# Vandalism - my car's been keyed



## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

(Pics at bottom)

I came back to my car today to find someone has left me a lovely keyed door 

I was visiting my mate who has lived in the street for 30 years, I visit regularly and have never had any trouble.
Parking in the street can be a bit of a free for all at times, you can't always manage to get parked beside your house, but generally residents try to park the best they can and as close to their house as possible.

There is also a lot of strangers that park in the street and go to the nearby shops. There is also a high turnover of residents as a lot of the houses are rented and maybe I've ended up parked in someones prefered space and they have decided to leave me a message or something 

I'm oblivious as to what the reason for this vandalism is, so whoever done it hasn't really achieved their goal, but then again mindless idiots don't always have to have a goal do they.

Anyway....What's the best course of action for this scratch, I need a DIY solution as the car doesn't warrant the expense of a respray.

The scratch is very deep and you can easily feel it with your fingernail.

Do I flat the rough edges off the scratch?

Do I start touching in the scratch, gradually building up layers of base coat and when the scratch is almost full add some clear in with the base coat?

What would you guys recommend?

Any advice appreciated as I'm feeling a bit pi$$ed off at the moment.

Cheers.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

I'm so sorry chum. There's for too many of these threads appearing recently, and it shows the degree of disrespect people have for other people's property. And that's truly saddening. 

There are a fair few threads on dealing with that type of damage chum. 

Really hope you get it sorted. Bot more importantly, don't let it get you down chum. 

Cooks

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk


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## Daz. (Jul 26, 2012)

Is it on the back door or is that the rear quarter? 

If it's the back door I'd be tempted to swap it - depending on the car and cost of a donor door.


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Thanks lads :thumb:

Yeah the scratch is on the back drivers side door.

The car has had a full respray at sometime before I got it, it's not the best respray I've ever seen so a replacement door in the factory colour will probably stick out more than touching in the scratch.

I've been working on the paintwork panel by panel when I have time, trying to improve the finish the best I can by polishing out most of the heavy swirls & holograms and then some moron throws this into the mix  ...at least the scratch is on the side of the car I hadn't worked on.

Guess I'm on a steep learning curve with this one.....



Cheers.


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

I'd like to catch them at it, just once, that'd be enough.

Take a look here fella, it is rather long but I think it will really help you. As Larry says in the video, the car (and yours tbh) needs paint, but for whatever reason in this case the owner decided to get him to touch it up, which he does in his usual ultra meticulous style.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Advice .....
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=217520


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Fortunately I didn't catch them....I say fortunately because if I had of caught them I wouldn't be writing any of this, I'd be locked up.

Thanks for the links, I've seen most of them whilst on the forum but I haven't had cause to need any of the advice till now, I'll have a good read of them and make sure I take in all of the info :thumb:




Cheers.


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

I've been a " keying " victim myself. It was a Prelude worth 10 pence, but it was mine and I loved it. You have my sympathies. Some good guides available to help take the eye off.


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## leehob (Jul 9, 2014)

Sorry to see that mate, some people nowadays just seem to want to make people's lives a misery with stuff like this, they are a waste of good skin, pond scum, retarded idiots, hope you get it sorted without too much cost


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## Kyle 86 (Jun 15, 2013)

Absolute cowards. People who do this need to be hung

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## PaulaJayne (Feb 17, 2012)

Mcpx said:


> I'd like to catch them at it, just once, that'd be enough.
> 
> Take a look here fella, it is rather long but I think it will really help you. As Larry says in the video, the car (and yours tbh) needs paint, but for whatever reason in this case the owner decided to get him to touch it up, which he does in his usual ultra meticulous style.


That finish he achieved was terrible. Filling it with "Bondo" left no room for the paint.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

Most people could get a similar result with a halfords touch up pot. Wonder how much that repair cost?

The amount of paint he's put on it didn't need any filling at all.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

PaulaJayne said:


> That finish he achieved was terrible. Filling it with "Bondo" left no room for the paint.


Yep - absolutely agree. Didn't see the point in him doing that at all.

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## PaulaJayne (Feb 17, 2012)

I would :-

1. Clean it.
2. Gentle rub down with 2000 to remove any up-stand.
3. IPA wipe down.
4. Mix paint 60% to 40% Lacquer.
5. Paint the mixture in with fine brush (do not try to bring it up to level).
6. Allow it to flash off and then apply second coat.
7. Keep building the coats over several days so that it ends up proud.
8. Allow several days to harden off.-
9. Rub down with 2000 wet and dry until level.
10. Polish and wax etc.

Take your time and do not rush - allow paint to harden full before rubbing down.


