Scratches

I found these scratches in front of the windscreen. I'm perplexed as to how they got there. That section was resprayed a couple of months ago when I got some rust cut out of the windscreen channel, and so it was looking pretty smick... until now:





I've got no idea how these scratches appeared. They almost look like an animal has had a good scratch, or someone's had a go with some sandpaper. They weren't there last time the car was washed.

What's the go with getting rid of these? Should I get out the Kitten cut n polish or do the right thing and pay a professional to fix it?

Did they take the windscreen out when they did the rust?

Yep, the glass came out. I got the windscreen replaced, as the old one was quite dodgy and difficult to see through at night or when the sun was at the wrong angle.

well, was there anything rubbing up against the car??

mistery..

i think you should just try with a CUT and polish, or if the paint is thick enough you could colour sand it with 2000 and then buff it

If it was sprayed a couple of months ago, maybe ask who did it what materials were used. It may be an incompatibility between the original substrate and the new topcoat. Unless it was taken to bare metal, they have no warranty to cover, but it would be good to know what was used. The paint that was already on there could be anything, and that is why the warranty would not apply.

helbus wrote:It may be an incompatibility between the original substrate and the new topcoat.

This is sort of what I'm afraid of. If it was some issue with the new paint, is hitting it with cut n polish going to make things better, worse or have no impact?

Should I take it back to the body shop that did the rust repair and ask their opinion?

Is it on the bonnet as well, if so was the part of the repair. Can you see white or grey in the scatches like maybe primer showing through and are the scratches deep enough you can catch your finger nail in them. Answers to these question may reviel the prob and or a way to fix.

LOWBUG wrote:Is it on the bonnet as well, if so was the part of the repair.

There are one or two that seem to extend onto the bonnet, but mostly the bonnet is scratch free. The bonnet wasn't part of the repair.

** Just looking at the photos I posted above, you can see a couple of scratches continuing onto the bonnet, but most of them are limited to the bit in front of the windscreen. (What is that bit called BTW?)

Can you see white or grey in the scatches like maybe primer showing through

No, I can't see primer showing through.

and are the scratches deep enough you can catch your finger nail in them.

I can't catch my finger nail in them. They seem mostly superficial. They really look like the sort of thing you would get if you took some course sandpaper and gave the spot a couple of rubs.

Do you have any cats that climb over your car at night? It looks like something trying to scratch off the washer nozzle.

Yogie

The panel in front of the windscreen is called a few things. Top scuttle panel, Top cowl panel, Vent panel, Lower windscreen panel.

When they painted the scuttle panel, they may well have blended the colour onto the bonnet. When you paint a panel to an edge and it is brand new shiny, and there is older paint, or a metallic colour, then a small amount of paint is blended to the next panel.

This may explain why the scuttle has more cracks as it was fully painted, and the bonnet has minimal cracks, as it was only blended for a short distance.

The incompatibility of substrates usually means there are cheaper or older paints already existing, and a new paint that is designed to aggressively bite in to make sure it sticks well can upset that existing paint. It can bite so hard that it cracks the underlying paint as it cures, and show through.

It is also called 'crows feet' as it can be much shorter cracks and look like little crows have been walking everywhere. Do an internet search for 'crows feet paint'

Let us know when you find out what it is