well, after being up for about 30 hours straight, I finally get to sleep. An hour into my nap, someone is pounding on the door enough to wake me up.

The paperboy gouged the side of my truck with his handlebars pretty bad. There's no actual dent, but there's about an 1/8" thick strip of bare metal in the middle of it that looks like it may be carved into the steel as well.

As ticked off as I am, I gotta say at least the kid was honest and let me know what happened. He said he (probably his parents; I don't really care who) will pay for the damage. I just got done taking still photos and shooting a nice little video with commentary. Also just filed a police report as well to be on the safe side.

Question is, it's going to be a few days until I can get an estimate, and I don't want to go globbing touch up paint over it until after I get an estimate. I'm not worried about some of the smaller fine scratches, but the 2 major bare metal gashes, what can I do to protect them in the meantime? A couple heavy coats of wax, or is there some other product that would work better?

 

Bummer man. I would say wax it real well and you'll be ok till you can get it painted. Anything else is just going to do more harm than good. Good luck.

 

It's galvanized steel. I got the back corner of my bed 4 months ago and it was a lot worse than your little scratch, and I haven't done a thing to it yet. Still looks exactly like the day it happened. No sign of any rust whatsoever.

 

YEH...I wouldnt worry about it. My mom scratched her Focus last year and thats pretty deep to. Went thur an entire year if not more now and no signs of rust at all. I wouldnt do anything to it.

 

Thanks guys...I might throw a little wax on it just to make me feel a litter better.

Funny thing is I was planning all week long to totally detail my truck tomorrow; ain't much point in now...guess I'll go fishing instead.

 

Ouch, that looked like it hurt! At least the kid was honest. What is 'galvanized' steel? What does that mean?

 

Galvanized steel is normal steel that is coated with zinc. The zinc acts like a sacrificial anode and prevents the steel from rusting. Usually takes many years for the zinc to be eaten away and the steel to start rusting. But, since it is only a surface coating, anywhere a sheet of galvanized steel is cut (like an edge) there is no zinc, and it will rust.

A deep scratch that gets through the zinc and into the steel will be the first place it will start to rust.

 

gotcha

 

That sux inbred . Good call on the police report, now it's on record. Yea, the kid was honest to come tell you but he was also speaking for his parents. Who knows, they may not be as honest as their son when faced with the bill for repairs! Hope you get it fixed quick.