All ready for a laugh?
My dear son went and gently ran the handlebar of his bike along 10" of door - right next to the handle where I can't ignore it. Having 'dropped his bike so many times the rubber grip was gone and a sharp end did the rest. Its a deep scratch but not to the metal and there is no dent.
Local paint shop want £170 to belnd it in over 2 doors and local chip remover wants £120 to beld it in over 1/2 a door. SWMBO is off to a well known vendor of motoring stuff and plans to return with their triple pack citroen metalic silver touch up kit. I figure £10 to have a go myself is not a bad plan because if I bodge it local paint shop will still want £170 etc. and the paint will be handy for stone chips.
Some internet articles stress the importance of thinning the touch up paint.
Words of wisdom please........Including but not limited to recommendations on a good thinner.
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Sorry but if you use a touch up kit it will probably stand out more than at present and look terrible.
Either leave it alone, it won't rust, or get the chip remover to repair it.
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How about accidentally driving over his bike to teach him a lesson? ;-)
It's unlikely you'll make things much better with a touchup kit. If you brush it on it looks like a toffee apple and if you try spraying from an aerosol you risk making a very much bigger patch of mismatched paint!
I've sometimes tried spraying paint into the lid of the aerosol and thinning it with a touch of thinner. Then with a fine artist's brush gently touch it in a coat at a time until it fills the scratch. When everything's well dry try a rub of Brasso to blend it in. (In fact you could try that first if things aren't too bad - athough it sounds as if you've got a deeper scratch than that.
PS I like children really - couldn't eat a whole one though!
Graeme
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How about accidentally driving over his bike to teach him a lesson? ;-) Graeme
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Probably better to run over the child and sell the bike to pay for a professional repair.
What did you use as thinner Graeme?
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Solvol autosol can be used instead of brasso.
I have attended to two deliberate key scratches with touch up paint with limited success. The touch up paint seems to dry a darker colour, leaving a slight line which is visible if you look carefully, and all of the rubbing it back with solvol did take a bit of the laquer away in one place (a thumb nails worth) but it is difficult to see one of the scratches which was very shallow, and it did save me about £350 having the side of the car resprayed.
I suppose it depends how much your car is worth as well as to if it needs doing properly.
Reggie
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Solvol autosol can be used instead of brasso.
I suppose it depends how much your car is worth as well as to if it needs doing properly. Reggie
Ta Reggie
I figure I can always have a pro job done at some later date if I can't live with the result.
Other people have said that touch up drys darker too. I figure that as the scratch is too light at the moment and could end up too dark there must be pome point in the middle when it is just right.
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Good luck Huw, it can be a difficult job needing patience. If you put too much paint in then as people have said you will get a 'toffee apple' line of paint which looks worse and amateur. DIY spraying is a no-go due to obivous problems. If the scratch is beyond T-Cut and colour polish repairs then next best is trying to build up a layer of touch up paint little by little and try the brasso trick. Perhaps using end of a pin to apply small amount of paint, or single hair from paint brush.
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i have a few scratches on my car .look at this link www.autopia-carcare.com/horeswmawasp.html
its amazing what they do with a buffer.
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Should have added that the thinner helps you control darkness of colour as well as depth of paint. A fine artist's brush is handy.
I did once try cutting a slit in a piece of paper and spraying through with an aerosol (as opposed to actually using masking tape) The fact that the paper doesn't quite cling to the surface allows a tiny bit of overspray that blends it in better.
Maybe a lttle bit of both!
Good luck.
Graeme
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Huw
I used cellulose thinner - the sort of stuff you thin down paint with for a full paint job.I managed to get a small bottle.
Sorry can't condone running over children - nothing worse for taking out a couple of balljoints.....
Better stop this before someone thinks I'm serious!
Graeme
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Thanks for the advice/replies. I posted this on another forum and, amongst other replies, I got this one
My pic is Artic Steel (Silver). On a number of very minor scratches and chips, I have filled them in (using a small childrens paint brush) with silver metal primer, as periodically sold by Aldi at £3.99 per litre.
I initially did this as a holding job to prevent rust developing but the colour match is so good that they are very difficult to find now, so that is how they will stay.
This might horrify the more cautious of you but I have to take my hat off to the chap. I wonder if citroen pay as much as £4 a l for their paint.
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My C5's black - bucket of tar and a 4" brush for me!
Graeme
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Part of the problem is that the scratch will show through successive layers of paint.Pros would take the damaged area back to the primer or bare metal,depending on depth of scratch.It is possible to fill the scrath using 'stopper',a putty like substance used for filling pinholes and small imperfections in filler after its final rub down with wet and dry.Then you can spray the area with the aerosol.
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Your car will last for ever Graeme and nobody will pinch it either - seems like a good idea.
I am VERY wary of arosols. I have tried them before and never done a good job. If the builders opposite stop filling the air with dust I will have a go with a pin to put tiny drops of paint into the scratch, build it up and sand it back. Wish me luck - the weather is pretty good and I have a good audiobook to listen to.
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