Talking About Automotive Cooling Systems

Posted on: 2 September 2016

When you are driving down the roadway, the exterior of your vehicle has the ability to make an impression on your fellow motorists. If you take pride in the appearance of your car, discovering a scratch in the paint's surface could be devastating. Repairing these scratches will not only help you restore the aesthetic beauty of your vehicle, but prevent harmful rust as well.

Here are three simple tips that you can try at home when getting rid of small scratches on your car's surface in the future.

1. Allow new paint to dry overnight.

When you are painting over a scratched area while making repairs you should always allow your paint to dry overnight before applying a second coat.

Most automotive paints are lacquer-based products that might feel as though they are hardened enough to sand or paint over within a few minutes, but you should recognize that these paints will continue to shrink after application. By limiting your paint applications to one a day and allowing the paint to dry overnight, you can ensure that you get proper coverage while repairing scratches to your car's surface.

2. Get the right color.

Matching your vehicle's paint color can be challenging, since many colors are made exclusively by car manufacturers. Since matching colors by sight can be difficult, you should strive to gather as much information as possible about your vehicle's exterior color before repairing any scratches.

Even minor variations in paint color will be noticeable, so matching is a critical step in the scratch-repair process. Each vehicle comes with a color identification plate that lists the numeric code the manufacturer has assigned to the specific paint color used on your vehicle. These color identification plates can be difficult to find, but try looking on your door jambs, under your seats, or under the hood.

Once you have located the numeric code associated with your vehicle's paint color you can use this information to order a small batch of matching paint from a repair shop. 

3. Use clear coat sparingly.

Once you have painted over a scratched area you will need to apply a clear coat to protect your repairs. Always use this clear coat sparingly to avoid drawing attention to the repaired area.

Use a piece of paper with a hole cut to match the repaired area to mask the surrounding area, and spray a thin layer of clear coat through the window in the paper. You don't want to area you sprayed to appear glossy, since this means you have used too much and will need to sand down the surface of the repaired area.

Being able to repair minor scratches as home can help you keep your car looking nice well into the future. For more information, contact a business such as Exoticar Paintworks Inc.