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Thank you all for all of the support and advice.

We all seem to agree that the scum who do this sort of thing to cars are just spineless and spiteful, we can only wish that they get what's coming to them at some point in their life.

I had a funny thought today, it would be interesting if a car owner ended up in court for beating someone up they had caught scratching their car and the jury was made up of car detailers, that woulds set a good precedent for future cases wouldn't it 

@ PaulaJayne,
Thanks for the instructions, that's more or less what I was thinking after watching hours of youtube videos and reading through the forum until my eyes hurt 

I've seen some touch up paints that say they have a "Direct shine Additive" so no lacquer is required, has anyone tried these? 
Just wondering as I've read that adding the lacquer to the base can sometimes change the colour a bit.



Cheers.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Paula has made a good reply.

Either you spend days & days following that advice to achieve a decent DIY repair (which undoubtedly won't be invisible) or you have to pay out for respraying.

The :devil: vandalising ****s should be locked up!


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

I've bought touch up paint in the past from Paints4u as you can order their paints with the lacquer already mixed in. I'd say your local motor factor could mix you a 10th of a litre for not very much money though. 

Hope you get sorted 

Cooks

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## alex30 (Apr 22, 2016)

Man, i really can't understand what kind of pleasure someone gets out of doing something like this and don't even think about the costs this brings (well, they do it because they don't care i guess). As you saw in my thread, someone did the same to me some time ago and although mine goes through a whole side of the car, it is similar to yours in depth.
I don't have any good advice i can give you as im wondering what to do also, but just wanted to show you support and luck in fixing this and if you fix it, let us know how it turned out!


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## autograph (May 12, 2016)

I hate seeing posts like this, it makes my blood boil.


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## Slammedorion (Apr 13, 2014)

Where abouts are you?

I'd just hit that with 800, 2000, 3000 Trisac and polish it up

Or if you wanna play safe I'd nib it with 2000... Drop some clearcoat in the scratch, let that go off. Then 1500 carbon block it, 2000, 3000 Trisac and polish it up


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## Mr.Buff (Aug 5, 2011)

Sorry to see this pal. 

Personally I'd grey scotch the scratch to remove any rough edges and to key it up a bit. Go to halfords and buy a gloss back touch up brush/stick. These touch ups are already mixed with lacquer and hold some shine to them. I know your car is metallic but once flatted and buffed touch ups with metallic in them can look a different colour due to the flakes sinking. The gloss black is obviously a solid colour.

Layer the scratch up giving plenty of time between coats. 24 hours at least before you go near the repair with any kind of abrasive. The touch up should be slightly proud when you have finished touching it up, I find the halfords touch up Pens good for scratches as they come on a long thin brush with you apply the paint with and produce a neat job.

I personally like to shave off the excess touch up with a festool de nibbing block but If you don't own anything like that I would get some 1500 wet and dry and a small rubber block and carefully sand down the repair using water, follow with 2000 if u like and then polish up with a orange cutting pad and some 3m fast cut.

This should leave a decent little repair if done properly. Expectations should be realistic and even a very good repair with a touch up method will be visible under close inspection.

Hope that helps.

Mart


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## Mr.Buff (Aug 5, 2011)

I used this method on this BMW to loads of scratches. They were really deep in places and several failed the fingernail test and needed filling with paint like I explained above.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=348827

Lots of pics before and after to show the extent of the damage and from different close up angles showing the repairs and how they looked after.

Mart


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Slammedorion said:


> Where abouts are you?
> 
> I'd just hit that with 800, 2000, 3000 Trisac and polish it up
> 
> Or if you wanna play safe I'd nib it with 2000... Drop some clearcoat in the scratch, let that go off. Then 1500 carbon block it, 2000, 3000 Trisac and polish it up


Up North, Newcastle.

I'm going to go with the 2nd option, I'll fill the scratch in with some touch up and then flat it & polish.

Cheers.


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Mr.Buff said:


> Sorry to see this pal.
> 
> Personally I'd grey scotch the scratch to remove any rough edges and to key it up a bit. Go to halfords and buy a gloss back touch up brush/stick. These touch ups are already mixed with lacquer and hold some shine to them. I know your car is metallic but once flatted and buffed touch ups with metallic in them can look a different colour due to the flakes sinking. The gloss black is obviously a solid colour........





Mr.Buff said:


> I used this method on this BMW to loads of scratches. They were really deep in places and several failed the fingernail test and needed filling with paint like I explained above.
> 
> http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=348827
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advice.

I rubbed some thinned down black paint I had into the scratch to give it a weather barrier for the time being, just as a precaution in case of rust. The pure Black paint sticks out like a sore thumb against the metalic. 

