robtroxel

I managed to pick up a small but deep scratch (white showing) about 1 1/2 inches long on a side door. In past cars I have pulled out the touch up brush and always seem to do a less than stellar job on the touch up. I notice most touch up kits come with a metal roller ball as an alternate way of laying down the touch up paint. Do you guys have any advice on how to do this properly without creating an even bigger paint swath? Does the roller ball really work better?

Max8

I just touched up a scratch just like you describe, but about 3 inches long (Bordeaux Black). I wish I had waited for replies to this question. I managed to fill in the scratch, and it looks great from a distance, but not so good close up. I used the "pen" end if the paint and it is not easy to fill in just the scratch. I may just fork over the $1,000 to have a body shop fix it!

Max16SR

The trick is to use the brush end but don't brush it on. Instead, let the paint flow from the tip of the brush into the scratch. If you have a tiny scratch, I learned a trick from a body shop. Dip a toothpick into the touch up paint and let the paint fill in the scratch by touching the toothpick to it. Also. Be patient. You can easily wipe all the fresh paint off with a paper towel if you mess up.

gizzsdad

There are basically two methods for deep scratches. One is to try the LANGKA method linked below. Basically, after filling the scratch to a level higher than the surrounding paint, you then level it with the Blob eliminator. I have NO experience with this, but you can read the reviews yourself.

The other is to fill the scratch higher, then level by wet-sanding with 2000 grit paper, followed up by compounding and polishing as necessary to bring back the shine.

Mike_TX

Yikes! Don't pay a grand. Locate a detailer in your area - check with your dealer to see if they have one, and if not check with other dealers or body shops.

A good paint detailer can make things like this absolutely disappear, and they can usually do it for less than $100. A body shop is going to want to paint your whole panel (door, etc.), and you don't want that.

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Max8

I probably won't, but there is a small dent there too. Only noticeable if the light hits it right. My insurance would pay all of it but $500.

robtroxel

Thanks for the great advice! Had I used the supplied pressure sensitive plastic tip, I would have had a real mess as the paint comes out like a torrent! I put some paint on some clean cardboard, then tooth-picked enough paint to begin filling in the scratch. Next step is to lightly sand with 2000 grit to lower the touched up paint edges.

corpdecker

Full disclosure - this is a test, I have no idea if what I am doing will actually work well

I'm currently doing this on my pearl white SR in a couple of spots. I'm using a 3 stage paint pen kit off Ebay. The base layer is almost pure white, I'm pushing the felt tip down to get pain to come out then letting that fill up the dent, letting it dry, sanding with a very small piece of 1000grit paper then doing another layer, going until it's about level, then will come with 2nd layer that actually matches the paint color and then the clearcoat. After that, very high grit sandpaper very gently then rubbing compound, then a few layers of max / sealant on top. I'll see if I can get some shots after the gym.