WARNING: Naked Plastic, Enter at own risk!

[WaspHunter]

Bad: I have absolutely no idea where that came from. Thats the worst part, since I take very good care of the subie. The pattern is weird too as regardless of which way the scratch came from, it starts at the top, dips under and removes the paint, and then goes back over the lip.





Ugly: I think its down to the bare plastic. Would this be self repairable or do I need to take it to the dealer? I already have touch up paint ready due to some previous stone chips, and the bumper doesn't have a clear coat.

Worse: The camera flash is showing spiderwebbing on the panel, and now I'm obligated to get the Scratch X out and detail the front bumper as well!

[Pete-FWA]

Since you said it's single stage and you have the matching touch-up, give it a try yourself.

The worst that can happen is that you won't be satisfied with the results and you'll decide to take it elsewhere to be repaired. The paint you apply by hand will come off quickly during paint prep, so it won't force the repair facility to do more work and charge you extra.

Is your paint in an aerosol can or in a bottle with a dauber?

[WaspHunter]

Its in a can with the (previously) useless fat brush. I've put some on, and it hasn't peeled off yet so I'm thinking it should work out ok.

[SiriusRIMZ]

I've never worked with SS paint, so I'm proably not the best to comment on this, but I will offer some advice. if you scratched your paint odds are you going to have some that has yet to flake off and will not bond to the plastic anymore.

I'd of course start with some scratch-X to clean up any outside paint transfer. If you 100% sure its a paint chip, I'd go ahead with the SS touch up paint, after all its much easier to repair than a BC/CC. I dont know the specific properties of SS paint, so someone else should chime in. I'd venture to say (and please correct me if I'm wrong), that inorder for the paint to completly bond it needs something to "put its teeth into". I'd grab some 1000, or 1500 grit, and then 2000, and 3000 grit to make your buffer work as easy as possible and be as lease abrasive as you can. Search for wetsanding and do some research before you decide to do anything abrasive to any more paint around the scratch. FWIW, you might be just as well having a good, trusted body shop hear your case and telling them you want them to not buff the entire car, just the area that needs it. Tell them how you care for your car, and odds are, since your paying them, they'll respect your wishes.

[JG_Detailing]

You can use a brush that you can get from a art store. They have very fine brushes.

[WaspHunter]

Originally posted by chevyman2001
You can use a brush that you can get from a art store. They have very fine brushes.

Thanks, I have a few from my kit-modelling days but the brush on the touch-up canister was actually useful this time. I can fit my fist in the foglight, so its not a minor scratch.

Anyway it looks a lot better now, I fixed up the minor scratch that went over the top and sanded/rubbed it down. The top of the lip is now in perfect condition again and the bottom part isn't noticeable standing.