Any ideas on fixing this scratch?

[HAMBO]

Got back to my car and looks like someone bumped into my front bumper while I was parallel parked... Left a scratch on the nose (see pics).

Any ideas on how to make it look better without doing a full repaint of the front bumper? Something for Dr. Colorchip or Langka? Never used either before, but have read good things.

[JTruck]

Get some better pictures up close in focus. That'll help us help you.

[sbubbaklein]

your chevy store has exact match spray and brush touch up, looked up with your vin. They can also provide you with the name of the local air brush man they use to touch up their trade ins.

[HAMBO]

Originally Posted by JTruck

Get some better pictures up close in focus. That'll help us help you.

Sorry, ya those weren't good picture. Lighting is tough in the garage. Here's what's hopefully a better pic. Looking closer at it, not much of the paint actually scraped off (not like you can see the primer underneath), it's just kind of scrunched / rigid. Not sure adding more paint would actually help? Would it need to be sanded down first? Probably wouldn't be confident doing sanding myself

[charlietuna]

Do you have a DA polisher? I would try to polish it first. If not that's really a small mark and can be repaired for less than the cost of the products and tools needed to correct it.

[Dizzy82]

Definately try polishing it first, if that doesn't work Dr. Colorchip or touch up paint.

[SSMY1LE]

Looks like a write off, I'll give you $15000 for it...........

[Tennis_pro]

Looks like there is only a very small section in the middle of that scratch that went through the paint. I have restored scratches like this many times. This is what I would do:

Wet sand VERY lightly using 1500 grit sand paper.
Wet sand again with some 2000 grit sand paper. Make sure when wet sanding that you do an area of about a centimeter surrounding the scratch too. This will take off some clear coat and leave the area faded from the scratches the sandpaper made.

Next, and you don't need a polisher for this, you can do it by hand with a pad or microfiber towel, put some compound down on the entire area and rub liberally in circular motion. Use some elbow grease when doing this. Wipe it off, and repeat the process again. By now, all the scratch marks the sandpaper made should be gone and initial scratch itself should be gone.

Next, get some polish to add a nice shine to the area. I would polish a few feet of the surrounding area as well to blend it in nicely.

Last, use a thick coat of synthetic wax over the area you polished to protect the work you just did. If you follow these steps, I think you would not even be able to notice the scratch anymore, if at all.

My girlfriend scrapped the whole side of her front bumper against a yellow pole, and with the same process I described to you I was able to get everything out no problem. Repair shop would have charged at least 100 but most likely would have recommended a full paint job.

Just be careful with the wet sanding that you keep the area wet. If it gets dry, the sandpaper against the dry paint surface will go right through the paint.

[Tennis_pro]

And to answer your question about touch up paint, I would not recommend using it. From my personal experience, I have tried factory matched touch up paint on small areas and it seems that no matter how careful I am, it always stand out more than the scratch itself. You can certainly try it and maybe you would have better luck than me, but from my personal experience touch up paint never really works.

[Rick's Camaro]

You could try our Dr. Color Chip Solution, its the easiest and most effective way to touch-up minor automotive paint chips and road rash. Here is a link to the part! http://www.rickscamaros.com/dr-colorchip-camaro-paint-chip-repair-kit-2010-2012.html

Here is also a link to a Camaro5 member who has used the product and gave us his opinion on it
http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392680

PM if you have questions, there is video to help you understand the product more as well

[HAMBO]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have a PC polisher that I can try on this, though I'm no expert at using it. Would it be a two-step polish? I have been using Meguiar's M105 and M205.

As for wet sanding, I am quite nervous to do that since I've never wet-sanded before, nor am I particularly handy. How easy is it to just make the problem worse?

Got a first quote by email for $240 to fix it, which seems quite high. May try to polisher and see how it comes out.

[charlietuna]

Originally Posted by HAMBO

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have a PC polisher that I can try on this, though I'm no expert at using it. Would it be a two-step polish? I have been using Meguiar's M105 and M205.

As for wet sanding, I am quite nervous to do that since I've never wet-sanded before, nor am I particularly handy. How easy is it to just make the problem worse?

Got a first quote by email for $240 to fix it, which seems quite high. May try to polisher and see how it comes out.

If you have the tools then give it a go. Meg's 105/205 combo should do the trick safely. Although wet sanding would work, it would be best to practice on a test panel and not your camaro the first time out.

Take your time with the 105. You will probably have to make a few passes to level it if it is deep(catching a finger nail). Then polish the surrounding area with 205. Let us know if you need help along the way you can do this!

[Tennis_pro]

Wet sanding is easy. Get some 1500 grit sand paper, wet it down and the area of the car you're working on, and in easy smooth notions sand it down. You should see a little haze form after done, that is the clear coat getting scratched up. Then follow with 2000 grit. This will even out the area and get the scratch ready to be buffed.

Buff it with some good compound then polish and wax it. Should look close to perfect when done. Probably end up looking like a little pebble chip in the paint when you're done

[scandata]

Originally Posted by HAMBO

Got a first quote by email for $240 to fix it, which seems quite high. May try to polisher and see how it comes out.

At that price, I'd definitely suggest at least attempting to fix it yourself. Even if you screw it up and have to take it to a pro, the repair cost will probably be the same, and you'll have a little bit more paint correction experience behind you.