photo of Aluminum dash on passenger side

Arrow marks where the scratch is located. It is not easily seen in the photo because of the reflection in my bad photography.

the detailed area of the scratch

further zooming in on the scratch and also showing the mesh nature of the Aluminium trim
I am looking for help on how I should try to minimize the look of a scratch on my passenger side Aluminium/Aluminum dash trim.
The scratch is not that deep. In fact I cannot actually feel it when running my fingers across it, but that may be partly because the surface is lattice-like.
My concerns are that metal polishing and/or wet sanding and polishing would remove the anodized or brushed look around the scratch making the local area brighter and causing the problem to become more noticeable with a botched repair attempt..

The Aluminium option is rarely mentioned when discussing the dash trim and in my forum searches I have not found anything helpful to give me direction.

Sadly the photos are not very good because of the reflective nature of the Aluminum and my bad photography, so the extent to which the scratch shows up really does not come out in them.

Any advice that I can get will be much appreciated.
I plan to test out my decided remedy by first trying it on the aluminium trim in the door panel just behind the window controls. If it vastly changes the color and look then it would not be too difficult to just do it on the entire 6 square inches there, and is isolated away from my normal vision anyway.

Thanks

 

My 2007 XK came with the aluminium dash set and the shift surround was scratched. On examining the trim, I thought it had all the quality of something made from recycled embossed coke cans and there wasn't sufficient thickness of material to polish it out. I replaced the set with traditional wood option.






Graham

 

As you say, the photos are difficult to depict what you have. My thought is that if you really can't feel it as a scratch then perhaps it just a dirt smudge of some type. If so, you might try approaching it from that standpoint with a mild nonabrasive cleaner first. Generally, if you run a fingernail across it and can't feel an indentation then it may just be a transfer and not a scratch.
That may be of no help at all but please keep us informed how it goes.

 

Yep, looks like a shoe or handbag smudge. I'd go after it with normal cleaners and a good rag.

 

My favorite all-purpose spray cleaner is Original Krud Kutter. It removes all sorts of greasy blemishes without harming the underlying surface. Spray a little on a microfiber cloth and rub it on a small corner of that scratch and see if it works. If it doesn't remove it, you may have a scratch that's too deep to buff out.

Run your fingernail across the scratch. If you can feel any depth, your best bet to make it less obvious by filling that scratch with a putty-type product. If you remove that panel, a local jeweler should be able to repair it better than you could do it yourself. Jewelers have the magnifying tools and experience to do fine detail work.

 

I will stick with the Aluminium, but I do like the combination of the blue interior with the Ivory seats and side panels on your car.

 

Rachero50 and pwpacp, it is definitely a scratch and not someone's boot crud or last years BurgerKing, but I did do my "due diligence" in response to your comments and attempted cleaning with concentrated washing up liquid, Oops, and even used some Brasso metal polish, all without any change.

Here is another photo that is only slightly better but it does show the color of the scratch better, being a lighter gray than the rest of the Aluminum which I think is consistent with a scratch. I looks to me like someone ran the end of a screwdriver along the dash, or perhaps more likely it was part of a metal zip from a handbag or backpack or other large bag.
Also note that the surface of the dash panel is not entirely SMOOTH because it is a lattice or mesh finish. That is probably why I am not noticing any difference between the feel of the scratch and the feel of the rest of the surface.

GGG, I replied to you already but it is not obvious it relates to your post.
Being a newbie here I have to get used to how posts and replies for this particular site function. Please be patient with my rookie mistakes.

Stuart S, if I don't get any responses from someone who has actually buffed or sanded a scratch out on the aluminum dash (as opposed to other smooth aluminum trim areas), I may well follow your advice to seek the expertise of a Jeweler. Sadly though there are very few quality craftsmen around these days in Jewelry stores (at least in my area) - just an abundance of salesmen.

Thanks to all for your input and keep them coming.

 

Think it's not repairable, I would search for a second hand dash.

 

I read your second PM before coming back to the thread so I knew you'd caught up on the changes I'd applied to your threads.

When you want to reply to a particular post with a QUOTE, use the button at the bottom right:






This opens a REPLY box with the QUOTE at the top. You can edit the QUOTE as I have done with yours here but must include the opening and closing codes in the square brackets.

Getting back to the scratch issue. Take great care when polishing. The aluminium is an extremely thin layer over a moulded plastic backing.

I checked the Parts Catalogue and was surprised to see the individual panel is available separately:




However, it's likely to be a frightening cost.

Graham

 

Given the ample number of posts devoted to the improvements in Wooden Dash Trim I am a little surprised that no-one appears to have tried to address scratches in an Aluminum dash panel. I looked at replacing with a used one; found one at $149 on Ebay, but it appears to be only marginally less scratched than mine. I can't justify spending 3 figures on a replacement that would probably bug me almost as much as my existing one - besides it is an xkR, not a vanilla XK.

So I am pondering on a change of strategy that seems to serve most politicians well these days - [Deflect and Cover-up]

I tinkered around doing a couple of quick mock-ups with some pin-striping (left over from my boy-racer phase 15 years ago) to cover the scratch, to see what it would look like.

It certainly distracts from the scratch, but does busy-up the somewhat clean look a bit.

Looking at the Ebay dash for the XKR, with its logo on the bottom left, it struck me that I could probably do something similar by covering the scratch with a small vinyl transfer.
So I am investing a few dollars in various options to see how they look. My hope is that with just the jaguar (cat) in grey it would be fairly unobtrusive against the aluminium background.
If it turns out looking naff it is easily removed and I am only out some small change.

 

This is the problem with simple cheap anodizing over embossing and is vastly inferior to a proper finish.
I deal with this in my occupation, once anodized metal is scratched, you have to strip it back to bare metal, on embossed metal that's like unscrambling an egg.
This is the reason that even aluminum wheels are painted.

Here is what you can do if you want to keep with the metal theme and prevent it from happening in the future.
Have the fascia media blasted, then matte clear coat applied.

Along the lines of your idea; how about the pin striping in less contrasting chrome?

 

Another possibility is to hide the scratches with Ian Callum's signature. No one but you will know it's a forgery, and it's not illegal unless you get caught!

Or you can buy the OEM Jaguar part and modify it to cover the scratch.

 

I think I am going to experiment with various pin-striping options and look into getting some Ian McCallum class or other motif that might work for me over the next few weeks.
I am fortunate that the scratch is in a reasonable place (low down and to the right) where adding something may look reasonably natural.
Only after I have exhausted that avenue without satisfaction will I think about possibly taking on one of your more heavy duty remedies Stuart S and Queen and Country.
Thanks for the great input.

 

How about a wrap for all the trim pieces.

 

I think the pin striping could be a great idea to hide the scratch, you could also add in an R logo to break up the pin striping to give it a more oem look... Pardon my cruel attempt at photo shop...

 

Another possibility is to remove that panel and have it hydrodipped. Hydrographic printing is an inexpensive process that is available in a wide variety of films, so you might be able to find a professional shop that has access to a metallic film that closely duplicates the OEM finish. Here's more about the process: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydr...ics_(printing)

I had my Engine Appearance Cover hydrodipped to replicate carbon fiber and am pleased with the results. See: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-cover-129949/

You might want to do all of your engine-spun trim in a custom film of your choice.