How to Fix Scratches on Automotive Paint
Lots of people want to know how to fix scratches on automotive paint. It's a fact of life: Over time, every car gets scratches, dings and chips in the paint, and starts looking a little road-weary. That's not the biggest problem; the real enemy here is rust. Once it develops in a scratch or chip, it can spread, bubbling more paint off the surface. While the techniques outlined here won't bring your car back to a showroom finish, they will improve its looks, and at the same time avoid rust-through in chips and scratches that can lead to bigger problems.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Touch-up paint keyed to your car's paint color
- Brush-on rust converter
- Spot sanding tool
- 150-grit and 600-grit sandpaper
- Wax and grease remover
- Syringe with needle
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Preparation and Painting
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1
Automotive manufacturers produce small bottles of touch-up paint keyed to colors they used on a particular car model. You can buy this paint at your auto supply store or in some hardware stores. Take your VIN number (often located inside the driver-side windshield or on the driver's side door post) and the year, make, and model with you when you order your paint.
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2
Before painting, remove any existing rust and loose paint. If you don't remove existing rust, the touch-up paint will soon bubble up and start flaking off. (If you don't have any rust, and the scratch or chip isn't through the primer paint, you can skip to Step 5.) To remove rust from scratches, use a spot-sanding tool: a pen-shaped tool with a small tip with abrasive fibers which will clean rust and grime out of the scratch.
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3
For chips where paint is already flaking away, use a small tool such as a jeweler's screwdriver, a dental pick or a blade on a pocket knife to carefully pry off the loose paint. Don't remove more paint than you need to, but don't leave any loose edges. If you have a larger chipped area that already has rust forming, get a can of brush-on rust converter. Small foam brushes work well for applying several light coats of the rust converter. Allow whatever drying time is specified in the directions between coats. For deep scratches, use a syringe and needle--available at a local pharmacy--to get the rust converter well into the scratch. Again, apply several light coats.
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4
Lightly sand around chipped areas with 150-grit and then 600-grit sandpaper, feathering the edges of the chip into the good paint. Use a wax and grease remover--available at auto parts stores and hardware stores--to clean the area around the repair.
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5
Use a small amount of paint in a clean syringe to fill scratches. You may need to thin the touch-up paint with a very small amount of lacquer thinner so it will flow through the syringe needle easily. Start at one end of the scratch and, using very light force on the syringe plunger, let the paint flow into the scratch as you trace it with the tip of the needle. For chips, use a small applicator brush to apply the paint. Again, several thin coats of paint, with drying time in between coats, are better than one thick coat of paint, which will dry unevenly into a blob that can look worse than the original chipped paint.
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6
Some touch-up paint kits include a bottle of clearcoat, which you can carefully paint over the repair once you've let the paint dry for several days. Let the paint cure for at least three weeks before waxing the repaired area.
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1
Tips & Warnings
If the touch-up paint isn't flowing into the scratch or chipped area, thin it with some lacquer thinner. You can also use the thinner to clean the syringe and other tools.
Make sure your car hasn't been repainted at some point, and that you've got the right paint color before you start your repair. Test the paint color on an out-of-the-way spot, and let it dry before proceeding.
