Tried wet sanding a clear coat scratch with 2000 grit and made it way worse

I had a small scratch on a customer's Honda civic last week. Nothing deep, just a key mark on the clear. Figured I'd wet sand it with 2000 grit and buff it out like I saw on youtube. Now there's a dull haze that won't go away no matter how much compound I use. I think I burned through the clear. How do you guys fix a mistake like this without respraying the whole panel?

2 comments

2 Comments

jackson.wesley11d ago

You said "burned through the clear" and yeah that's exactly what happened. That haze ain't coming back because there's no more clear coat left to polish. Only fix now is to respray that panel or at least blend it in.

kellyj2310d ago

Honestly I think people underestimate how thin modern clear coats are. Even a good buffer can eat through them if you're not careful. The worst part is once that haze shows up you can't really hide it without repainting. You might get away with a careful touch up if the burn through is tiny but even then it's risky.