I agree you should use the least abrasive possible but he has apparently passed the stage of using a polish and those scratches look pretty nasty.
I have used 2,000 for wet sanding scratches many times and never ruined the paint or come close. Some of those rubbing compounds cut like hell too.

 

I disagree. Sorry. There are some really good polishes out there and when used properly they can be really effective however they are not miracle workers.

But if he is passed that in your opinion, then polish or wetsanding is not going to make paint magically reappear when it is through to the base coast, primer etc.

Touch up or repaint is the option at that point.

What do I know? I am just a newbie here.

 

But he is saying the scratch X is not getting it done. So what is the difference between light wet sanding with 2,000 and using an abrasive compound?
All I know is I have good success with it.

 

There is a major gap from ScrachX and Wetanding. Within that gap there are many products that are not even close to the abrasivenesses of 2000 grit but have more cut than ScratchX. In addition, don't forget that ScratchX also has concealing properties so some of the results can be a tad deceiving and hard to judge based on the photos.

The Net is, if you can see other colors besides the color of the paint that is supposed to be on the car (after removing the other cars paint) than wetsanding does nothing but help prep the area for the person painting it at the body shop.

I just get a tad nervous for the OP when someone jumps to the recommendation of wetsanding. <EOM>

 

In my opinion, you've got it just about as good as you're going to get it. Its blatently obvious that you've gone through the clear and color coat and, as such, the areas around these scratches are already going to be thin at best. You need to back off and live with them or simply get the respray done.

I know that's not the response that you wanted to hear but, it's the safest, smartest, and most common sense approach to the problem.

BTW, you did a pretty darn good job getting rid of the majority of it.

 

One of the goofiest things that I've read in this forum in a while, Franko. I'm sorry. I'm calling a spade a spade here...

The equivalent of your response is to use a sledge hammer to remedy a hairline crack in your windshield - it just doesn't make sense.

In some instances, sanding could be used to diminish the appearance of certain types of problems but, we need to remember what we're working on here, the lack of equipment that the individual has in the arsenal and the ultimate result which will occur if the burn through occurs with the 2000 grit.

While I concur with you that 2000 grit is somewhat mundane, I think that we need to take in to account that this is a bumper. A bumper will, by all automated painting standards, not be as precise as other body panels with regards to film build and overall consistency. Most of these 'lower' areas will actually get paint with a separate system and then unite it with the truck somewhere else down the line (hence, the reason that the area behind your bumper is painted). Unless he has a paint thickness meter and is VERY confident in his sanding abilities (and probably not even then), this is probably the absolute LAST step prior to repainting it.

Don't get me wrong, if insurance is going to cut a check for it, I'd sure as hell give it a go as an absolute LAST ditch effort to make it go away so that I could pocket the claim check but, all the time while I'm trying to work it out, I need to be prepared to divest the aforementioned claim money to pay for the burn through that I'm likely going to introduce into the area around the scratch for a respray.

Also, in regards to Scratch X versus Compound versus 2000 grit. There really are significant gaps in total abrasive power between those steps. S-X, being the most mundane, with compound coming in several clicks higher with 2000 grit being the most aggressive by far. If you're just looking at those three products, S-X would be a 2, Compound would be a 5.5 or so, and 2000 grit would be a solid 9.5 in terms of abrasiveness - again, only comparing those three.

While wet sanding isn't rocket science, inconsistency in papers, technique, and other 'human' factors can make the job of REMOVING the sandpaper scuffs a VERY difficult task - especially for someone without a rotary and the right chemicals. It, in all instances, should be done as an absolute LAST DITCH resort immediately before forking out the $ for a respray.

Based on what I see in the pictures, sanding is ***NOT*** going to remove the scuffs without taking it down to darn near bare metal. The point in sanding a scratch is to remove more clear in a rapid fashion to attempt to get the paint 'flat' around the scratch thus removing the scratch. If the scratch is all the way into the base coat or metal, how can one accomplish this? You can't -- well, not without removing so much paint that ONLY a respray will correct it.

So, to the original poster (OP) with this thread -- my advice to you is to wait it out and see what insurance is going to do for you. If you get the check in hand, I'd probably want to give a go on my own to see if I could get some of the problems out and this procedure would likely go up from a S-X type of product, moving upward to something a tad more abrasive with more fillers, to something a tad more abrasive, to compounding with a rotary, to VVVVEEERRRRY light sanding back to compounding and again with the compound... etc. By this point in time, you will be through the clear and in to the color coat and thus, the burn through has occurred and you're going to have to spend that check in your pocket on a respray to get it back to par.

As was previously mentioned, always use the least abrasive method and work upward.

 

Agreed that the next abrasive technique should be used but, looking at the scratches and seeing that they're OBVIOUSLY into the colorcoat and probably into the basecoat, they cannot be totally removed.

Using 2000 to attempt to sand down to the bottom of the scratch to flatten it out is only making the problem area larger.

 

Just an FYI, you were backing out, she was in the parking aisle, you hit her rear quarter area, your fault. Had you hit her front end then that would show that you were in the process of backing out, she saw you and did not stop, hitting her in the rear quarter shows that she was already somewhat past your spot when you started backing up.

