Sick....UPDATE!!!

[jaak]

Well, looks like I might be repainting my car. I was under it working on a power steering leak, and my 4 year old must have thought a big green Charger makes a good aircraft carrier for his die cast airplane. He started at the drivers door, went down the drivers quarter, across the decklid (stripe) and on around the passenger side quarter. He must have been pressing down hard because it left 3 distinct scratches about 1/4 inch apart. I tried buffing an area, but I can still see them. Worst case if I can buff it out, I will, but I will have to replace the stripe regardless.
I'm still just thinking about fixing a couple of mechanical issues, then start stripping all the trim, sanding it down and re-shooting the outside of the car (if I do, I WILL use PPG this time), and have it ready to go next spring.

I think I handled it well, I fussed at him but didn't use profanity, and didn't beat him, LOL. I understand its just a car, and he is way more important than a hunk of metal, but I needed to vent a little.

Jason

[Bob]

Very nice the way you handled it Jason. I agree with you...it's just a car and he is your son.
Good job.

[bakerhillpins]

 

Way to go not blowing your top!  I'm sure that some day you will have some fun reminding him of this day. 

[billschroeder5842]

My 4 year old daughter "helped" me wash my chevy truck once by using a wire brush on the door while I was working on the other side. He was so proud of her efforts that I could not get mad. I just took the brush away and handed her a sponge.

[Drache]

 I had a crow/raven take a rock in his beak and obviously liked the sound of scraping it on my car along my car....

[bill440rt]

Sorry to see this Jason, but kudos to you for not blowing your top at him. 

Before you jump the gun, if it's not too deep thru the paint have you tried some ultra-fine sandpaper & a buffer? 
Might be worth a shot.

[jaak]

Sorry to see this Jason, but kudos to you for not blowing your top at him.  

Before you jump the gun, if it's not too deep thru the paint have you tried some ultra-fine sandpaper & a buffer?  
Might be worth a shot.

I do have a buffer, and I'm gonna give it a shot. They only thing that concerns me is, I painted it with Omni SS urethane. You know how thin that stuff is, after painting it I did wet sand with 1500 then 2000 and buffed it and it turned out good..I was happy with it. But there is a couple area on the car where it seemed thin as if I continued buffing I might go through the finish, but then again the scratches my son put on the car are not in those areas. I'm gonna give it a shot, if it turns out good I'm gonna order a new stripe, install it and call it done.

Jason

[Fred]

My 4 year old daughter "helped" me wash my chevy truck once by using a wire brush on the door while I was working on the other side. He was so proud of her efforts that I could not get mad. I just took the brush away and handed her a sponge.

I'm sorry but I had to laugh at that. 

[Kern Dog]

That sucks, man. Sorry to hear it.
Once I was at work in construction and found a sponge in a house. I took it home since it appeared in good shape. I later washed my car with it. After I dried th car off, I saw all sorts of small scratches in the paint! WHAT !!??? It turns out, that sponge belonged to the Fireplace mason. He used it to wash the mortar from the brickwork! The free sponge was not a bargain.

[Indygenerallee]

Jaak, That sucks big time man, Is there anyway you can spot blend the base in and then re-clear the affected panels??

[Brock Lee]

A buddy of mine had his car back 2 weeks before his daughter tried to squeeze between it and the wall with her backpack on. There were zipper scratches down to metal end to end.

[tan top]

aww man sorry to hear this    ,  how many coats did you put on the car ?  i forget if you said ?? what is it  base & clear or solid

might get them out or reduce them by flatting with 1500 wet/soapy water then mop it  ,  worth a try , but if you burn through ,  nothing lost ,  

[Wicked72]

omg.... yes you handled it well 

[b5blue]

 4 is a tuff time Jason! I still have holes in my feet from stepping on Hot Wheel cars, Lego's and Power Ranger toys! 
  Back when my son (Who is 22 now) was 4 he put a bunch of Lego's in the new VCR and a CD player! Man when you don't KNOW he did that it can mess things up when ya go to use them! Around my home it's called "Battle Damage" nowadays, you'll have fun later reminding him of this! Lets see a picture of the little culprit and the crime scene! 

[jaak]

I don't have any pics of the 'crime scene' yet, but here is a pic of my boy taken a couple of weeks ago when I put some new gauges in the Charger.

[XH29N0G]

I feel for you.  looks like a good kid.  Wait till he tells you he found a good way to light the fireplace logs using a propane torch.  For me, it brought back my own memories.  When I was 15 practicing parallel parking with my dad and I drove the then family car into the rear bumper of the charger.

I remember looking at him  and all he said was "you might want to back up" 

That was the end of parallel parking and we went back to driving in reverse from the barn to home .  It took a long time to get the crick out of my neck.

