School me: Leveling touchup paint

[Manhattan]

This is the hood of a 2017 Mazda CX5... that I'm selling. If I remember correctly (it's my daughter's car), this tennis ball size collection of pits/divots is from an egg that was thrown from a car. I painstakingly touched every (!) individual spot with a medium-tip acrylic paint pen. That alone reduced the "noticeability" of the damage by 75%. But it's in the middle of the hood... on a black car... that's otherwise in great shape.

I want to level the touchup paint without taking away any/much of the surrounding paint/clear. I'm guessing, wet sanding is the answer... for someone who's got experience? But again - black, otherwise nice car... Will I make enough progress with my Flex DA polisher and a cutting compound/pad?

Thanks!

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[Rsurfer]

Before heavy compounding or wet sanding..you need a paint gauge. You may have or not have enough clear coat. If you don't have a paint gauge and can't obtain one.. live with the high spot. A seven year old car may not have enough clear left to sand.

 

[Manhattan]

We've had this car for the past 5 years - bought it with 12,000 miles from the original owner. I'm 95% sure it's never seen a buffer. Would you still want to put a gauge on it before sanding? Thanks!

 

[Setec Astronomy]

Why wouldn't you use the "langka" method to level those? Wrap an old piece of t-shirt around a credit card or similar, dampen it with lacquer thinner, and "sand" it down with that. Then you can just polish after. Dr. Colorchip is similar.

I'm not sure if this is the best video but it was something I found quick, the applicable part starts about 2:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrNM0iKaTU

 

[MisterSnoop]

We've had this car for the past 5 years - bought it with 12,000 miles from the original owner. I'm 95% sure it's never seen a buffer. Would you still want to put a gauge on it before sanding? Thanks!

I'd guess it would be in the 80-90 micron range. Mazda's have thin paint.

For future reference, Dr. Colorchip may have been easier to apply. you can level it with a squeegee and it tends to shrink after it dries so you wouldn't get high spots but it also wouldn't be flush with the rest of the paint.