Big Nasty Scratches - What To Do?

[KatyDrivesManual]

Hello! I recently invested in a just ever-so-slightly-shabby Eagle Talon, and have never done -any- kind of body work on any car before, besides denting my old blazer with my boot a few times. For a '96, the car has very few flaws on the body, with 3 exceptions: Some damage to the front bumper (which I intend to eventually replace, the duct tape sort of ruins the look I'm going for) some wear on the black paint on the top (which I kind of like, the shiny metal underneath shines through and I just intend to keep it well waxed to prevent further erosion,) and a large, deep scratch on the door. The scratch is what I am concerned with. I think someone either severely keyed it, or just opened their own door in to it. A shame.

It's about 9 or 10 inches long, and pretty deep, defenitly in to the metal... I'm guessing about 3mm deep or so. It is quite the eyesore on my pretty little car. I'm pretty sure I know how to patch up the tiny scratches that are just in the paint, I just need to run down to Murray's and get the proper paint color to patch them up.

How should I go about fixing this big scratch without taking it to a body shop? Is there a guide somewhere to help with this, or can someone offer some advice? I've never done anything like this before, so I want to get a good handle on it before I actually try. I have enough giant gashes in my currently out-of-commision blazer I can practice on. I can guess as much that I need some kind of filler, and paint, but I'm not sure what kind of filler to use or how to go about doing that.

Also, I wouldn't mind any tips on the smaller patch-ups either.

Also, just because, here's a picture!



(you can actually just barely see the gash in this photo here. hold on, let me go take a photo of the actual gash.)


Here we go. (forgive the dirt - I am blessed with a drive way that is not only made of dust and sand, but is roadside; I washed and waxed it just two days ago. yes, I have very, very tiny hands.)


**EDIT**

This is unrelated, but not worth its own post. I defenitely want to get a nice black leather bra for my car, I love the way they look. Anyone have any good sites for getting such? I found one that offered them for around $80, I don't imagine they'll get much cheaper. Unfortunatly, since the car needs repairs ($700 worth, and that is after fighting with my dealership for a month) I wont have the money for one for months and months.)

[gw84]

welcome to AF!!! Nice ride, but ouch!! I feel your pain with that scrraaatch. I can't imagine another car door doing THAT MUCH damage!! My guess is someone wasn't paying attention and got a little too close to something...ooops! I'd ask around in your area to find someone who paints cars. There's probably a few routes you could go to fix that. You could do it yourself and have so-so results which may or may not look good (depending on your skills). You could have the "expert" do a touch-up (including some primer/base/clearcoat). Or, you could spend lots of cash and get it professionally done. Personally I doubt that having someone "touch up" that would cost a whole lot...but something definately needs to be done before you get something that'll complicate your problem scratch..RUST. Do a little research and get some quotes, THEN you can say for sure that you don't want to have a shop fix it.

[Cyric_Mage]

I would suggest, if you can, find a detailer friend with a rotary buffer to work the outside. I'd clay the vehicle, to try and pull the contaminants out of the paint, and using a heavy cut compound with a wool pad (Diamond Cut) or a rubbing compound (Unigrit) to see if that'll atleast lighten up the scratch first.

Buffing might take out a lot of those other scratches as well without need to use touch-up paint, and if he/she knows what they're doing, paint blend buff the top of your car.

As for a leather bra, realize that it will damage the paint on the front of the hood, kind of why they have gone by the wayside and now companies have started offering Clear Bras (3M, VentureShield).

[Jim D.]

You'd be surprised what you can do with a good scratch remover and a few light applications by hand. I use the Mothers Scratch Remover -- it recently got a high rating in Consumer Reports.

[koeb$]

[quote=Cyric_Mage]I would suggest, if you can, find a detailer friend with a rotary buffer to work the outside. I'd clay the vehicle, to try and pull the contaminants out of the paint, and using a heavy cut compound with a wool pad (Diamond Cut) or a rubbing compound (Unigrit) to see if that'll atleast lighten up the scratch first.
QUOTE]

If the scratch is deep enough you can stick your fingernail in it, your first step is to try a wetsand. That will atleast lighten up the scratch dependign on how deep it really is and possibly take it out (again depends on how deep). Another option that will cost you about 100$ is to take it to a paint shop and ask them to blend your door, that basically will consist of them painting your door.