Over the weekend my 7yr old was kind enough to crach his bike into the doors on my screw .
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on a fix for it?
I don't want to repaint the doors because I know in a few years they will not match the rest of the truck. I would rather leave the scratch as is than have the doors mismatched. know what i mean!
It is not all the way to bare metal but its close. Short of using regular touch-up paint does anyone have any suggestions? I know that without painting the doors I can't get rid of it completely. That's not what I am looking for. I just want to fix it the best I can without painting the whole thing.
I could get a picture and post if if anyone wants to see it.

 

Please don't take this wrong, I'm not trying to make light of your misfortune.

But it seems you've already decided to live with the scratch, so it will help to keep a upbeat attitude. Just keep in mind that Chevy ad that says "It's not a scratch, it's a scar".

I think of the first bad scratch as what finally makes it a "Truck". Now you will no longer hesitate to use it like a truck.

A rancher in Montana invited me over to load up his brand new (one day old) truck with huge boulders and tree stumps. When he saw my shock, he just said "Hey, it's a truck".

Hope I made you feel better instead of worse.


John

 

I had my brand new truck for 4 days when some A** hole at Home Depot put a huge dent in my tailgate. It is sad that he wasn't man enough to own up to his mistake as I seriously doubt he didn't know he did it. Oh well. Nothing I can do about it now.

Even last week my dad was at Wally World when someone backed into the Supercab part of his F-150. The guy got out, cursed at my dad and took off. At least my dad had enough wits about him to jot down the guys desciption, the car description and the temp tag the guy had on his car. Two people were also nice enough to hang around and sign a witness statement when the police finally showed up. I don't know if they will do anything or not, it has been over a week and he hasn't heard from the PD, even after a few phone calls.

So basically it is inevitable. Try to use some Meguiars Scratch-X if it isn't down to the primer. If it is, well, you can get someone to airbrush it and make it look 100%. You'll never know it was there but will cost you about 100-150. Check with your dealer as they usually have an independant come buy and touch up all thier vehicles.

 

The local dealerships where I live have a guy that comes by that airbrushes scratches. He did a few really bad ones for me a few years ago and I could not tell that the scratch was ever there. Dealership wanted several hundred to fix........airbrush guy was about 75. Held up for next two years until I traded it.
Also, a differant guy does small dents. He did one for me just about a month ago. 30 bucks. He will remove a handle, panel, drill a very small hole on the inside of your door and then use a tool to go to the inside of the dent and begin massaging it out. Can't tell there was ever a dent there now.

 

Look up a company called " Coulors on Parade". I lived in VA Beach about 6 years ago, they would come to you and fix scratches and chips. For dents check out "Dent Wizard".

 

I got a scratch a while back and thought it was going to be the end of my days. I drive my truck hard and use it but I also like to keep it looking good. Turtle Wax has a product out that is meant to restore the color of your truck. It's just like wax except you can buy it for different colors. I bought the one for black trucks and it worked. It also came with a "Chip-Stick" to touch up little dings. I looked for the scratch several weeks ago and couldn't find it. Seems to be working so far.

 

A good body shop will repair the scratch and the paint will match perfect. I had a scratch about a foot long on my 04 Lariat and it was costly to repair, over $700, but you can't tell its been repainted. Thanks to Insurance, I only paid $100. I figure, if I'm paying $30+K for a vehicle, I don't need a eye sore scratch! Good luck with whatever you do.

 

You didn't say how wide the scratch is. Anyway, I got a few good dings from a landscaper's lawnmower and I was able to fix them with Duplicolor's touch-up in a bottle. First, don't use the crappy brush that came with the touch-up paint. Go to a craft store and buy an assortment of artists brissle brushes for oil paint. Don't use nylon. I was able to get brushes that were as fine as a pencil point to get into the corners of the scratch. You want to build up the coats little by little until the repair is level to the original paint. Dabbing works beter than brushing. If your truck is clearcoated leave enough recess for two or three coats of clear. Bring clear until level with surface. Stay within confines of the scratch. If you get any touch up paint on the original paint, use lacquer or enamel thinner on a soft rag before the paint hardens. Don't rush this fix. It will take several coats. Mine came out great, you can't even see the repair unless you look real close.
Good Luck! I hope this helped.

 

Did they just paint the damaged area or did they paint the entire panel? I know a few folks that own body shops and they both have said they cannot paint just a small section and blend it in smoothly. Also I have seen there work before and they wouldn't do my repairs anyway. Know what I mean!
That's another problem I have is other than reproduction and restoration work I have never seen any aftermarket paint that I was satisfied with. That's one reason why I would almost rather put up with the scratch than have the entire door look like crap!!!

 

gpeade - The body shop painted a large area of the door and blended the panels on both sides of the damaged area. Then they clear coated the entire panel. I went to 4 body shops before I chose this one. Everyone of them told me "There's a right way to fix it and a cheap way". They all recommended the procedure done on my truck. I have to say I went with the most expensive body shop, mainly because I have seen lots of their work before and they had done work on my wife van and we were pleased. The door looks as good as new and the color matches perfect.

I do realize that factory paint is always better than what you get from most body shops.