Hello, on my car the previous owner took off pinstripes with "200 grit wet sandpaper". There is a strip of paint that seems duller and rough where the pinstripes were before. Can I fix this myself with store bought items?

 

A friend of mine said to try to go over the areas with 2000 grit sandpaper, then use a small buffer and some compound to even out the surface. Follow it up with a polish and some wax. Does this sound right to do?

 

Please go to a professional detailer, you don't want to create an even larger issue :/

 

You could try that if you're feeling dangerous, lol. Body work is something I'm leery if doing and I do 99% of my own work. I'd bring it to a pro for an opinion at least.

 

You could try that if you're feeling dangerous, lol. Body work is something I'm leery if doing and I do 99% of my own work. I'd bring it to a pro for an opinion at least.

 

I did some work on it, but I could not fix it. I didn't make it worse, but I called a painter to come look at it. Going to just go that route, thanks for all the input.

 

oh i wanna see pics of this!

 

It would if it was originally sanded with 1500 grit. You will never sand out 200grit scratches by going straight to 2000. It has to be progressive (I.e. 200, 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000). By the time you got to 2000 the paint would be gone.

 

I don't have any pics of it. However I was able to smooth it out using differing grits. I took a polisher to the car afterward and it looks much better overall. At this point though I am throwing down some cash for a repaint. The paint is heat damaged and faded on the hood, roof, and rear. Before the car goes in for paint after our pollen season is over I am getting the car professionally dipped in vintage gold. Going to strip the dip and repaint when it clears up outside.

 

Interesting. You may consider vinyl if you want true gold, as it may end up looking more dipped yellow.

 

If it was really 200 grit, your clear coat is shot. You can polish, but will most likely need a respray.

 

The clear coat is definitely no good in the "strip" where the pinstripes used to be. Essentially there is a long "line" of dull paint going across the car where that would have been. Thankfully there is only one small area on one of the fenders that you can actually see the metal! I felt like going with a dip would be a good stop gap solution to fix my ugly paint and protect the car until I actually repaint it.

 

It's a little late now, but they make a "pinstripe removal wheel" that is really amazing. The wheel attaches to a drill and it just wipes the pinstripe right off your car. I've used them on several of my cars and it always comes out perfect.

I've seen some impressive paintwork, but there was absolutely no saving it after that sandpaper.

 

Why waste money on dip? Just save until you can have it fixed properly.

 

Well, because I'm not scheduled to have the car painted until June. I don't really see the problem if money is not an issue.