Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

What to do to keep your car looking and running like new, inside and out.
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watkins
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Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

Post by watkins »

On my drive home, last night, my SAAB was egged; four teenage boys were driving around the streets of Downtown Denver, egging cars from the back seat of a fourth generation Jetta. I was driving toward them and didn't even see them throw the egg; I only knew what happened when I heard it hit the back door. I followed them, took down their license plate number and gave it to Denver City Police. We'll see what happens there.

Two cars passing each other at 35 is like having an egg hit your car at 70 mph; with this force, its shell takes the paint all the way to the base metal.

As much as something like this annoys me, there's nothing that can be done about it other than repair it. This is how to fix such a thing (this also applies to any sort of scratch or chip in your paint).

Here is the damage (the grey is actually where the paint was completely removed):

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I began by thoroughly washing the door to remove all egg, dirt, wax, etc. I cleaned out the damage with a toothpick to ensure it was clean and dried the area with a microfibre. I then filled the scratches with SAAB supplied touch-up paint. I used thin coats and built up the area until the damage was filled in.

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I let the touch up paint cure and then sanded the door with 2000 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. This smooths out the finish and highlights any low spots. I then proceded to apply more touch-up paint until the damaged area was filled. Here is the door, sanded, with the last coat of touch-up applied:

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When the scratches were filled and adequately sanded, I polished the entire panel using 3M's Fine Cut rubbing compound. This removes the scratches and blends the touch-up into the surrounding paint. The results look much better than the original scratched area; the color match isn't perfect, but it works!

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And the same results, in the daylight, without the highlighting flash (and a glimpse of my reflection):

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The link to the original thread:
http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showt ... p?t=105573
LHOswald
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Re: Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

Post by LHOswald »

that is super super super super super shitty. i hate when people f*ck with other peoples cars. my friends (one of them is that d-bag tool that i was talking about in that other thread) keyed and stomped the muffler off of this kids car cause they didn't like him. Note: They are all 18 with the exception of the douche bag tool kid who is 19. nothing gets me more pissed. sure i used to do it when i was like 13, but shit, i've forgotten more information in my 18 years of existence than i knew in the first 13.

im amazed to see that last picture though. i can't even tell anything happened to it. the way you worded the steps sounded simple, but we all know how things work on paper and in the real world when working on cars. whether it be mechanical or cosmetic.

i would definitely save those pictures though, and i hope you took alot more than just one of the effected areas. cause those retard kids definitely need to get a few days in jail to realize stupid shit like that isn't tolerated
Last edited by LHOswald on Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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watkins
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Re: Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

Post by watkins »

Not my car. But I agree regardless.

My friends and I always screw with each others cars though. We follow one simple rule: no permanent damage
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wannabe
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Re: Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

Post by wannabe »

you didn't say at the beginning it wasn't ur car, but then i wondered what u were doing in denver, and then i realized it wasn't the viggen. goodness
2003 Chrysler town and country

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ElectroGhandi
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Re: Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

Post by ElectroGhandi »

Teach me how to fix the rust on my Isuzu, watkins.
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fa22raptorf22
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Re: Repairing deep scratches, as seen on SaabCentral

Post by fa22raptorf22 »

Very nice!

One thing I would like to ask is...

What happened to the clear coat?
You sanded it down...fine. But now the clear coat is just about gone.

You now have to reapply some clear too...dont you?
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