wow, you are in good hands now my friend.

Hope you guys get linked up

 

Gipraw, i appreciate the gesture, perhaps i can get you to help me out on getting the microscratches from the wetsand out at a later date. Ill keep in touch with you to see when we both have a little free time. The day was pretty ****ty down here in EC. Did you guys in cypress get much rain?

Either way, i bit the bullet. got up this morning and washed up the area.
I picked up a touch up pen and filled the scratch with L2 true blue metallic.
I used the small brush end and only put a very small amount. I let it dry for two hours (it says 30 min and it was drying on me as i was applying it)
i didnt really care to much about letting it dry 24 or so hours as i was going to be wetsanding most of it off anyway.
I then wet the entire area with some nice suddsy water. i got a nice fat towel and soaked it in the water and held it right above the area i was working on so that the water was continously running thru my paper.
I started lightly with 600 to get the touch up to level with the rest of the surface.

After that i wetsanded the area a little wider with 1000

then with 2000.
I then took Turtle wax rubbing compound to it with moderate pressure on my pad.
Took to passes to blend it. then i did a really light pass.


Switched to scratch x on a clean applicator pad. once again i let it rub in well with moderate pressure and did two passes with a light pass by hand at the end.

 

Hit it with glaze then polish. then did a rewax on the entire door.
Heres the before and after shots,




Took most of the scratch out. Im almost sure its going to need atleast a clear coat respray to make it look right, but for now i can live with it. Its only slighty visible at certain angles and no longer looks like a key mark. It looks more like a tree/brush scrub when you can see it.

Im going to see what the price is going to be to respray the doors with clear. i have another body repair that needs to be done as well so if its high enough, i may go thru insurance. That wont be for another month or two at the earliest though.


I took a ton of pics but im feeling lazy and dont feel like uploading all of them now. A few look really bad as it got dark about 2pm when the rain started coming down. Notice the 1000 grit pic is so dark. If theres a real push for them ill upload the 20+ pics i took along the way.

 

Before you move to get it resprayed, take Gip up on his offer to give it a look. Gipraw is a professional and, as such, can at the very least give you a professional opinion on if it can be brought back to normal or not. Gip is one of one or two people in this forum that I'd allow to touch my truck...

In all honesty, based on the pics that I see, much of the scratch may have been removed by a professional and the use of a rotary with the right chemicals rather than going to the TU paint...

-RP-

 

Did anybody else almost crap their pants when they saw this picture?

Anyways, looks a million times better Fabian. My old truck now has a nice custom pinstripe like that one all the way down the passenger side... And I do mean ALL they way down.

 

Nah. That's far from a pants crap. That's a simple mouth drop... about 20 to 30 mins with a rotary, #83 or #84 and a finish with #80 and it's back to normal -- pending the TU paint hasn't caused a bigger problem than what was there to begin with...

-RP-

 

i figured you guys wouldnt like the sanding pics..
and rockpick dont worry about the touchup. it was very superficial and as an afterthought i probaby should have left it out. I wetsanded 99.9 percent of it out anyhow. there is one tiny spot that was deep enough for the TU to stay, and it is the size of a ball point pen tip.

Im happy with the result for now, till i can get a pro to do their magic.
I hope i didnt cause anymore damage than i needed. the wetsand was pretty light so its not like I took a huge amount off.

As soon as i get the chance ill probaby take up doug on his offer.

 

I'd definitely take Doug up on his offer... I've seen his work and he and I have conversed on oodles of occasions about techniques, products, and trying to run out to grab dinner and a beer.. He's sharp. He knows his stuff. He's one of the guys that I pay attention to when he posts. While we have some super nice guys with pretty good detailing heads on their shoulders; he'd be the first guy I'd turn to on here for some advice...

 

This post would have been great say.... 6 hours ago before the sandpaper? LOL
I am by no means a pro at this stuff but im a great hands on guy. I dont mind tackling tasks after i get over the initial what ifs. I was about two seconds from asking him for his addy so i could take a 2hr drive to his place but the weather stopped me.

Either way, ill stop by to see him when i get the chance. I never turn down an offer to learn hands on from a pro.

 

Thanks for the kind words, RP .. much appreciated.

Fabian .. it rained liked crazy here .. got about 2 inches in a little under 35 minutes .. been raining on and off since then.

I am in town all week and probably next week also, and I'd be happy to take a look at it when you have time to wander this way ..