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I had a sense of humour failure....

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Left the TR6 in the supermarket carpark yesterday. Deliberately parked away from other cars. Came back to find a 2" scratch on the hood - right at the front edge, just at the point a cart would have hit it. I looked around for the lucky winner, but no-one was in sight (and no carts were nearby).

It's fairly wide (like 1/8") and down to bare metal, so rubbing compound isn't going to do the trick.

Has anyone have any joy with one of those touchup pens and a claybar or am I looking at a respray?

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Sorry to here about that.

Clay won't do you any good here. It's only for lifting crud off the paint. Your problem is missing paint. The only way to fix it is by replacing the paint that's gone.

If you want a permanent repair you'll have to repaint the scratch just like repainting a car, metal prep & primer over any bare metal, paint and clear (if your car is clearcoated).

Paint pens can make it look better but it takes a lot of effort and some skill to blend the surface texture. (And that doesn't take into account color, which is a whole other subject.) I find brushes easier (real artist's brushes, not the brushes in touch-up bottles) but since I have an airbrush it's my tool of choice.

Here's a good article on repairing paint chips.


PC.
 
I never know if a post like I'm making break's the "no-sales" rule or not.

You may want to try the paint pen or other brush applied filling of the scratch followed by the following item from Eastwood:
https://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/produ...mp;keyword=chip
( or search for item # 34070 if the link doesn't work)

I've used this before and it's pretty good at blending repairs in. Short of a respray it won't be perfect though.
 
Hmmm.. this got me thinking. What if someone invented a small inflatable tube that you fit around your car in parking lots. It would be CO2 activated; Push the button and it would blow up to create a barrier between your car and the rest of the world.... the tube would only be about 10"-12" tall and could be deflated and stowed pretty quickly.

Does this sound dumb? It would look silly but it would prevent such accidents as described above from happening.
 
Alan, my TR6 is basecoat/clearcoat and have had the same problem, although not down to the metal yet. My paint has chipped to the primer. At any rate, I had the PPG shop shoot my car in 4 different spots with his color computer and got a color match that was darn close. (My color was a custom mix and we lost the code) Anyway, he suggested that he mix a half pint of standard self-shining acrylic and use an artist's brush. It has worked great! The larger chips take 4-5 coats but if done very carefully, using a magnifying loop from the hobby shop, I have been able to blend in many chips, some larger than one inch, and not really see the edges. No sanding or finishing. And the acrylic is self-shining. A nice coat of Zymol and you really can't tell.

Bill
 
Shannon I have thought of a similar thing to keep people from hitting your car. Mine though uses an armed gaurd to ensure no one gets close enough to your car to damage it. As for repairing the scratch I would say the best thing to do would be to tape off an area around your scratch, use a light body putty to even out the scratch. Sand the area you taped off, primer it, and then get your colour matched and spray it. Ive had to do this before on especially nasty scratches and it works pretty well.
 
Some of these questions take way to long to type an answer.there are a couple of good ways to fix this,Depends on your tools.I would like to help, but I talk not type.If you wanna talk let me know.
 
That is the one of the most aggrivating things that can happen to you. I bought my wife a new Toyota Sienna van, real nice one XLE...first week she drove it, BAM!...biggest door ding I've ever seen....inconsiderate people!!!
It's evern worst when it's a classic....I feel your pain!!!

Mikey
 
Alana,
Why did you park your car in a supermarket parking lot? I have an 88 Honda Civic with 215,000 miles, rust everywhere, a deer colision dent in the right front fender and door that I take to the grocery store. The TR stays in the garage. But I do understand and share your pain. Try getting a pint of paint mixed. Then transfer it to smaller air tight containers to be used for just this type of repair. The smaller the container the better to reduce the maniscuse buildup on the surface and actaully have paint when you need it months/years from now. Good luck.
RL
 
I have three cars. I happened to be using this one and needed to stop and get something from the supermarket. I wasn't about to drive home and get into another one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The place I usually go to isn't normally too bad - actually since we're sharing "my car got crunched in the lot" stories, one of the other cars is an 04 Disco. Last week as I was heading back to it from the auto parts store, I watched the guy collecting trolleys shove one into the side of it - he deliberately pushed it and let go of it from about 10 yards away so it would run into the car. It made a great noise.

When I remonstrated - thats a polite way of putting it btw - with him, he said "it's only a little hit". Now if you wanted to see a real sense of humour failure, then you should have been there that evening. If it had been an accident I wouldn't have cared so much, it was the fact that he did it on purpose that set me off.

Back to the TR - I think I'll go to a shop and try to get some paint to match. I don't have spray equipment, so it will be a brush and blend job (thanks everyone for the advice). It's regular paint, no clearcoat, so I expect it won't be too bad, just a pita. If it doesn't work so well (meaning that if I'm a tool and mess it up) then I still have the option to take it to have the panel resprayed.

Don't worry - it won't stop me DRIVING the car
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif
 
That story is a heartbreaker, I know. I still remember years ago, I had just gotten back from the paint shop where the guys mixed some left over paint and sprayed my very first car-- my beloved '53 Ford flathead V-8, two door with dual exhausts. (This was in the dark ages).
It was all shiny, a creamy blue. I stopped in a shopping center and a lady in a huge 2-door Caddy threw her door open and put not just a nick, but a 8" gash in my door. Despite my ranting, this 60-ish year-old lady with garish makeup and jewelry galore, just looked at me and my "old" car with contempt and walked off.
At age 17 with a $250 car, I had no collision insurance. I took her license and called the police when I got home but they said I'd probably have to sue the lady for the work and without a witness, it would be tough.
 
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