Not sure how CA is but here since the wreck occured on private property it is usually to each his own as no ticket was issued and there is no "Real" proof as to who was at fault. If I were you I would leave the bumper as is for the time being until you figure out where you stand with your insurance company. If they are going to pay for her damages then I would just toss in the bumper and let them cut you a check. If they say that they aren't covering her damage but it will count as a claim if you claim your bumper then I would weigh out the options.

As others have said from the looks of the pics thoes scratches are through the clear and the color coat, the only way to fix that is to add the paint back to it. You could call around to different body shops and see what they would charge to re-spray it if you brought in a loose bumper to them or you can continue spending your time and energy to only minimize the scratch as you WILL NOT get it 100% new. You might want to check around with a few different body shops and look in the phone book for people that do touch up work. A friend of mine had gotten a pretty big scratch in the side of his Porsche and the dealer said they would have to paint almost the whole side of the car to get it to blend. One of the guys in the body shop pulled him aside and gave him the number to a guy that did touch up work, The guy came to his house, used the touch up paint that Porsche gave him with the car and used a fine brush to apply it. He spent about an hour touching it up, using a rotary and DA polisher and when he was done it cost him $120 and you could not see the scratch if you tried. THat was 3 years ago and you still can not see the scratch n the car.

 

That exactly what insurance told me.

However, they for some reason "Did not want to see my truck yet"

I tried to explain to them that the point of impact on her vehicle was as a result of the angle she took to get around my truck as I was backing out.

That is why the SIDE of my bumper is scraped up as well, considering if I had backed into her straight on I would have damage to my entire bumper.

It shows how she angled into the open parking spots on the other side of the aisle to get around me, but there were cars in those, so she could only go so far.

 

If they told you that they will take care of yours and her insurance will have to take care of hers then you can do one of two things.

Whats your deductable on collision compared to what a body shop would charge to re-paint the bumper if you took it off and brought it in to them.

Will your insurance co. count the claim against you and raise your rates?

For so little damage I would just take care of it myself before I paid a deductable, and ran the risk of my ins. going up.

Bottom line, I honestly think you are as far as you are going to get with removing thoes scratches. You might get a little further but consider the amount of clear you are going to have to take off just to get it to look a little better. Not worth the time and trouble considering you will NEVER get it back to new.

 

Well I've used 2,000 wet to remove scratches on my plastic wheel well trim and on several places on the body of my truck as well as many previous cars that had isuues that could not be resloved with polish. Of course you do NOT sand all the way through the color, I thought that would be obvious. I bet most people here have no experience with it so they say it's bad.

OK stay away from it then.

 

You can use 2000 wet to remove scratches that nothing else will take care of sometimes. The problem with using 2000 here is that the scratch is too deep, in otherwords the scratch has gone through the clear and in some spots probably all the way through the color coat. Unless you have a magic 200grit paper than will add new paint and clear as you sand there is no reason on earth to use it here.

With painted finishes you start off with the lightest abrasive you can find, if that dosen't work move to the next abrasive, if that dosen't do it then move to the next abrasive, and you continue the process until you find something that works, realize noting but a re-paint will work, or burn through the paint and have no choice but to re-paint. You don't want to start off sanding considering there are probably 20 products that are less abrasive that could have done the job.

 

I agree but if I try polish and its not having any effect and a little light wet sanding and then polishing gets the job done right then and there then I'm done.

For God's sake you can color sand a complete car with 2,000 and then polish it out as done on many show cars. And you do not have to have multiple coats of clear to work with either.

 

Time to grow a pair. I took 1500 wet to my hood then used Megs medium cut followed my a fine cut to a polish. Looks great. I had bird stuff that someone left on it and left it's mark.

If it's going to bug you worst could happen is you cut through the paint and have to rattle can paint the whole bumper. Big deal. I just painted my front fender and drivers door with Duplicolors paint shop paint followed by the clear. It's a laquer based paint premixed ready to go if you have a gun. If not rattle can laquer based works fine too. Take your time it will work out.

 

The point that you neglected to pull out of my long-winded post was that when the scratch is THROUGH the CLEAR AND COLOR coats, that there is **NO** way to remove it using abrasive methods.

Think about it... it's all the way down to metal or the base coat. How do you remove it with 2000, 1500, hell... 4000 grit without burning all the way through the paint around the area of the scratch down to the metal? Explain that one and I will back off of the subject (mind you, a respray can't be used in place).

------------------------------V----------------------------

if that's the scratch, the bottom of the V is where you're going to have to sand down to, correct? Let's just say for the sake of arguement here that his scratches are, at the bottom of that V, on bare metal. Explain how we 'remove' the scratch other than taking everything around it - the area in parenthesis - down to metal:

----------------(--------------V------------)----------------


You can't.

That was my point.

Wetsanding a car for the purpose of getting the clearcoat flat is perfectly normal, used all the time in detailing and in body work, and is the answer to some problems but, in this case where the scratches are down to basically metal, it is *not* the solution.

-RP-