Chipped Paint
03-11-2008, 08:37 PM
#11
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Mechanicsville, Va
Posts: 684
RE: Chipped Paint
I know that there are bras to cover it up but that won't get rid of the current chips. Maybe I will try the turtle wax. When the car was dirty you couldn't even see them but the second I cleaned it they stand out like a sore thumb and of course my girlfriend has to ask "What are those white spots on your hood?" Yea thanks for adding to the pain
03-11-2008, 10:56 PM
#12
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Nor Cali
Posts: 2,059
RE: Chipped Paint
I got this from another forum so rather than linking to that site I will copy and paste it here. Originally written by "Mr. P" from the other forum.
Black is a good news/bad news color, bad news is that chips are easily seen, good news is that black is easy to touch-up, just takes patience and some materials. It's not hard, just a little 'involved'.
If you cannot feel the scratch with your fingernail then you only need to buff it out, use 3M Perfect-It polish compound (for black paint) and a very good microfiber towell and rub, baby, rub; it'll take a few minutes but you'll get the scratch out. If it is a deep clear-coat scratch you can rub 2-3 circular strokes with 3M liquid rubbing compound (NO MORE!) to knock-down the edge of the scratch, then finish out with Perfect-It polishing compound.
If it is a rock chip etc then -
* get a sheet of 3000-grit 3M imperial wet/dry (Napa $1, 2500-grit will do in a pinch), vial of touch-up paint (dealer $6), 3M liquid rubbing compound, 3M Perfect-It polish for black paint (Napa $16, large bottle), a 3M fiberglass spot-sanding pen (Walmart, few bucks), and a 500W halogen work lamp so you can really see what you are doing. Optional is a bottle of touch-up clear coat.
* use the fiberglass spot-sanding pen to gently knock-down the edge of the paint, you don't want to make the spot bigger than it already is but you do want to lessen that abrupt edge between the remaining paint and the spot; ideally you do not want to be able to feel the edge of the spot with your fingernail - go easy, not much sanding is required and of course don't make the repair spot any larger than necessary. If you are very careful you will only make the spot another 1/64" larger after knocking down the edge of the chiped area.
* clean spot and apply touch-up paint; remember that the more you dab on there, the more of it you'll need to sand off later. Also remember that the body panel cannot be too hot or too cold, put your hand on the panel, it should be very comfortable to the touch ('neutral' feeling temperature). I would not use the brush included in the bottle, it's too big - try an art brush, or some guys use the end of a toothpick. Ideally you want to just fill the spot with paint (flush) but I find it a little better to be 'proud' than 'shallow'. Let the paint dry completely, like 24-hrs. If your touch-up paint is a little on the goopy side then add a couple drops of enamel thinner.
* tear off the smallest piece of 3000-grit paper you can manipulate with your fingers, saturate the paper in solution of light soapy water and also wet the touch-up spot and begin to lightly sand the blemish down. Do not make a sanding spot any larger than you have to, I inevitably make a 1/2" - 3/4" sanding spot although I try to be more careful. During sanding keep both the paper and surface liberally wet, and use light pressure, let time work for you rather than brute force. You will definitely see a 'ring' showing the edge of the touch-up dab, and as you work the spot down you will hit a magic moment when in just 1-2 sanding strokes the dab suddenly 'disappears' into the parent finish (no visible 'ring' anymore) - STOP SANDING HERE!
* clean the repair area; at this point you should have about a 3/4-inch 'chalky spot', to the beginner this will look alarming but have faith, it's going to come out ok... ideally with a wet finger you should not be able to feel the spot anymore (repair is level with original surface) but this is hand grenades, 'close' is good enough! If the spot is a tad 'shallow' you can apply a dab of touch-up clear coat, let dry, and sand flush with the 3000-grit but be very conservative with sanding so that you don't proceed too far. I do not usually apply a clear coat touch-up, I feel it's optional and besides you've already sanded down the surrounding clear coat already...
