remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

[Leonard1818]

Hey all. I've never done this before but I plan on filling in two scratches on my rear bumper with the factory touch-up paint then masking off the surrounding area (around the scratches) and lightly leveling them out with Meguiars unigrit 3000 grit paper.

My main question is will I be able to remove the marks from the 3000 grit paper by hand using Meguiars Scratch X?

Thanks!

[Mike Phillips]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

If you rub with enough applications you should be able to, I've done this as a demonstration at our Thursday Night "Open Garage" events.

Took a long time and a lot of ScratchX applications.

It would be much, much faster to use M105

The sanding marks will come out of the touch-up paint pretty easily but it will usually take some effort to get them out of the clear coat.

You can try applying some thin tape onto the paint surrounding the touch-up paint so that you put less scratches into the surrounding paint.

[BlueZero]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

It would be much, much faster to use M105

Check out this little test I did... M105 by hand vs 2500 grit wetsanding marks

[Leonard1818]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

wow guys, thanks for the speedy replies! I may have to order some M105 to use in place of scratchX. Any suggestions on where to order some M105 and unigrit 3000 sandpaper (trying to combine orders to save shipping)? I believe a 12oz. sampler of the M105 will do the job with plenty to spare.

I'm glad that you guys are so optimistic considering I have never really done this before. I am scared, yes, but confident that I can touch these spots up and make them look better than they do now.

I plan to get the masking tape as close to the scratch as possible so I do not have a HUGE spot of scratches.

I have never done anything like this before but after reading about it, I would REALLY like to try. My girlfriend would really like me to try too as she's the one that scratched my bumper and then cried about it telling me that she'll pay for it to get fixed and stuff.

I told her it would take a re-spray and I'd rather not do that to a brand new car. Plus it'd cost way more than the supplies needed to tackle this myself. I'm not looking for 100% perfection out of this, just to make it better than how it looks right now.

So now I just have a few questions:

1. Where I may be able to order some unigrit 3000 grit paper and a 12 oz. sampler of M105?
2. Do you feel that I will need a sanding block, backing pad, and paper or can I get away with attaching paper to say, a pencil eraser?
3. Do I need to do my first step of knocking down any surrounding areas where the paint as kind of bunched up before applying touch up paint or is this a wasted step?

Finally, I will be using the technique seen at the link below as sort of a guide. Anyone have any better "guides" for a scared first timer? The thing that bothers me is that this is a plastic bumper I'm working on, not metal.

http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/70028-small-how-chip-repair-wetsanding-spring-cleaning-black-g35-56k-owie.html

Any other input is greatly appreciated!

[BlueZero]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

Before you jump in to filling them with touch up paint. Do you know how deep they are? To the color, to the primer, to the metal? It would be great if you could post a few photos.

As for the M015 ADS is the place. M105 sampler and you can even order sandpaper by the sheet Unigrit

Also since this is your first time don't jump into doing the whole project at once. Maybe start with just part of one scratch so you can see how it works. Sort of like doing a test spot.

[Leonard1818]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

Awesome! Thanks so much.

We tried to get pics (my girlfriend and I) but she only has a Powershot Nikon and the pics were not very good. On top of that, my bumper is literally like a MIRROR.

I'll see what we can do this evening as far as pics go. It's really hard to tell, even in person, if the scratches go down to just the primer or the actual black plastic of the bumper. I fear one of them goes down to the bumper in an area about 1/16" X 1/8".

The other spot is about 1/8" X 1/4" but it is hard to tell if it hit plastic or not. I think I'm going to sand it smooth before applying touch up paint.

I'm thinking of testing some of this stuff on her bumber first since she doesn't care and has a few good spots I can try it out on.

I'm wondering if I need to hit the spots with primer before paint. Since they're very very tiny spots, I wasn't too concerned with the paint adhering and didn't even really know how to get primer in there lol

One spot is on top, facing the ceiling, but the other is on the vertical side of the bumper and would face the wall. I'm also not sure how to apply touch up paint to something on a vertical surface.

Thanks again!

[Leonard1818]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

OK, about to place an order for the following:

-Meguiar's Ultra Cut Compound 12 oz Sampler
-Meguiar's Unigrit Finishing Paper 3000 Grit 5 Sheets
-Meguiar's Show Car Glaze 16 oz. (I've wanted to try this for a while!)
-Meguiar's Hi-Tech Applicator Pad 4-Pack
-Grit Guard Blue

Before I place my order, I would like to know if you all think I need a sanding block and foam backing pad to do this job or would something like a pencil eraser with the sand paper attached do the trick?

Thanks!

[Leonard1818]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

order has been placed

I did a lot more reading and got a backing pad. I've decided to practice doing this on my GF's bumper in an area NOBODY will see. She told me I could do it to an area that is easily visible but I think she may have just been being nice since she's the cause for the scratches. Furthermore, I may try this on MY bumper where nobody can see

Her paint is GM paint and mine is Honda. Maybe not too big of a deal but then why do some car washes have a sign that specifically says "not liable for damage to Pontiac Grand AM paint on years ____ through ____" ?

Either way, I'm not concerned with the wet sanding process as I've read a ton about it. I'm more concerned with leaving "hazing" marks on my beautiful mirror-like clearcoat of the bumper. I wonder if it would be worth it to mask off the touched up section all the way up to the scratch and ONLY wetsand the touch up paint?

I realize that the masking tape has a thickness and in order to get the touch up paint level with the surrounding paint I will need to remove it but I wonder if it would be worth doing until a certain point.

This is the direction I am leaning in since I don't want to haze up my shiny bumper!

EDIT: I haven't yet mentioned how much I love this forum. I've been on here browsing for a while and this is an incredible resource!

[Leonard1818]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

Bump.

I have done this! So much later so many changes in plans. I bought a new car and they DRILLED A HOLE in the front bumper to mount the license plate bracket. I was SO ticked off. They wouldn't do anything to compensate me for it so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

-- I taped this off with masking tape around the hole.
-- I sanded down the area with 300 grit (or some small number) paper to make it level.
-- I filled it in with Bondo putty, wiped away the excess, and let it set.
-- It was a little concave once set which was PERFECT to fill in with touch up paint.
-- I then taped off the area again and knocked down the touch up paint with 3000 unigrit with a backing pad.

This was an EXCELLENT alternative to a bumper plug. It is not FLAWLESS but you can barley see it. It looks like you dabbed it with touch up paint for a pin-head rock chip.

I don't have any good pics of this but I wanted to let everyone know, especially those a bit fearful to try this, that it works!

[Eddie6th]

Re: remove wet sanding marks with ScratchX

Hi Leonard.Sorry to hear about what happened to your bumper.These guys get away with too much.They go ahead without consulting the owner.

I'm glad this worked out for you.Was the hole that they made,right through? I'm only wondering here,that the filler you used might pop out with time,if there is no support to hold it.If it's a very tiny hole it might be okay.

You should load up some pics and let us see your work.