taking out a key scratch

[ride5150]

a guy called me yesterday asking if i could take out a scratch from someone keying his car. thing is, i dont have a paint thickness gauge and im probably going to need to wetsand it, and risk cutting through the clear. i havent seen it yet, hopefully its not too deep.

ill put a 4" yellow LC pad on my GG with some m105 and see how it does, if that doesnt cut it ill wetsand.

how do you guys deal with scratches like this? from someone keying a car?

 

[Y2KSVT]

My guess is, the owner doesn't realize what can and can't be done by a detailer. He's really hoping that something can be done without going to the body shop. I think there's a misconception that a polisher will somehow blend paint, moving it over from a healthy area to a scratched/chipped area, effectively filling in the defect. Yes, someone asked me that. It's not a bad question if you don't know how polishing works.

I'll be the key mark is down at least to the base coat. If it wasn't, then the person didn't hate the owner THAT bad. Most key jobs are down to the base coat, if not down to primer or metal. If you're lucky, it's VERY shallow. I'd inform them first that you can't make any guarantees. If it needs to be painted, see if they want you to at least give it a shot to see if you can make it look any better. If so, maybe have him sign a waiver and start with the least aggressive method first. A yellow pad could make things worse if not careful.

If he signs a waiver, this could be a good time to try your hand at wetsanding if you've never tried it before. Good luck!

 

[Rsurfer]

a guy called me yesterday asking if i could take out a scratch from someone keying his car. thing is, i dont have a paint thickness gauge and im probably going to need to wetsand it, and risk cutting through the clear. i havent seen it yet, hopefully its not too deep.

ill put a 4" yellow LC pad on my GG with some m105 and see how it does, if that doesnt cut it ill wetsand.

how do you guys deal with scratches like this? from someone keying a car?

If you can feel it with your fingernail, it's too deep to buff out. You will need touch up paint, wetsand and buff out. If you haven't done this before, I wouldn't be doing it on a customer's car. Key your own car or get a practice panel. :dblthumb2:

 

[Kristopher1129]

I've done it a bunch of times with no thickness gauge. This always tends to be a debate...but, IMO a gauge doesn't give you the "ok" to wetsand or not anyways. I know some people think otherwise...but a reading of primer, paint, and clear isn't going to tell you how thick that clear really is.

If it's factory paint...you can definitely assume that it's thin. So, if you wetsand...don't wet sand for very long.

Just keep in your mind that you want to improve the scratch, or make it less visible...and you'll be ok. Once you start working, you'll be able to tell whether it's going to come out completely, or the customer will have to settle for an improvement. Just my two cents. :dblthumb2:

 

[kimtyson]

I would tell the customer that you will try but make no promises that it will work.

 

[ThirdgenTa]

My guess is, the owner doesn't realize what can and can't be done by a detailer. He's really hoping that something can be done without going to the body shop. I think there's a misconception that a polisher will somehow blend paint, moving it over from a healthy area to a scratched/chipped area, effectively filling in the defect. Yes, someone asked me that. It's not a bad question if you don't know how polishing works.

I'll be the key mark is down at least to the base coat. If it wasn't, then the person didn't hate the owner THAT bad. Most key jobs are down to the base coat, if not down to primer or metal. If you're lucky, it's VERY shallow. I'd inform them first that you can't make any guarantees. If it needs to be painted, see if they want you to at least give it a shot to see if you can make it look any better. If so, maybe have him sign a waiver and start with the least aggressive method first. A yellow pad could make things worse if not careful.

If he signs a waiver, this could be a good time to try your hand at wetsanding if you've never tried it before. Good luck!

My gf always tells me that her dad can do a "Hot buff" and heat up the paint to "Blend" the paint as if there was no scratch.
He can do great body work, but is totally old school on detailing.
Whenever she says this I just

 

[sserdlihc]

If you can feel it with your fingernail, it's too deep to buff out. You will need touch up paint, wetsand and buff out. If you haven't done this before, I wouldn't be doing it on a customer's car. Key your own car or get a practice panel. :dblthumb2:

Now that's awesome advice right there.:haha:

 

[Robert8194]

I thought Car and Driver said when you machine polish a car, you melt the clear coat to fill in scratches. Might want to get the author of that article to share the secret. lol

 

[ride5150]

My guess is, the owner doesn't realize what can and can't be done by a detailer. He's really hoping that something can be done without going to the body shop. I think there's a misconception that a polisher will somehow blend paint, moving it over from a healthy area to a scratched/chipped area, effectively filling in the defect. Yes, someone asked me that. It's not a bad question if you don't know how polishing works.

I'll be the key mark is down at least to the base coat. If it wasn't, then the person didn't hate the owner THAT bad. Most key jobs are down to the base coat, if not down to primer or metal. If you're lucky, it's VERY shallow. I'd inform them first that you can't make any guarantees. If it needs to be painted, see if they want you to at least give it a shot to see if you can make it look any better. If so, maybe have him sign a waiver and start with the least aggressive method first. A yellow pad could make things worse if not careful.

If he signs a waiver, this could be a good time to try your hand at wetsanding if you've never tried it before. Good luck!

why do you say a yellow pad could make things worse?

If you can feel it with your fingernail, it's too deep to buff out. You will need touch up paint, wetsand and buff out. If you haven't done this before, I wouldn't be doing it on a customer's car. Key your own car or get a practice panel. :dblthumb2:

yeah im 95% positive its too deep, ill just tell him how it is. I havent filled in a scratch with touchup paint, im considering keying a part of my car and practicing. lol :dblthumb2:

I've done it a bunch of times with no thickness gauge. This always tends to be a debate...but, IMO a gauge doesn't give you the "ok" to wetsand or not anyways. I know some people think otherwise...but a reading of primer, paint, and clear isn't going to tell you how thick that clear really is.

If it's factory paint...you can definitely assume that it's thin. So, if you wetsand...don't wet sand for very long.

Just keep in your mind that you want to improve the scratch, or make it less visible...and you'll be ok. Once you start working, you'll be able to tell whether it's going to come out completely, or the customer will have to settle for an improvement. Just my two cents. :dblthumb2:

sure, but there are paint thickness gauges that tell you how thick just the clear is too. (but theyre in the thousands)

yeah, i just dont know about charging for a job i couldnt fully do. if i see that its too deep then i wont even touch it.

:dblthumb2:

I thought Car and Driver said when you machine polish a car, you melt the clear coat to fill in scratches. Might want to get the author of that article to share the secret. lol

HAHA...i hear its a jedi thing.