The other day when I got home from campus I looked at my door and noticed that I had a decent ding on my passenger side door with some white paint. A few days ago, I washed and waxed my car but got some 3M compound and spot applied it to the ding to try and get the white paint off. No luck--I mean its better than before, but there are paint remnants that I cannot remove. I plan on getting the ding popped out, but my question is does anyone have any advice to get the remaining white paint taken off. Luckily my paint was not broken on my door.

BTW, I wish people were all honest and would leave a note or something about the incident--it really pisses me off that people just dont care when they damage someone else's property.

 

There is a company called dent pro that does an excellent job at removing dents from doors and other parts on the car by popping them out without having to do any body work by pushing out the dent with special tools that they can get inside the door with. I would recommend trying The wax shop natural carnuba superglaze. It has non-abrasive cleaners in it that I have found to work on removing other peoples paints on doors as well as working awesome for removing gum or tar. If that doesn't work, 3m makes a swirl remover that would probably be effective in taking care of this matter. I say go with the least agressive measures first, and remember when polishing it out not to apply too much pressure or you will run into major scratches or even worst....paint removal.

 

I guess I might try a clay bar.

 

Thanks for the advice thus far....I have actually tried the 3M swirl remover compound, and it hardly did a thing. I also used a clay bar on my car that day, and unfortunately it didnt help I really think these paint marks are pretty well embedded--maybe I need to take to a body shop and ask them. If anyone has advice, I'm still all ears! Thanks again everyone.

 

clay was made for paint overspray, so it usually gets off unwanted paint.
since it didnt work for you, i would go back to the old fashioned paint overspray remedy- polish.
a fairly aggressive polish is likely needed...
and dont do this unless you have some good polishing instrucitons or you can really glaze the finish. need some instructions, or have you polished before?

also, i wouldnt do anything until the dent is out. much easier to get the paint off of a smooth finish than it is getting it out of a dent.

 

Thanks for the info--I plan on getting the ding taken out soon--especially if I can get my insurance to pay for it. I've polished my car before according to the directions on the polish, but is there something I should do/not do when I'm polishing? I probably wont mess with trying to take the paint off til after I get the dent popped out. What do you mean by glazing the finish?

 

i meant haze the finish... it will lack luster and shine. like its got a bunch of very small scratches.

here- check out our member autopia's excellent instructions on polishing and post back any questions before you try it (polishing is one of the most difficult detailers tools, imo- and at the same time one of the most satisfying):

http://www.bettercarcare.com/articles.php?articleId=17

 

I went to a bodyshop to replace my headlight that I had cracked a few weeks ago when I took it to my mechanic--my insurance is paying! But I showed them the ding, and they told me to goto dentwizard. But he said a little compound will take care of the paint left on the door--I told him I tried some compound but it was unsuccessful. He went in his shop and got what they use and got all of the paint off. I was amazed. Very nice guy, and did a good job. I asked him what the product was and he told me that is made by Majestic??? I've never heard of that brand, but he told me where to buy it.

If anyone needs bodywork donein Raleigh, just on my morning experience I'd definately recommend this place called Paragon. They had a clean shop and were very nice. Granted, I havent picked up my car with the new headlight intact, but my initial impression was very good. Hopefully the install is as good as their service.