Hi,

I have a small scratch on the bootlid of my exotica red GP t-jet that i'm having trouble touching up. I have a newish bottle of official fiat touch up paint (176/A) that doesn't seem to want to harden off. I have made several attempts to touch up the scratch but as soon as I attempt to cut the repair back all the new paint just peals out. I have tried using several very thin coats, given it 3 weeks to harden and even had a work lamp warming the repair for 6 hours. Despite all of the above, the paint peals out of the scratch as if it is made of rubber. I'm not being agressive with the cutting, i'm using 1500 grit wet and dry wetted and with a dash of washing up liquid for lubrication.

Am I doing something wrong or is the fiat paint just pants?

Any suggestions appreciated as I'm keen to get some lacqure on the area to protect it, the sun is begining to shine!

sounds like you might have polish or wax still on the paint work, you'll need to clean these off before any paint will stick properly to the paint or lay into the scratch.

give the whole area a good wash with standard washing up liquid or something similar it can be a bit harsh on the paint but should help, you can buy specific panel wipe and tack cloths but for what your doing it might not be worth the expense, at least try a good wash first. make sure you don't put any car cleaning products or shampoos on the car incase you put the waxes or polishes back, and use a new sponge.

Ah right, I can see that polish and wax could have gathered in the scratch. I'll give it a try.