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Okay, so I admit I tend to get fanatical about the appearance of my cars, and especially my Porsches, but this carries over to my "Everyday" vehicles as well...



I took the better half and a friend to a nice local restaurant for lunch today... luckily in the GMC Envoy, NOT either of the Porsches ('cause we couldn't fit three adults in either Porsche!). I say "luckily", because if this had happened to one of the P cars, I would have gone ballistic and embarrassed myself to no end... as it was, I only got a little "Hyper"... Paramedics were able to restore normal heart rhythm in only twenty minutes! Can you say "CLEAR"?



Short story is that we get back to the parking lot, and some cretin has seen fit to draw a very fine VERTICLE line in the nice red metallic paint of the Passenger side door of my Envoy...all the way down to the primer, and about a foot long... probably a "Tree Hugger", protesting my use of planet resources. Who the H**L knows what makes idiots do these things! At least they were creative...didn't go with the standard "keying" technique...saw fit to change things up a bit!



Now the question... the line was probably made by a key tip, but is quite "Fine"; we are talking in less than millimeters here! Might have been the tip of a knife blade (in which case, they would have been in trouble, cause I was "carrying"! Never bring a knife to a gunfight!) Sooo...what is the best way to repair this damage, without repainting the entire panel? I just have never been a fan of repainting large panels...seems like once the original "bond" is broken, the troubles set in...



Does anyone know if a competent body shop can match and "fill", for want of a better term, a very fine cut into paint, such as this??? I could always dab some matching touchup paint over the "wound", but it will look like crap and will always remind me that I don't want to go to that restaurant again!!! (Maybe a good thing!)



I vaguely recall seeing a demo where an Auto painter "Blew In" the paint on a small area that needed a repair, keeping the surrounding paint original. Has anyone had any luck with this repair technique? Seems like they used an Airbrush? Of course, it HAD to be on metallic paint, which will be a B***H to match well. I would like to have as much knowledge as possible b4 I go to get quotes from repair shops! All thoughts on this are appreciated! <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/mad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

As a detailer, what I do for hairline scratches that are down to the primer is use touch up paint, an extremely small amount, to fill the scratch, then I wetsand the area to blend it in, then use a rotary buffer and an aggresive polish to level out the wetsanding scratches, then a less aggressive polish to bring back the shine, then seal it or wax it. It takes a little while, but the result is an unnoticable scratch, and when the car is completely detailed (usually in the same visit) it looks great.

Sounds like a plan! I do have the correct GM touch up paint...

Sooo....you basically "over fill" the hairline, then wet sand down to level, then orbital buff that to remove the sanding marks, and the final polish and wax?



How long do you let the touch up paint cure, before wet sanding?



What is your optimal Wet Sanding Grit? 1000, 1500, 2000? I have some 1000 Grit Wet and Dry, which seems pretty smooth, but will still cut paint...

i wet sand with 3000

You'll need a rotary buffer, not an orbital, in order to remove the wetsanding scratches. I would use 2000 grit to start with, then 3000 grit, then the rotary to remove the scratches. If you don't have access to a rotary buffer, or if you have never used one before, I would have a pro do that, it's very easy to burn your clearcoat or paint, and do enough damage to warrent the panel being painted. I can give you so tips/tricks if you like, just let me know!



Steve