I've ordered some metallic touch up paint that has the lacquer added so it will have a sheen, so I'll give that a go and see what happens.

I do know what you mean about metalic touch ups often look a different colour because of how the flakes sink etc as I've had this when doing a couple of small stone chips on a Silver car.

As this is my own car and I'm in no hurry what about airbrushing the layers of metalic touch up paint on, would that be a good idea?....just thinking the metalic may lie down better than touching it in with a brush / pick /etc.

Good result with the BMW by the way, what a difference :thumb:

Cheers


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## Slammedorion (Apr 13, 2014)

jj9 said:


> Up North, Newcastle.
> 
> I'm going to go with the 2nd option, I'll fill the scratch in with some touch up and then flat it & polish.
> 
> Cheers.


Wet the scratch first
If it pretty much disappears I'd just chuck clearcoat in


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Unfortunately it didn't disappear when wet, it was still very visible 



Cheers.


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Ok I'm back..... 

I've been working on this over the last few weeks, bit by bit.

I got a tin of Halfords spray paint in the correct colour, and some lacquer, I sprayed a bit of each into the lids and then mixed them to make the touch up paint.

I gave the scratch a flat over with 2000 grit W&D then cleaned it over with some panel wipe.
I filled the scratch up with a very thin brush just dabbing it into the scratch and sort of letting the paint flow into it. After a few coats over a few days the scratch was full of paint and proud of the surrounding paintwork. However a few days later when I wet sanded it down using a small block with worn in 2000 grit W&D there was still a thin line that was lower than the surrounding paintwork by a very small amount 

So, I applied another coat of paint to fill the scratch again, once again making sure that it was proud of the surrounding paintwork and left that to dry.

I have just sanded this 2nd coat down and guess what, it's exactly the same as it was after the 1st time....there is still a thin line there that is lower than the surrounding paintwork 

Any ideas what's causing this to happen?

Cheers.


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## mirra_finish (Nov 14, 2011)

From my own experience, you can fill a chip or scratch up, but it shrinks down massively. It looks like it has pulled back below the surface. You may just need to refill again.

But...... before you do, get a proper colour match. That just does not look like it's a good match.


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

I thought paint shrinkage at first but I'm not so sure.

When I filled the scratch and it was proud, after a day or so I could see a thin line down the middle of the touch up that was lower than the surrounding proud part, I figured this was the shrinkage.
When I was sanding the touch up back this "Low line" disappeared long before the touch up was anywhere near the level of the surrounding paint, this was the case both times I touched the scratch in 

Is it possible that the last coat of touch up isn't sticking to the other layers so is coming off when it is being sanded back?...that's all I can come up with.


I'm starting to worry about the possibility of rubbing through the clear coat as it has been cut back twice now and despite my best efforts to minimise the sanded area you end up sanding the surrounding area whilst flatting the touch up, you have to at some point to get it level.

I know it doesn't look it in the photo but the paint is quite a good match.
I've had a few different makes of touch up paint to try and match this colour and the Halfords spray tin is the best so far so it will have to do.



Cheers.


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

mirra_finish said:


> ...But...... before you do, get a proper colour match. That just does not look like it's a good match.





jj9 said:


> ....I know it doesn't look it in the photo but the paint is quite a good match.
> I've had a few different makes of touch up paint to try and match this colour and the Halfords spray tin is the best so far so it will have to do...


Actually you're correct, it isn't a good match 

I've never seen the repair in gloss so I wetted the door today and I could see that the touch up line is a lot darker, in fact it just looks like standard Black, so there's no point in going any further with this paint...so back to the drawing board with the paint choice 

The car has been resprayed at some point in it's life so I think I'm going to struggle to find a good match for this paint off the shelf.

Cheers.


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## Mr.Buff (Aug 5, 2011)

If the colour is metallic then it will never match once sanded back as I mentioned above. 

Also the halfords touch up Pens I mentioned above are a lot thicker than the way you are doing it and already have hardener and lacquer in them that's why I recommended those.

Thinned aerosol paint is probably the thinnest/hardest way of filling a scratch.. and once fully dries will shrink right back to nothing.

As I mentioned above what ever way you choose will still be visible if your looking for it, the only way to make it invisible is a respray.

Martin


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## jj9 (Jun 11, 2015)

Thanks for all of your advice.

I've polished up the touch in and it looks ok (ish) well better than a big scratch so I'll just have to live with it the way it is.


Cheers.


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## Streeto (Apr 3, 2008)

Oooooo, I hate to see these these sort of posts. The worst thing is if you caught them and taught them a lesson you would be the one in trouble.


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