So I'm driving to work yesterday, and the car in front of my swings quickly into the other lane (passing lane), and I soon see why... A big chunk of some metal thing (looked like a mini-window-well is right there in front of me!

Now, I don't tailgate , so I would have had time to avoid it, but the passing lane was full of mornign traffic going 85mph so I could do nothing but try to straddle it.

I did so, but it kicked up under the Monte , and must have kicked back and slapped the back bumper on it's way out from underneath the car.

Now I have 2 nice 10 inch long scuff marks on the bumper. One even has a good chip all the way down to the black colored primer.

I washed the area off last night to get a good look.

Now, I know the chipped area will need to go through the whole chip fill with paint process... but... What about the scuff lines?

They feel rough, and the look greyish... I am wondering if I can just wet sand them smooth , but I am worried that the discoloring will remain. Any ideas short of taking it to a paint shop to have them spray?

 

Ouch, that sux man!

I guess I'd try a good scratch remover first, like the Eagle1 Scratch Remover product, the light 3M compound, or Meguiar's Fine or Medium Cut Cleaner. I'd try to buff as much of it out with one (or multiple) products, like the ones above, and then see where you stand. If it still looks noticable/bad, wet sanding might help, depending on the severity and deepness of the scuffs. But, unless you have access to a good buffer, I'd leave the sanding off for now, as it's too easy to screw up further. It really depends on exactly how deep the scuffs are as to how well you'll be able to remove or lessen their appearance.

Here's a link that you may like to read:

http://store.yahoo.com/classic-motoring/noname5.html
http://store.yahoo.com/classic-motoring/byhand.html

And, if all else fails, you might need to visit a good body shop for a repair.

Good Luck!

 

Ya, I should have mentioned I was going to try a scratch removing product first...

I am worried about the 'greyish' color, but I am hoping it is just road grime from winter that got jammed into the roughness of the scuff.... though I cleaned the area pretty well...

I'll read up on those links...

Thanks!

 

Ya, the greyish thing sounds kinda bad to me too, as if the scratches may be all the way through the clear, paint, and possibly down to the primer. If so, this will definitely take some more advanced restoration, unfortunately.

If you do a Yahoo search for "removing deep scratches from car paint" you'll get several good articles, some on color/wet sanding, some for polishing, etc... You just have to be careful and weed out the crap, and look for the good stuff. Most will recommend using the same type of scratch removing products and/or polishes.

HTH!

 

Ive been doing some reading... this should be interesting.

Unfortunately, I'm probably going to have to wait until the weather breaks before I can even attempt this.

 

Mike, do you have a particular product that you liek for situations like this? I trust you onthis stuff...

 

Darth,

It depends on the situation, but generally I like 3M Fine Cut Compound the best. It's a PITA by hand, but it works. I've also had good results using Meguiar's Fine Cut Cleaner as well as their strong Heavy Cut Cleaner on other situations. The Heavy Cut is basically like liquid sandpaper, and would be the closest thing in a bottle to actual sanding. It will definitely leave marring as well, which will require a lighter or moderate cut swirl remover for final clean up.

I've also used some lighter abrasive products like Meguiar's #9 or 3M SMR with success on light scratches.

With deep scuffs/scratches, you're gonna need a somewhat strong abrasive for correction. And, it likely won't look 100% corrected on the deep stuff, without touchup or repaint. If they are deep groove-like scuffs, you might try filling it in with a toothpick and some touchup paint, then very lightly sand it back down to match the level of the rest of the finish. This is much easier said than done though....

Is there a way you could take a few close pics?

 

Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it.

As for pics, I'll try to borrow my friends digital camera, and I can email them to you if I can get the camera...

 

Glad I could try to help!

I don't propose to have the best, fastest, easiest, or most effective way (only what I've found that works for me), so maybe Carl or the Kevins will help out with their ideas too.

I just hope it won't be too much of a problem and it can be somewhat easily resolved without major expense. Seems like this kind of stuff only happens to those of us that actually try to keep a showroom perfect car.

 

Hey Darth,

I got to thinking about you and your car this morning on the way in to work. Have you had a chance to give it a shot on the repair? If so, how'd everything turn out? Hopefully as good as possible!

Mike

 

Well, I haven't been able to do anythig since it's so cold... I'm probably going to just wait it out until we thaw out for a while... I am pretty sure I am not going to be able to get it out with a compund, but I want to try it first.

If that doesn't work, I have to be sure I can have some 'down time' with that car, since it's driven every day...

I'm hoping to get my friend's digital camera sometime soon... if I do, I'll snap some shots of it and send them to you to see what you think...

 

Yeah, I know how you feel. It's been either rain or snow here nearly every week, along with pretty cold temps. Makes cleaning the car impossible! Man, where is Spring!

Anyhow, yeah, feel free to email me the shots when you get the chance, and I'll have a look. I may not have any sure fire, quick answers, but it'll make it easier to see/diagnose the problem itself. It sounds like you may have to fill in the areas with some touchup paint, with something like a toothpick, then possibly sand and polish. I hope it's not that bad though!

 

Well, I have never done any of the touch up stuff any further than rubbing stuff out...

One good thing is my fiance's father restores Corvettes (Every car he has done, whether his own, or someone elses has won Bloomgton Gold status if entered... 24 cars, I believe! ), and other cars as well (Camaro, Chevelle, etc) . He has a paint booth and all... so I know he would help me, but I really would like to do it on my own for the experience... he is really busy right now working on his 62 Fuel Injection Corvette (In addition to his regular job)...

 

ROTFLMFAO! Thats what you get for all the you post on this board trying to get people to buy Zaino. LMFAO! You better believe it!

 

:yawn: