Okay so somewhere I picked up a nasty gouge on my drivers side rear fender, directly in the middle on the flat portion before it curves. So anyway, after seeing it done on Autopia and a few other guys do it often, I figured, WTH......if I mess it up, it can be fixed. I wanted it fixed one way or another. Unfortunately no pics of the scratch prior to touch up application. As you can see in the pics, my impatient ***** couldn't use the very fine brush I got at the autobody supply shop (left in bag and ruined the bristles), toothpick/match book was a lil small for the scratch.....etc Got lazy and used the brush in the touch up! DO NOT DO THAT. LOL

Basic Process:

Be sure area around scratch is clean
Rub with alcohol to remove wax, dirt, etc
Apply touch up paint and allow to cure for a few days or weeks in my case (Weather has sucked)

After researching a bit, most guys reco Meguires UNIGRIT sandpaper. I bought 1500-3000 since I didn't know hwat I woudl need.

Tonight I cleaned the area and clayed it.

Had 1 sheet of 2000 n 3000 unigrit soaking in a bucket with water n a lil soap. (ALlow to soak for 15 min or even overnight from what I hear)

I started out with 2000 and finished with 3000. GO SLOW, TAKE YOUR TIME, and INSPECT FREQUENTLY!!! This is not the time to go ape $hit on the sanding. This is delicate precise work. Remember you can always sand a lil more but if you go too far, you can't put it back!

After wetsanding, I used my cyclo (PC will work too) with orange pads and Menzerna IP followed up with Menzerna FPII with white pads. I will polish out teh whoel car soon so for now I just used a lil Nattys Blue to seal it up until I polish it out.

This was my first time attempting this and I think it came out pretty good. Probably not 100% in my eyes but I think most people wouldn't be able to find it if I told them to look for it!

Here we go with some pics:

BEFORES:








DURINGS: (No worries, it's worse then it looks!! I nearly **** but I was expecting it) LOL

 

Anyone wanna see afters?????

AFTERS: (Only polished immediate areas, the whole car needs some TLC so nevermind the halograms n crapola you see at the edges of where I polished) The first pic you can still see a hairline scratch, but in person you have to have your eyeball right on it. Before I went too far, I settled for what I think are decent results that I can live with......at least live with easier then say....needing a fender repainted! LOL From 3 inches or more away you don't see anything!













Teaser Drop Pics:





Big thanks to PICUS and the guys on Autopia for posting numerous pics and threads regarding wetsanding which gave me the gonads to attempt it myself. After a few more times, I think I will be able to get flawless results, but for now, I'm satisfied with how this turned out.

 

damn that looks sweet.. good job on fix it up

 

Looks real good Drew.
I have 2 rock chips I'm thinking of doing touch and know ity will be a B1tch.
So i know how much nerves and patience is needed to do this.
Once good work

 

wow very nice job!

 

nice work.

 

Wanna do my door ding? Nice job!

 

Hey Diesel1! Nice job! You want to come up to Canada for a couple of days and fix my scratches and door dings??

 

Whoaaaaaaaaaaa guys, never said I can do DINGS....Done a few dingbats, but never any dings! LOL

If you're in Canada, I think near Montreal, PICUS is your man. Does great work!

Just don't be afraid to try and stop before you think you're done! LOL

Thanks for the compliments!

 

I'm in Toronto.

Awesome job; it's quite a nerve wracking thing wetsanding your own car, huh? Especially on black, you wipe the area and see the sanding results and it's scary! You did a great job, very thorough and it came out wonderfully. Big thumbsup!

 

Diesel1, where did you buy 2500 & 3000 grit paper?

 

Man I searched the net all over for UNIGRIT and found that most places by only sell it in 25 sheet packs. Usually that means $25-30 beans. I found a place in AZ I believe that sells it by the sheet and ordered from there. I'll have to check my emails and see which place it was.

Thanks for the compliments Picus, coming from you that puts a nice smile on my face since you do some stellar work!