[jaak]

He knows he did wrong....he has already said 3 or 4 times, "Daddy I'm sorry I messed up your Charger" and a little while ago he crawled up in my lap and said, "Daddy, I'm gonna help you fix your Charger". It sucks, but I'll get it fixed.

Jason

[b5blue]

He's a cutie! Ya can't stay mad with a mug like that Dad! 

[billschroeder5842]

Okay...here is a twist....

Leave it alone.

This will give you years of memories (and leverage) on your little guy.

My kids are 19 and 16....I wish the would want to come out and help me wash my car again.

[aussiemuscle]

Jaak, at least he'll grow up liking chargers, just like you do.

[six-tee-nine]

Gee, I admire you and must say well handled. I have a 2 and a 3,5 year old kid and they can get my nerves up to boiling point in no time when they are in the right mood (that means a bad mood).
I would probably slapped the kid almost instantaniously regretting it...... when the harm is done there's no turning back.....

[67Charger440]

Okay...here is a twist....

Leave it alone.

This will give you years of memories (and leverage) on your little guy.

My kids are 19 and 16....I wish the would want to come out and help me wash my car again.

My '67 is littered with "mementos" from my little girls.  A wire wheel, a 10" carbide saw blade, screwdrivers, brooms...  You name it.  The oldest is only 4, the next is 2, and then there is my 10 month old boy, but he's harmless still.  I don't know about the one on the way yet.  Heck, my wife has shut the garage door on it.  Twice.  I can tell you about every primer-exposing scratch on that car.

[Patronus]

Now you can change the color! (rimshot) 

[jaak]

Hey guys, over the last couple of months I have been working a lot of overtime, had a couple deaths in the family (my aunt, and my wife's grandfather), and my Mom has had surgery. That's why I haven't been around much, and my charger has been sitting since the 'accident'. Well finally last week I got back on it, I was able to wet sand then buff all the scratches out, changed the power steering gear and got my steering back together. I haven't replaced the stripe yet, really you can only see the scratches when the light hits it just right, so I'm not in a hurry to do that (maybe a winter project). Today was a beautiful day so I took the chance to clean it up, was pretty dusty just sitting up in the shop for a couple of months. Took some pics when I got done, thought I would share a few, and let everyone know it all buffed out good 











Two of my three kids hung out with me today, while cleaning up the Charger....had to take a pic of them. Little one on the right was the culprit of the scratches....




Jason

[Indygenerallee]

Nice!! Good lookin' kids!! Glad the scratch buffed out!! and all is well in Charger land!!! 

[tan top]

moped them out !!    good stuff !!  , charger looks awesome  !! not seen them wheels before  or i have & forgotten  !!   looks like roadwheels / magnums with a twist sort of 

[stripedelete]

What Tan Top said!

That whole combo looks great.

[Bob T]

Looks real sharp  good news about the damage coming good too

Your car is the twin of a mate of mines, I reckon your wheels take the pick though

[b5blue]

Glad to hear it buffed up Jason! 

[jaak]

moped them out !!    good stuff !!  , charger looks awesome  !! not seen them wheels before  or i have & forgotten  !!   looks like roadwheels / magnums with a twist sort of 

Yeah I have had them on my car since I've got it back together and on the road. I stumbled across them on eBay while I was looking for something else. What I liked about them was having a 15" Aluminum wheel, but really looked similar to Magnums. They are ION625, and are available black, silver, or gun-metal gray. I really liked the gun-metal ones better, but went with black, because I figured it would look better with the black top and stripe.

Looks real sharp  good news about the damage coming good too

Your car is the twin of a mate of mines, I reckon your wheels take the pick though

Believe it or not, thats the second '69 I have seen painted FJ6 besides mine, I have seen since finishing mine. The other one is on eBay right now an XP car but still has a black tail stripe. When I decided to paint mine, I thought to myself "I have never seen a FJ6 '69 Charger".....now I know there are atleast 3 out there.


Jason

[ACUDANUT]

Looks great. is your driveway even ? your car looks like it sits uneven on the drivers side.

[jaak]

Looks great. is your driveway even ? your car looks like it sits uneven on the drivers side.

Nope driveway is not even, the left side was added when the shop was built (16 yrs after the house, by previous owner) and the left side slopes into the existing driveway.

Jason

[oldcarnut]

I had bought a new Ramcharger in 86 and after a couple months I was washing it and my youngin went to help on the other side.  Only problem was he was wetsanding with about 60 grit floor sanding paper the guys that had finished my hardwood floors left outside.  Wasn't real happy but couldn't get mad at him as he didn't know and was just trying to help his dad.

[twodko]

The good dad you were came back to you in spades bro. You're a very rich guy......those two chillins' and a sweet Charger? You're good to go.........I don't know you but I'm damn proud of you! Too many parents these days would have let loose.

[bill440rt]

Fantastic news, Jason! 
Glad to hear you were able to repair it without repainting anything.