How to repair a damaged or scratched car body?
Scratched car body and other small damage may occur on your car almost daily. The reason for their occurrence can have many causes. Whether these damages are caused by an unfriendly neighbor who doesn't know how to park or just a bounced pebble, these small cosmetic defects can cause a lot of wrinkles and worries for the car owner.
Since tinkering and car bodywork require expert knowledge and many years of experience, we will only focus on repairs to minor car body damage in today's article.
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How to proceed in case of a scratched car body
To repaint a certain part of the car, we need translucent paint, a base/base color, and an identical paint color, because even a slight difference in paint color is obvious. The paint shade used on your car indicates the color code that you will find on the label - it is usually located inside the trunk door or in the space for the spare wheel.
If you already know the paint color code, nothing prevents you from having this paint color mixed in a specialized store. However, if you have applied mixed paint on the damaged part of the car and the shade of the color does not completely match the shade on your car, there may be several reasons for this.
The first possible cause is the incorrect mixing of the paint and, thus, the error of the worker in charge of mixing car paint. In addition, it can also be caused by a change in the original paint due to aging, ultraviolet sunlight, extreme temperature differences, or weather conditions.
Using inappropriate means for cleaning and protecting the car body also plays its role. Therefore, for the original paint color to match the mixed paint color as closely as possible, the workers of the car paint mixing department should bring some part of the body with the original paint, such as the fuel tank door, in addition to the color code.
Repair of minor damages or scratches:
If small scratches and damage from pebbles only got into the topcoat and did not hit the sheet metal, it is enough to use a touch-up stick or sanding paste for repair.
The place where the scratch is located must first be degreased. After cleaning and degreasing, apply the sanding paste to where the scratch is located and sand with gentle circular movements until the scratch disappears.
Repair of serious damage or scratches
In this case, the sheet metal or plastic of the car body part was also affected in addition to the paint. It means that part of the paint is missing, and the sheet metal is unprotected against external influences. If the exposed sheet metal has already started to rust, it is necessary to remove this rust.
You can use a wire brush, knife, or another tool to remove the rust. It is essential that all rust is removed and that the damaged surface is then thoroughly cleaned, degreased, and dried.
Apply a thin brush with a little base/base color to the exposed metal surface. Since this preparation is usually only available in a spray, we spray it into the lid and take the necessary amount on the brush.
After the base color has dried, we repair the damaged area with mixed varnish using a brush. We only apply a thin layer of varnish so that the varnish does not start to flow onto the undamaged parts. Let the applied varnish dry properly. We repeat this procedure until the depression is filled and the repaired area is on the same level as the surrounding paint.
Finally, apply two layers of translucent varnish, also using a brush. Of course, the result will never be perfect, and the repaired area will still be visible, but not as much as the scratch itself. At the same time, the damaged area will be protected against corrosion and other external influences.
Scratches on the car and their repair
This kind of paint repair will save you a lot of money because painting a single part costs more money than mixing the paint, and buying the base color.
If you want your car in perfect condition and don't mind paying extra, I recommend entrusting it to experienced professionals.