Oversanding!

I need some help.

I was trying to fix a pretty big scratch on my driver side door. I purchased the touch up paint through Honda and gave it a whirl.

I was able to fix the scratch very well but I accidentally oversanded the surrounding area of the scratch.

I tried using rubbing compound to rub out the oversanding but it seems as if the scratches are too deep. Would a motorized buffer work the scratches out with the use of the rubbing compound?

or

Do I have to repaint the entire area, including the oversanded part to fix the scratches?

Also, I was wondering if clearcoat would fix the problem? The touch up paint has clearcoat mixed inside. The weird thing is that even after sanding the repaired area, the repaired paint never showed scratches. Just the surrounding paint. Is this because the factory paint was not the base/clearcoat mix like the touch up paint?

Thanks!

Ok, first of all, clear can not be mixed inside of paint. Chemically, the paint dries with gloss...this is called "single stage" paint. Most likely it is Lacquer that you got from Honda or maybe even Enamel.

Second, if you were sanding the scratch down you would never use a touch-up brush with paint...if you sanded, the paint must be sprayed on...otherwise you will see the repair like a sore thumb.

Thirdly, If you sanded and can still see or feel the scratch then you did not sand enough. You should be able to run your hand along the area with your eyes closed and not be able to tell there was ever a scratch there.

Lastly, what grit sandpaper you used will determine if scratches can be buffed out....in your case a would not try to buff it out.

My advice to you would be to sand the area smooth with 600-1000 grit sandpaper and spray paint it. You can get custom matched cans of paint using the color code off your car which is located in the driver's side door jamb, near the lock pillar....its a white sticker and will look something like this: R81P-3 or YR583M-4 or NH734P.

with that color code you can go to www.paintworldinc.com or call 1-800-548-4321 and get spray paint for your car delivered to your door in a couple days.... their inexpensive, and I've used them for years.