What to do about this scratch...
 

So a few weeks ago I found this on my z and I’m trying to determine the best way to go about sorting it out. It isn’t too deep (the flash of the picture makes it look worse than it actually is), I can feel the scratch but I don’t catch my nail on it. Also I put a tiny amount of clear coat touch-up on it and it completely took away the scratch, so I am assuming it didn’t reach the paint. I have rubbing compound, 2000-grit sandpaper, and polish compound. But I am not sure if it is worth trying to get this out myself, or go to a detailer, or go to a collision shop for this. Any thoughts? Thanks!

http://www.the370z.com/members/los-d...d27a68ca2.jpeg

wet sanding is risky business if you have never done it before. there is not much clear on this car to begin with, and it is very easy to get too aggressive. always start with the least aggressive approach. I would try polish first, and whatever the polish will not take care of, go to the compound. if you cant catch your nail on it, compound should do the trick.
I repaired rock chips on my front end for 5 years with touch up and wet sand, literally dozens of times, and was very confident with it...... last year I wet sanded right through the clear on a spot .. front end re-paint. You can never be too careful, and should not take the most aggressive approach first. use the wet sand as a last resort.

Yeah good point, I definitely want to stay away from the sand if I can. I feel like it would do more harm than good on my clear coat. I'll give the polish and compound a try! If I need to resort to the compound, do I hit it with the polish again after that to restore the shine? I hear the compound could take that away a bit and that I would need to polish after.

PS Awesome job on the paint match! I want to try that on my engine cover at some point.

yes, you want to polish after compounding

If you really want to try something without the possibility of messing it up worse, go for some Meguiar's ScratchX 2.0. If that doesn't get the job done, then just take it to a competent shop. It won't be a difficult fix for someone that knows what they're doing.

Awesome just making sure. Thanks!

I'll definitely give that stuff a try, I'll pick some up and hopefully that takes care of the issue. Thanks!

OP, I'll be up in NYC this weekend for the auto show if you'd like me to take care of this for you. I'd think wet sanding fallowed by 2 stage correction should bring it out. You could use a toothpick and about an hour of your time and use your clear coat to lightly fill the scratch too.

Hi I really appreciate the offer! However, I actually just got it repaired today. I may be in touch soon about some possible ideas I want to look into related to car electronics though. Thanks!

Picture of panel after scratch removal (difficult to get a good pic with this paint color) http://www.the370z.com/members/los-d...y-removed.jpeg

looks amazing. how did they do it?

Thanks! I unfortunately didn't get to see the specific process because I had to take an important phone call. But from looking at the finished job I would guess that they did a very thorough buff/compound/polish. It's possible that they also may have done a remarkably clean sanding job, because it really looks flawless from every angle. Whatever they did, they did it right!

http://www.the370z.com/members/los-d...540268a11.jpeg

http://www.the370z.com/members/los-d...6c0cc3535.jpeg

http://www.the370z.com/members/los-d...07c670a2d.jpeg

Looks great