What was wrong?

[Serdar]

I used 3000 grid sand paper (dipped in water for 24h. before use) to level touch up paint on my hood. I kept the area and sanding paper wet all the time. Used a block and applied very low pressure. After a while touch up paint leveled but I noticed 2 dark areas. I stopped, cleaned and applied ScratchX 2.0 by hand. I was completely able to remove all sanding marks without using a machine. However I have these spots now. I did very gentle sanding since I could remove sanding marks by hand how could I damage the paint like that? Or is this not a paint damage and will vanish after I polish with rotary?

http://postimage.org/image/xnlq85005/

[Selectchoice]

It looks like you've sanded through the clear coat in those two areas. Could be from the edge of your sanding block if you used a little more pressure on that side while you were sanding the touch up paint. It doesn't take much to go through the clear coat.

You say "after a while" you levelled the paint. Do you know how many strokes you used when sanding? You shouldn't really keep sanding away without knowing how much paint you have to play with which is why a paint thickness gauge and practice is vital for wet sanding.

You've sanded a whole lot of the surrounding area too which is thinning the clear in a larger area than looks necessary. I try to confine my repair on touch up paint to as small an area as possible which helps to preserve the surrounding paint.

Remember though that there aren't any mistakes in the detailing game, just lessons. Some of them cost a little $$$, but those kind of mistakes tend to only happen once!

[Serdar]

Thanks for the explaination. And yes I got my lesson

Is there a way to repair this (even partly) or should I paint the whole hood?

Edit: I forgot to tell, the undertone area below the picture is not sanding mark. I have not sanded that big area. It is water mark which I forgot to clean before taking the photo.

[Selectchoice]

I'd talk to a painter about what exactly needs to be done. Sometimes they can do a small repair, other times they have to blend larger areas and adjacent panels to match it all up.

I thought that was a water mark or polish residue at the bottom of the pic. Thankfully I was right. That would have been a giant sanded area to level some touch up areas...

[Serdar]

Again thank you very much for your explainations and interest.

I am looking forward to hear my options.

[Serdar]

Now I wonder is it possible to touch up paint the damage (little wider than actual area), let it dry, apply varnish and wet sand. Can this be done as a last resort?

[Michael Stoops]

Now I wonder is it possible to touch up paint the damage (little wider than actual area), let it dry, apply varnish and wet sand. Can this be done as a last resort?

A good body shop might be able to fix the problem this way, but it becomes very hard to match the appearance of the metallic particles in a light color like this, and you run the risk of the mended area having a darker appearance than the rest of the panel. It's probably best to have the body shop repaint the entire panel, unless they are truly expert at touching up just a section.

[Serdar]

A good body shop might be able to fix the problem this way, but it becomes very hard to match the appearance of the metallic particles in a light color like this, and you run the risk of the mended area having a darker appearance than the rest of the panel. It's probably best to have the body shop repaint the entire panel, unless they are truly expert at touching up just a section.

I see... Unfortunately all the body shops I have talked this far offered to paint the entire panel. If the ultimate application will be painting it all then I do not see big risk to try it myself. Big chance is I can not fix it but gain a bit more experience or maybe miracle happens Besides I would gladly accept a reasonable difference in color if I can fix it.

Just a quick question: Should the touch up paint has lacquer mixed or not? If not is there a point in this repair process where lacquer should be applied?

And thanks for sharing your experience Michael.