Automotive Paint Touchup?

[Xeroid]

Who has a good technique for touching up scratches on auto paint? I have a very thin 4" scratch on my Nissan Quest door that has gone all the way to the primer. I would like to fill the scratch without blobbing touchup paint on the area outside of the scratch. I have a touchup bottle from the Nissan dealer.

I thought about applying the paint with the applicator and then immediately wiping the scratch with a clean cloth to remove all paint except for what goes into the scratch itself. Is this possible or will it just make a mess?

Mike

[bigblue77]

If you can find any plastic razor blades you could use them to remove the excess paint without scratching the good paint. Check around at auto parts stores, they should have them.

Jer

[Graham]

Its not a job that you can easily do well, if it is "clear over base" (clear laquer over the colour) then you will always see it if you use a touch up. There are places that specialise in little dents and scratches, check their prices before you commit.

G

Well, I'm with bigblue77 for now. As a matter of fact, I've been holding off doing a couple touchups! Thanks BB77

[Imperion1]

Scotch tape on each side of the scratch. This way excess paint gets on the tape.

Kinda like oc'ing a cpu.

[skuz]

Buy a Turtle Wax bottle that comes with what looks like a lipstick that closest matches your color. Fill the scratch with the lipstick.

Or

Use a modeler's smallest paintbrush. Those have like 3 or 4 hairs, ideal for details.

[Gutter Ball]

First I used a clay bar (Mother's) to remove the wax, then I used a body scrub (Meguiars step 1) to clean it out. Then I used a sewing needle to "dab" the paint in. It took a super long time to fill the entire scratch. I must have dabbed 5 or 6 coats on. After it dried for 24 hours, I took the body scrub to it again to clean it up, then I used Meguiars polish (step 2) to even the paint out. Finished it off with a layer of wax and it's almost good as new.

I tried those "crayons" and none of them worked worth a squat. It says it fills in "surface scratches"...a polish does the same thing but better.

[Xeroid]

Thanks everyone for your replys. This repair doesn't have to be perfect, but the Van is Wild Cherry in color and the primer is Light Grey. So, you can see the scratch shows up like a sore thumb.

I've tried those touchup bottles before and it gets so much paint outside the scratch. Using one of those touchup bottles is like trying to sign your name with a 2" wide magic marker. You get a little more color than you bargained for.

Mike

[Orbiter]

If you really want to do the job right I would suggest reading this site. It is very time consuming, but if done correctly you will have to have a very critical eye to tell that there was ever a scratch.

http://www.carcareonline.com/paint_chips.html

[Xeroid]

Thanks Orbiter!

Mike