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How on earth do I remove unsightly scratches from my paint work? There are plenty are are down to the white undercoat, how do I remedy them?

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During the private beta, please try to avoid non-expert questions. Read mechanics.stackexchange.com/questions/ask if you have any questions. For now stick to the questions that mechanics might ask each other. – Joel Spolsky♦ Mar 7 '11 at 22:43
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How is a question about restorig body paintwork not related to motor vehicle maintnance or repair? – Kjartan Þór Kjartansson Mar 7 '11 at 22:52
I 2nd Kjartan's point. This IS a normal auto maintenance item. – JeremyP Mar 13 '11 at 0:57
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Can you please vote to re-open it then please? – m.edmondson Mar 13 '11 at 15:36

closed as off topic by Joel Spolsky♦ Mar 7 '11 at 22:42

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1 Answer

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Light scratches can be polished and buffed out. I won't detail how to do it here, you can find many tutorials online, but be careful - you CAN burn paint by polishing too hard or staying in one spot too long.

Deep scratches can only be repaired by painting. Your local dealership will be able to sell you a paint bottle that matches your factory color (assuming you have a late model vehicle). Once you fill in the scratch with new paint, use a very fine grit sandpaper (2000-3000) with water to level it out, then polish & buff as above.

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Would this halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/… match your description? – m.edmondson Mar 7 '11 at 22:24
that's it. just make sure you keep it wet - the water rinses the particulates out of the paper and lubricates the surface. – dave thieben Mar 7 '11 at 22:25
Excellent - whats your opinion on rubbing compounds? – m.edmondson Mar 7 '11 at 22:26
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A quick word of warning, wet sanding takes off a lot of material very quickly. You can only remove about 0.3 mils of clear coat safely before you risk permanently compromising your finish. Go slowly and don't sand any more than you have to. – Mike Deck Mar 7 '11 at 22:42

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