Sgt_Syke

Any help on repairing paint scratches? Some are pretty deep. Any recommended products? I don't have pics, but the truck looked good at first glance. I took it home gave it a good detailing and then I found scratches and swirls on almost every panel. The dealership touched up some spots that I found prior to purchase, but they used that crappy touch up paint that doesn't even match the color. Also, I don't have a buffer or da sander. Please help.

nickstradamus

For the new hobbyist, I always suggest the Meguiars line of products given price point and availability. I'm still a hobbyist but have branched out in recent years to other products based on experience and need.

A good start is Meguiars Ultimate Compound. Love this stuff. A bottle can be had for about $12. Not your Dad's compound of rocks in a bottle....more of a stout polish using Meguiars' micro abrasive technology. Check YouTube....tons of vids showing what it can do. Check Autogeek for their online training info as well.

As for a DA...think about saving up. You can get a Porter Cable for about $100 if you catch a sale. Well worth a few beer-less weekends to save your arms.....and the result is better overall.

I pulled this graphic from the Autogeek website showing various products from an aggressiveness standpoint.

Also, even a phone pic can help us eval further steps...

Scarlet

A quick note here, and a question. What year truck, and color? In my case I have an '11 Lariat in Red Candy metallic, DARK clearcoat. Adobe two-tone. It was an extra cost for the Red Candy but it was soooo pretty? I have two small 1/4" scratchs that look like a couple of dashes on my passenger rear door near the bottom. Last Christmas my brother-in-law gave me a small bottle of clearcoat touch-up. Most top coats today, as far as I know, are clearcoats. So I took the touch-up and applied a bit to start to fill in the scratch. That was a mistake. Because it has a Dark clearcoat it didn't match up and now the darn thing is sticking out like a sore thumb. I'll probably have to take it in to get it done right. And yea, I love the Meguiars stuff too. I use the spray detailer almost daily.

Sgt_Syke

Mine is a '13 f-150 screw, it is the dark red, not two tone or anything. As of now the scratches are not too deep, and most of them are less than 2" long, and not noticeable from a distance.

21RRF150

iTrader: (1)

First off, can you catch your fingernail in any of the scratches? If so, they need paint to properly fix them.

Secondly if you have the tri stage ruby red, or red candy from previous years, you'll need to find a better touch up paint. As tri stage paints are notoriously hard to touch up with little or no experience.

I've been painting for nearly 15 years now, never heard of DARK clear coats. I'm thinking you may mean TINTED clear coat. Which is what is used on the red candy/ruby red. When it's sanded the clear has reddish/pink dust.

To properly remove swirls you will need a buffer or a random orbital buffer. Might want to ask the same question in the detailing/cleaning section. There are some pros that really know what they are doing. I could tell you what I do, but rotary buffers can be tough if you've never used one before

Scarlet

Yea I Meant tinted. Don't know why I said dark. That's what I was trying to say about the "tinted" clearcoat on mine. Regular touch-up doesn't do the job.

Reflections Detail

You've been given some good advice.
1. If your finger nail catches is a great benchmark for knowing what you can repaint without a repaint.

do you have photos of the scratches?

I just had to have my front upper bumper repaired and repainted (tri coat candy) and talked to the painter. There is a base color, then another lighter color over that, then a clear clear coat. I thought the clear was tinted and he told me no.

If the time comes and you can fix some of these scratches come over the detailing seciton and I can help if you want.

Cheers,
GREG

21RRF150

iTrader: (1)

The factory clear is tinted. If you have Ruby red. Most paint manufacturers are just now coming out with tinted clear for the body shop. Before this the only way to reproduce a tinted clear, is to do Tri stage, with normal clear. I hope that makes sense