`01 Outback with scratches.

[Bradley Walker]

Hey all,

I was doing a very indepth inspection of my Outback Wagon. Call me anal,
but once every two weeks or so if it's warm I like to do a complete visual
inspection of the body, under carriage, and all areas to make sure things
are in working order.

Today being it was one of the first warmer days, I did this and discovered
on the front underside there are some scratches reminding me as if the
previous owner had pulled too far up onto a concrete curb. These scratches
aren't dents or anything really major, but it scraped some of the
titanium/champange colored plastic back and I'm wondering how best to
maintain/fix this? Visually you can't see this unless you are laying down
on the ground looking up to the bottom of the plastic area immediately
beneath the fog lights. However I am curious to know if this will
eventually crack/break or anything because of those scratches? Would I need
to get body paint and cover those up? Sand off the tiny "nubs" where the
scratches end?

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?

Brad

 

[BD]

I found the same problem with my WRX. Pretty nasty scrape, too. right
into the black plastic making up the bumper.

I haven't done anything with it as yet. I see no way it could cause any
damage. if your bumper is plastic, you're likely in the same boat.

Since it's way under there, one approach you might consider is:

-sand the area down to flush, with coarser grain paper, and then down
to finer (150);
-get a couple of bottles of touch-up paint from the dealer
-brush several VERY thin coats on, until it is thick enough to look
decent. Don't use the brush in the bottle; it's only as big as a nail
polish brush.
-proceed to wet-sand with super-fine paper - 600, maybe, working up to
2000 for a final sand
-get some NOVUS #2 plastic polish and give the area a final once-over.

It will never look perfect, but since the area is way down there, who
cares. I have a spot about 1/2" on the side of my bumper I also have to
deal with. I've filled it, but the sanding/finishing I have yet to do.

But, that's the basic recipe I'd follow. The NOVUS stuff is brilliant.
I have filled in paint chips in my hood with touch-up paint, and
leveled the area with sandpaper wrapped around a piece of wood about
the size of a pencil - I only let about 2mm of paper touch the surface
at any time. Once the area was flush to the touch, I brought out the
Novus polish, and got back the finish sheen in no time.