...



Heh heh, that's a mighty safe assumption ;)



...[so]..that said, I would not recommend spot spraying it...
Click to expand...



Leave any spotting-in to a pro. I've had it turn out OK, and I've even had it turn out truly wonderful, but it's not a DIY job IMO (at least not for most people). A really good pro will only repaint such a small area that it doesn't even bear thinking about, even by OEM paint fanatics like me :D But I'll repeat that I'd be more inclined to just live with that scratch.
 
Not sure what the rules exactly are about linking but I have a great step by step how to fix deep wide scratches on my "detail of the month" section on my wesbite. Should be easy enough to find. For something like that I would almost have to say a fill in and wetsand is in order. It's not hard to do at all. And you can really make it look absoultly flawless if your patient enough.
 
Jakerooni said:
.. you can really make it look absoultly flawless if your patient enough.
Click to expand...





Eh...I *wish* I could get metallics flawless :( I've redone some well over a dozen times (and each time took hours) and I still think they look crappy. Well, they look great from one viewing angle, but to see that you'd usually have to stand on your head at some weird angle to the car :o



People still ask me to do theirs, even though IMO I'm terrible at this; I'm better at it than they are so it's all relative.



My only consolation is that most of the pros I know do even worse than I do...but my one (best) painter does 'em so well I have to really work at it to see 'em. Hey..he's been doing it longer than I've been alive and I guess that by the 10-thousanth one he finally got the hang of it.



You guys who can do this right have my respect and admiration, but I dunno if too many people are gonna do it all that well on their own.
 
Thank you all for your wonderful replies!



wet-sanding sounds hard! I don't think I will approach that on this car by myself. :grinno:



Sorry I forgot to clearify.... I am willing to let other pros do the wet-sanding/spot spraying to treat this issue... I don't plan on doing any of these hard ones myself...:D



Thank you!
 
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