What can I do about this paint damage?

[allinon72]

The previous owner of my car installed rain guards on the windows, the type that stick on the outside of the window frame with 3M tape. Well, obviously those had to go right away. Unfortunately, when I removed them, it exposed some clear coat damage that was done by the 3M tape. At first I thought it was glue or something else on the surface, but after looking further, it's clear coat damage.

What is the best way to get this repaired? I thought about trying to wetsand with some 2000 grit but I'm leary about that. If nothing DIY, is this something a body shop can handle without repainting the entire door?

 

[Seer]

from your pic, it looks like it's down to the paint. Repaint required.

Rule of thumb is, if you can catch your fingernail on it, its ready for the paint booth. Buffing won't help.

 

[Ken04]

I'd at least give the Dr Colorchips a shot. For $40-ish it's worth a gamble.

 

[allinon72]

The actual paint is not affected, its like the clearcoat is bubbled. Touch up paint will not do a lot of good unless i can level the surface

 

[nele22]

If it is just the clear find a good local detailer. With some aggressive compound and polish they should be able to at least reduce the defect.

 

[b00stedgt]

I have a similar scratch but much smaller and a deeper. I filled it with touch up paint and am going to try and wet sand with 2000 grit to get the surface flush. I will let you know how the wet sanding goes

 

[HitandRunDriver]

Try a good buffer/compound, I had the same issue because the idiots at carmax decided to tear of the rear window scoops before i bought it and left similar damage. The marks are still there but drastically reduced.

 

[BAKnBLK2010]

Maybe try some NuFinish scratch remover found at WalMart. The stuff works great on scratches so it might reduce the amount of damage you have.

 

[DKS]

Paint shop, period.

 

[allinon72]

Paint shop, period.

Looking that way, but I'm not too keen on having the whole door repainted over this.

 

[DKS]

I'm damn good at doing touch up and making it to where you can hardly tell it was done. But, that looks like it would be damn near impossible to "fix" without painting it. The problem is that it's sort of "bubbled" if you tried to make it smooth, you'd have a much bigger area that is messed up than what you already have.

If you paint it as it is, then try to sand it down, I'm afraid you'd expose even more metal unless you're really really careful. But even then, it's not going to look right.

Maybe try getting some paint and thinning it a bit. Take a super fine brush and just try to hit the parts that the paint is missing from. It's not going to look good, but it would look a little better, probably.

Then, some super fine sand paper to smooth out just the highest parts, compound and wax.

Like I say, it's not going to fix it, but I may help it some.

 

[Seer]

after looking at this again, I see metal.

 

[acrophobia13]

I might be in the minority here, but I think you could temporarily fix that with a clear coat repair kit, like the Turtle Wax one. It certainly won't be "right" but I had a friend who had similar damage on his black SRT8 Charger after removing his spoiler and we covered it up pretty well with the TW kit.

It won't be 100% fixed by any means but it should help cover it up some.

 

[DKS]

I don't see how a clear coat fix kit is going to do anything to the bare metal that is showing.

 

[Seer]

I don't see how a clear coat fix kit is going to do anything to the bare metal that is showing.

Took the words out of my mouth.

 

[allinon72]

I think the pics are throwing you guys off. It's not down to the metal, in fact the basecoat is not even affected. The white parts you see are from the clearcoat bubbling up and making it look white in color.

Again, this is clearcoat damage only.

 

[Seer]

I think the pics are throwing you guys off. It's not down to the metal, in fact the basecoat is not even affected. The white parts you see are from the clearcoat bubbling up and making it look white in color.

Again, this is clearcoat damage only.

then buff it down, and finish it back up. See how much defect you can remove.

 

[muztangman93]

Take a wax and grease remover clean the area make sure its dry. Mix some clear and hardner use a brush or qtip put it on extra thick its okay to get it on the surrounding area make sure its higher the the rest of the area let it set for a couple days then sand it down and buff it barely be able to see it.

 

[NastyStang113]

then buff it down, and finish it back up. See how much defect you can remove.

Do this...

Take a wax and grease remover clean the area make sure its dry. Mix some clear and hardner use a brush or qtip put it on extra thick its okay to get it on the surrounding area make sure its higher the the rest of the area let it set for a couple days then sand it down and buff it barely be able to see it.

Don't do this...

 

[muztangman93]

Yes dont do what the actual paint guy said to do. If it really is through the clear coat then go ahead and hit it with a buffer so it will heat up and the clear will start flaking in the surrounding area.