Auto body repair & detailing: car paint, paint dries, brush paint


Question
QUESTION: somebody scratched my car pretty bad in the parking lot, the paint on the front, the passenger side, looks pretty bad, the scratches are very deep and long, i took care of the small ones, but i don't know how to fix the big chipped spots, i got the exact color paint, it was brush paint, unfortunately the brush left strikes on the car, so, do i have to get spray paint? would you please tell me all the steps from start to finish? thx

ANSWER: Hi Sally,

First of all you need to know that spray painting over scratches is not a good idea. It will always been seen no matter how good the color matches because spray paint dries way too fast and leaves a dry over-spray edge. My recommendation is either to try and touch it up the best way you can or take it to a body shop and have it professionally repaired. Or possible alternative may be buffing some of the scratches out. This can be done if you can feel the scratch when you run a fingernail over it. If your fingernail catches on the scratch then it will have to be painted. Now if you were painting small areas such as side view mirrors or door handles or things such as that you can check out the following website to see if they offer your color in an aerosol: http://www.repaintsupply.com/cat_aerosol_touch-up_paint.cfm. Good luck with it and I hope this helps you out. Merry Christmas!

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QUESTION: the problem is that i'm not familiar with cars as much, so, i don't know how to buff it, can i tell you what i did, first of all i cleaned it and dried it, then i used SCRATCH OUT KIT, and it worked on the small scratches, but ofcourse not on the big chipped places, then, i sprayed FILLER PRIMER, and then sanded it, then i got same color paint and paint it. well, people told me to use some type of COMPOUND, and i really don't know what the compound is, and how to use it...taking it to a body shop might cost me so much, so, i wanna try my best to fix it on my own, with your help ofcourse. sorry if i'm asking so much questions, hopefully i'm not bothering you.

Answer
Hi Sally,

It's no bother. The people who told you to use a compound is right. You can buy it in most discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, among many others. Go to the automotive section. You'll be looking for a compound that is a medium grade. They come in both liquid and paste varieties. Either one should work fine. Since you aren't savvy to buffing you can do it by hand provide you use a soft clean towel or old t-shirt. Work the spot several times to get the best appearance. Once the gloss is brought out you can then wax it.