Scratch & Dent

[Hardline]

Picked up a used/abused crawler and trying to salvage the body. Removed all the old paint and stickers, but the outside is really scratched up. I assume there's nothing gonna fix that, so will it help if I paint a dark color inside?

What if I painted same color inside and out? The outside will scratch off, but the same color will be under the scratches.

[alexchen86]

There's this chemical out there that can do pretty well on lexan bodies:
Lexan Body Wash & Wax By Parma - YouTube

Trakpower also has something like that. On ABS hard plastic bodies I use Novus plastic polish #2 and #3.

Some pics would help too.

-Alex

[THX_138]

I have had excellent results in the past several times using this, just skip the fine sandpaper disc and go right to the polishing pad. Unless you have some serious deep gouges in the lexan)
There are several brands and styles on the market and all seemingly have the same end result, I am just a faithful 3M fan.

Restoring a Headlight 3M US DIY drill drills clean cleans clear clears restore restores cloud cloudy haze hazy scratch scratches scratchs yellow yellows headlights fog light lights tail taillight taillights signal plastic plastics car cars auto autos







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[THE411]

Paint it a lighter colour will help hide the scratches rather than a dark colour.

[paleblue46]

Light color will hide better as already said , but also try your local 4x4 shop if you have one there is a product for Jeep soft top windows that works great on lexan bodies , if I remember right its made by NOVUS . Best stuff I have found

[seph606]

I tried a number of methods to remove scratches. I found that I had the best luck using 100, 200, 400 (wet sand), 600 (wet sand) sand paper for the really deep scratches. It's not the only method, I just found that it is the fastest method. The sanding will take a long time to achieve a smooth finish. However, the polish wheel will take much longer. After you get that smooth finish with the sand paper, you can use the polish wheel (electric shoe polisher from Walmart) with a mild abrasive polish such as toothpaste, Flitz, or car polish. I think the friction from the polish wheel adds just the right amount of heat to speed up the polish process.

If you use this method, just be patient, it will get most of the scratches out in no time. Let me know how this method works for you.

Patience is key, but if your like me, than you are probably looking for a few ways to speed things up a little. Another good tip is to use 4 DOT brake fluid and a blow dryer to strip the paint. The heat is a catalyst for the 4 DOT brake fluid that speeds up the process for stripping paint.

I'm always looking for better ways to remove paint and scratches. Keep the post alive!