can i fix this by hand

[bookeem]

i noticed today a lil less than half an inch by 2mm maybe of clear coat starting to chip off from a dent i had fixed at a body shop a while back, apparently they didnt do it right, by removing a exterior trim peice so that they paint behind it..well i was getting wax out the crevice of the trim peice, and realized the clear was sealed to the edge of the trim, well i broke the lil seal while trying to get the wax out the crevice and the clear chiped very very little..

i want to remove the trim peice and maybe wetsand the small area to where the chiped area levels with clear underneath and the buff out the area ( 1 inch by 1/8 of an inch area..)
will i be able to very lightly sand that area, and then maybe using scratch x or 3m compund on a light cutting pad and my pc buff it back out..

the clear in that area is not oem clear and should be soft enough to work..

or my other form of action is wet sand, buff and use a lil oem rattle can clear coat after, just so the area doesnt lift again..,

i really dont wanna pay to fix this tiny eye sore..

what do u guys think i"ll be best doing to fix it myself...

heres my lil ms paint description, lol

the red line is where the clear coat sealed to the trim..not that trim peice though showing overspray, the white dots represent the lil amount of clear coat chipping, and if i remove that trim peice sand it a lil,to level/smooth it, buff it out like stated above, and or spray a lil clear on it to seal it again, behind the trim..

anyone think this will work...

[Mike Phillips]

Re: can i fix this by hand

Ugh...

Sounds like a lot of work for that little tiny spot, it's real easy to over sand on surrounding areas when doing work like this so if you attempt your plan you might consider carefully placing some painter's tape around the area you sanding to protect the paint that you don't want or need to sand.

Does that make sense?

If you do this, be very careful when you pull the tape off because if the paint is lifting it could be a sign of an adhesion problem and possible that the pulling off of the tape might pull off the paint!




Maybe just scuff and clean the area and do your best to apply the touch-up paint and call it good?

Or take it back to the body shop and let them re-do it?

[bookeem]

Re: can i fix this by hand

ive considered taking it back to the body shop, but there more of a head ache than anything else..ide never let them do any body work for me again, lol

i think the only reason the clear lifted was due to it being on top of the trim rather than the trim removed before the clear was applied, so it was stuck to the trim, and cleaning wax out the crevice of the trim broke the seal the clear made with the trim, i actually tried chippin it back more with my finger nail but the rest seems stuck pretty good...

i was thinking of just touching up the lil area with a lil more clear coat, but figured ide need to smooth it first..cause u will see the lil white edges of the clear where it chipped/lifted,under the touch up clear correct?

yes i know its such a small area, but im picky and this will be a peeve to me if i dont try to make it very less noticeable, theres very few defects on my car and i only know where those are due to me going over my car with a fine tooth comb ...

but this is noticeable..

thanks very much mike..appreciated..

[bookeem]

Re: can i fix this by hand

anyone else care to lend a hand of advice in treating this

appreciated..