Need advice for touch-up

[TheRealTVGuy]

So my Top Lift Pro evidently wasn’t lifted as high as I thought, and upon pulling under it (and my hardtop) to park, one side of the hardtop made contact with the hood.

Now I have a thin, light scratch in my hood. It’s about 4 1/2 - 5” long.

Any suggestions on what to do now? I do have a brand-new color matched Duplicolor pen in my tool box, but I’m wondering whether to try that, or take it to a proper paint shop.

Arrrggh.

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[WranglerAz]

Place a cool JLU sticker there and call it done.

 

[OffRoadWarehouse]

I would attempt to use a VERY small amount of Scratch-Off or other compound to see if it is just a clearcoat scratch. if a small amount of circular motions does not lighten it at all (or worsens it) then you know you need a proper paint shop. The paint pens always look like a scar on the vehicle.

 

[Wanderingwheelz]

So my Top Lift Pro evidently wasn’t lifted as high as I thought, and upon pulling under it (and my hardtop) to park, one side of the hardtop made contact with the hood.

Now I have a thin, light scratch in my hood. It’s about 4 1/2 - 5” long.

Any suggestions on what to do now? I do have a brand-new color matched Duplicolor pen in my tool box, but I’m wondering whether to try that, or take it to a proper paint shop.

Arrrggh.

If you’ve ever tried Langka you’ll know that it can really help make touch up paint smooth out and all but disappear. It’s not cheap, but I swear by the stuff. I’ve used it successfully on cars worth multiples of a Wrangler, and unless I pointed out the scratch or chip (chips are way easier to handle) you wouldn’t know it was there.

If the scratch is too narrow you’ll have a hard time getting a superior result, though. The deeper the better.

 

[TA1ton]

@TheRealTVGuy; I agree with @OffRoadWarehouse...I’d try a scratch removal method such as Scratch-off or some rubbing compound followed up with some polishing compound. Make sure to get the quality stuff though. Hopefully the scratch isn’t too deep for one of these methods...

 

[Lowboy8]

Get the scratch wet. If it disappears it can be buffed out in most cases with no problem. If it stays when wet then it may have went through your clear coat and would require more work.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

@TheRealTVGuy; I agree with @OffRoadWarehouse...I’d try a scratch removal method such as Scratch-off or some rubbing compound followed up with some polishing compound. Make sure to get the quality stuff though. Hopefully the scratch isn’t too deep for one of these methods...

After looking at it again this morning, it doesn’t appear as deep as I first thought. I’m hoping it’s just the clearcoat.

Which products would you (or anyone reading this) recommend??

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@TheRealTVGuy

Do hear what @Lowboy8 said in his post. About getting the scratch wet. This scratch wet, thing is a good indicator, that will tell you, if you should be fooling with it.

IF the scratch is very slight (does not fail the wet test... you can't catch your fingernail in it) a product that works well and you are less apt to get into trouble with is:

 

[millerjl]

@TheRealTVGuy

Do hear what @Lowboy8 said in his post. About getting the scratch wet. This scratch wet, thing is a good indicator, that will tell you, if you should be fooling with it.

IF the scratch is very slight (does not fail the wet test... you can't catch your fingernail in it) a product that works well and you are less apt to get into trouble with is:

Yep, I swear by this stuff. Always have some on hand for minor scratches.

 

[TA1ton]

@TheRealTVGuy; IMHO, Meguiar’s products are hard to beat...especially if you can get ahold of the commercial products.

 

[GRAK]

Most of these auto scratch things are for the paint. Would that Meguiar’s work on the black plastic of the hard top? Mine has long horizontal scratches from trail brush. Also saw this... any input?

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@GRAK

Not sure if you know this, but the black (non-body matched) hard top is actually painted.

The paint code for it is PXF.

If you have a body matched hard top then the paint code for the hard top is not PXF, but the same paint code as it is for the JL body.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

Appreciate the replies here. I guess last week was my turn for a rectal-cranial inversion.

First the good news: I ended up having to stop by a non-Jeep dealer for a friend. When I pulled in, their touch-up/detail guy was on the lot so I asked him about it. He immediately pulled out his buffer and compound and got most of it out. There’s only a small, almost invisible spot now. I figure that’s not too bad.

Now the bad news: The next day I was pulling back into my garage and went a little too far, causing the tip of my hood to touch the bottom of the green sprocket on the Top-Lift. Agggh!! Fortunately it just rubbed a little (about quarter inch) line of paint off the sprocket. I picked up the Scratch-X mentioned above and was able to remove the paint.

I finished by placing a punctured tennis ball on the bottom of the sprocket in case I ever get my head caught in my a$$ again.

 

[Mark16830]

After looking at it again this morning, it doesn’t appear as deep as I first thought. I’m hoping it’s just the clearcoat.

Which products would you (or anyone reading this) recommend??

Do u got a pic of scratch? Sounds like a mild rubbing compound will get it from what your explaining

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