So, this morning I hit a piece of wood in the road and it bounced up and scratched my passanger side door. The scratches aren't too deep and the scratch area is about an inch long by 2 inches wide. Any ideas on what to do? I'm thinking I need some touch up paint and some sort of abrasive liquid, I just don't know which brand to use.

 

Is the damage more like scuffs or does it go to the metal?

If there are skuffs buff the car.

If the damage is to the metal sounds like touch up paint is not enough (1 inch x 2 inchs). Worse case have a good body shop shoot the door.

 

It looks like it's just skuffed through the clearcoat and just a little into the paint, like if you took a small piece of rough sand paper and took a quick whack at the door. Any idea what product I should use on it?

 

I know this sounds like an silly solution, but I'm really suprised nobody else seems to do it.

I use crayon. Think about it, what is a crayon other than a colored wax?

On my green car, I'd use a green crayon. On my black xfire, I've gotten some scratches too. I rub a black crayon into the scratch or area to kind of fill it and get rid of the white color, then use a little compound polish over it. Haze and wipe off. Then take a wax (not a polish) and go over it again.

If you don't have polish, just the crayon and wax will look good enough and won't be noticable. For those of you who don't know, polishes and waxes are different. Polish is for shine and is usually a little abrasive. Non abrasive polish is best for newer paint like on the Crossfire, but something a little abrasive is good for a scratch or group of small scratches. Wax is for protection and keeping the shine.

The drawback to this you'll have to do it every 6 months or so on a scratch, as the wax from the crayon will slowly disappear, and the whiteness of the scratch will come back. But it's a lot cheaper than painting the scratch, and a lot better than just using wax or polish without the crayon.

 

A clear coat repair kit was posted a long time ago, I think it is available at langka.com.
Bob

 

That's the stuff! I remember reading about langka a while ago. I've also read very good things about Mother's scratch remover.

 

Had the Xfire a week when rocks hit/chipped the silver molding around the windshield. Dealer says no touch-up paint for that area so you're screwed. To replace it is about $200+ for each piece of the 3 molding set. Has anybody figured out how to deal with this silver covered material? I'm open to getting something close without a 10 step process such as touch-up paint from Michaels, AutoZone, wherever- but this sucks. Help. Alan Frashier-Orlando

 

Alan: I saw a Xfire recently where the owner painted the windshield molding to match the car. Sorry, I don't know where I saw it but maybe someone on this forum saw it too and can post it. Anyway, it looked good and any future touch-ups would easier.

 

Check with MightyJlr (black Xfire) who has done his; REDCROSS is planning to do his.

 

Checked out MightyJlr's and it looks great. If your out there MightyJlr, could you let us know exactly how you did it? Did you do it on the car or did you remove the trim? Did it take the factory paint? Thanks

 

Thanks Bob-I've been seriously considering that option as well. The inability to effectively touch up the silver trim is a real crock. Think I'll take a digital pix and play with filling it in with the body color and maybe a few other colors. Appreciate the response.

 

Yea it seemed liked the feedback was all over the board with his mod but it may be a viable option. The question is whether or not it will take the paint.

 

There was a Crossfire with a Chrome windshield at the SEMA show. Does anyone know if these are availble. That would be one way to clean it up.

 

if you find a chrome windshield frame cover let me know-I want one!