Keyed...

S

skitelluride531

New member
Someone decided to key our Cayenne Turbo today...wonderful.





:mad:



key1.jpg




key2.jpg




key3.jpg






What is my best plan of attack here? I figure I might as well try SOMETHING before having it repainted.



I am assuming I need to order some touchup paint, correct?



Can anyone offer some advice?



Thanks!!
 
I'm not a member of that board, so I can't see your pics. Depending on how bad the key marks are, you may be able to have them fixed as opposed to having the panel repainted.



Definitely get a hold of the factory touch up paints that match your paint codes for the affected areas. There are many touch up paint systems on the market and some of them work OK, but most don't give you the flawless finish that you once had. With the right prep work, paint and finish work, you can often have your flawless finish back without repainting the entire panel and it will often last for years. It's a very time consuming process that's better left to someone experienced, but it's not beyond a good detailer to fix the scratch and get your car back to looking flawless.



If the key marks are on the hood or a panel that's exposed to lots of sun / uv, then there may be slight issues down the road with any spot type of repair. The problem with repairing a key mark or something like that with 2 stage paint is there's a greater possibility that years down the road the repair may get a slight ring around it due to the clear coat being thinner at the edges of the repair. The best repair of course is to strip the panel up to a natural line and repaint it, but these kinds of repairs can get expensive.
 
Wow! They really did a number on your car. If you know of a detailer or friend whose good with an airbush and they happen to own something like an Iwata custom micron c airbush along with some infrared equipment to speed up the curing / drying time, then you're a step in the right direction. A good detailer could also fix this with the toothpick method which is time consuming, but it can be repaired with good results. Nothing will be as good as having the panel repainted, but a good repair with factory touch up paints or even duplicolor from Autozone will be better than most of the aftermarket touch up systems that I've seen.



Are you going to try to fix this yourself or are you looking for someone to do this for you or???
 
I am going to be doing this myself. I am a detailer on the side so I think I can manage it...besides what is there to loose - if I can fix it before paying $3000 to get it repainted then might as well give it a shot!









Thanks for the advice guys! I think I am going to try the toothpick method.
 
The toothpick method + wetsand + polish is your best plan of attack outside a repaint. Honestly, I've done that method on something like 30 key marks this summer and I don't think the results will be perfect *however* since the car is black you do have an outside chance of acceptable results. The most important part is to be patient. When filling the scratch make sure you're *above* the level of existing paint (and remember, tough up paint will shrink), when you'tre confident the paint is above the level of the existing paint and is done shrinking start sanding. You want to sand until you can't feel the touchup anymore, if you've done this sort of work before it's not a big deal. If you haven't it can be a little stressful. When you're done polish out the sanding marks and hope for the best.



If you have any specific questions let me know.
 
Thanks GTA!





What grit of sandpaper should I start with? 2000?







Also, when applying the clear...do you just fill in the rest of the scratch with clear once you have put on a significant amount of base?



Finally, I am assuming that applying primer will not be necessary, correct? Thanks for the help!
 
Great advice Picus! Before I leave for the week, the only other things I can think of is to make multiple fills while waiting a few hours between each fill. Also, buy / use the Meguiar's Unigrit sand paper as opposed to other brands you may find. Make sure the sanding area is properly lubricated and sand in one direction. There's many good tutorials on this if you search for them under terms like "scratch repair" or "chip repair", etc. Havea good week and I hope your repair turns out perfect.
 
picus...toothpic method? please explain, i imagine you fill the tip with paint and touch up with the toothpic itself?
 
Oh, and as far as lubrication goes for the wetsand...soaking the paper in water and soap for a few hours is sufficient correct ?(as well as keeping the surface wet while sanding)
 
skitelluride531 said:
Thanks GTA!





What grit of sandpaper should I start with? 2000?







Also, when applying the clear...do you just fill in the rest of the scratch with clear once you have put on a significant amount of base?



Finally, I am assuming that applying primer will not be necessary, correct? Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...



2000 will work, 3000 is better. I like unigrit. On black I usually don't apply clear unless the paint doesn't match, but it almost always does. In any event yes, apply clear only after you've filled in 95% of the scratch. Primer is not required; it shouldn't be needed. If you notice parts of the touchup popping out when you sand then you can apply it, but if you allow 48 hours to dry you should be ok.



gadsan has great advice - one thing that is often overlooked that he mentioned is to sand in one direction. Don't move the sand paper side to side... go up down (or left right, whichever you choose) and then lift and do the same over each part of the blob. Make sense? Moving it in both directions makes for a much more difficult buff job.



VaSuperShine said:
picus...toothpic method? please explain, i imagine you fill the tip with paint and touch up with the toothpic itself?
Click to expand...



It's kind of neat actually, you put the toothpick in the jar of paint and then touch the tip of the pick into the center of the scratch. It helps if the toothpick is plastic; capilary action pulls the paint into the scratch - it makes for a really even touchup. It takes a lot of time, but as us Autopians know, sometimes patience is a virtue. In a case like this it will likely take 4-5 "layers" of paint to get a nice even layer above existing.



Cheers.



Oh and yes, 30 min of soaking is ok. :)
 
skitelluride531 said:
I am going to be doing this myself. I am a detailer on the side so I think I can manage it...besides what is there to loose - if I can fix it before paying $3000 to get it repainted then might as well give it a shot!









Thanks for the advice guys! I think I am going to try the toothpick method.
Click to expand...

Repainting those panels should realistically cost much less than $1000 for a professional body shop to repair. If you tell me which panels were damaged, I could give you an exact price what an insurance company would pay you for repair.
 
wow thanks for the info picus i do very few touchups but would probably offer more had i known the effectiveniss of that method thanks for the explanation.
 
What I have done on our lexus is the toothpick method. Heres what i use:

3M Touchup Sander Pen

3M Imperial Wet/Dry Sandpaper grits 1000-2000

Duplicolor Clearcoat

Duplicolor Grey filler

Lexus Touchup paint (color coat)

Mineral Spirits or any Paint Prep that doesnt eat paint



I sand the area with the 3M prep sanding pen, clean with mineral spirits, apply as much grey filler/primer as necessary (in your case it looks like they didnt go through your primer), sand down the primer level to the rest, then clean again and so on with the other layers untill you finish her off with the clear. Then you use your 2000 grit and smooth it down and then proceed to your compound to get rid of your sand scratches and so on.
 
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