Body work question - How do I fix a small scratch on the body

[rreuben]

My wife scraped the front left panel of our '99 SL2 while parking it. The scratch is about 6" long and thin (made by the pointy edge of a jutting out wall shelf in the garage), on the left frontmost panel next to the headlamps. How do I fix this? Do I need to get the whole panel changed? Any suggestions and recommendations are most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ron

[OhioVueBoy]

It depends on how deep it is... I would let a Saturn body shop look at it.
~D.J.~

[Vipe]

You might try a TurtleWax Scatch Removal compound; depending on how deep the scratch is, you may be able to hide it.

[wolfman]

If it is NOT through the primer into the polymer just use good touch up paint of the appropriate color (mask and SPRAY recomended) If the ploymer itself is scratched a body shop can fill the scratch with a "flexable panel" filler compound and then, sand prime and paint. Panel replacement is also an option..call around to various junk yards and see if you can find one same year/same color/undamaged and just remove the old and bolt on the new...regular hand tools only required..

[BobL]

Joe at www.6thplanetusedparts.com is a good source for panels.

Unfortunately, since different cars may fade differently, simple replacement may not result in a perfect match. You may still need to have the panel painted.

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally posted by wolfman
If it is NOT through the primer into the polymer just use good touch up paint of the appropriate color (mask and SPRAY recomended) If the ploymer itself is scratched a body shop can fill the scratch with a "flexable panel" filler compound and then, sand prime and paint. Panel replacement is also an option..call around to various junk yards and see if you can find one same year/same color/undamaged and just remove the old and bolt on the new...regular hand tools only required..

I disagree on touch up paint. It will not be the same color as the rest of the car and does not fade at the same rate as the rest of the car. While it may look nice now, 1 year down the road it will look like hell.
~D.J.~