* take a very clean microfiber towel and use a quarter-sized dab of 3M liquid rubbing compound to work down the sanding scratches. You have to be VERY CAREFUL with this product, it's aggressive, just as much as the sand paper itself and if you go to far you will put a hole in your clear coat (yes, I've done it). What I do is use firm pressure and rub 4-7 random strokes to change the spot from 'chalky' to 'hazy'; specifically, 3M rubbing compound reduces 3000-grit scratches to 5000-grit scratches...
* clean the area again, and finish with liberal rubbing using the 3M Perfect-It polishing compound and a microfiber cloth, it's gentle enough that it's almost impossible to rub through your paint (you'd have to work at it like 30-minutes!). This last step will take a little while but will deliver a better than new shine, and all evidence of the repair will be gone.
Other tips - First timer's try this on an inconspicuous area (lower bumper, not the hood!) or another vehicle to get the hang of it. Also a word on metal flake finishes, I have not had such good luck with the touchup because when I dab on the paint all the metal flake runs to the bottom of the puddle, the top part of the touch-up is 'paint' and the bottom part is a lump of metallic - just be aware of gravity's affect on metal flake when you dab the touch-up paint.
If the rock strike is bad enough that it actually dents the panel then the best you can hope for is to repair the paint, but even after touching-up you will still see evidence of the damage in the altered reflection of the panel. DO repair the spot anyway, so that the rest of the paint around the chiped area does not get infected by air/polution, fail over time, and the surrounding paint begin to flake away.
Over-the-counter products don't work - i.e. Maguire's scratch-x doesn't work so save your money there. 3M abrasives & polishes WORK GREAT, and I find them economical.
If you have over 50 spots to do, then do yourself a favor and just have the panel repainted!
Also, how you drive makes a big difference. If you tailgate big trucks then you will have massive stone-chip damage on your vehicle, these trailers are heavy enough that they are breaking down the asphault and throwing it at your vehicle. And if you regularly drive triple-digit speeds (guilty) then bug strikes and airborne dirt/sand will really wreak havoc on your paint when the same foreign debris would not at slower speeds. I have just accepted the fact that I will be repainting my front clip regularly every 3-4 years... in the meantime I touch it up and nobody can tell the difference, even at the car shows.
Next time I touch-up my truck I'll take some pics and contribute a how-to.
Black is a good news/bad news color, bad news is that chips are easily seen, good news is that black is easy to touch-up, just takes patience and some materials. It's not hard, just a little 'involved'.
If you cannot feel the scratch with your fingernail then you only need to buff it out, use 3M Perfect-It polish compound (for black paint) and a very good microfiber towell and rub, baby, rub; it'll take a few minutes but you'll get the scratch out. If it is a deep clear-coat scratch you can rub 2-3 circular strokes with 3M liquid rubbing compound (NO MORE!) to knock-down the edge of the scratch, then finish out with Perfect-It polishing compound.
If it is a rock chip etc then -
* get a sheet of 3000-grit 3M imperial wet/dry (Napa $1, 2500-grit will do in a pinch), vial of touch-up paint (dealer $6), 3M liquid rubbing compound, 3M Perfect-It polish for black paint (Napa $16, large bottle), a 3M fiberglass spot-sanding pen (Walmart, few bucks), and a 500W halogen work lamp so you can really see what you are doing. Optional is a bottle of touch-up clear coat.
* use the fiberglass spot-sanding pen to gently knock-down the edge of the paint, you don't want to make the spot bigger than it already is but you do want to lessen that abrupt edge between the remaining paint and the spot; ideally you do not want to be able to feel the edge of the spot with your fingernail - go easy, not much sanding is required and of course don't make the repair spot any larger than necessary. If you are very careful you will only make the spot another 1/64" larger after knocking down the edge of the chiped area.
* clean spot and apply touch-up paint; remember that the more you dab on there, the more of it you'll need to sand off later. Also remember that the body panel cannot be too hot or too cold, put your hand on the panel, it should be very comfortable to the touch ('neutral' feeling temperature). I would not use the brush included in the bottle, it's too big - try an art brush, or some guys use the end of a toothpick. Ideally you want to just fill the spot with paint (flush) but I find it a little better to be 'proud' than 'shallow'. Let the paint dry completely, like 24-hrs. If your touch-up paint is a little on the goopy side then add a couple drops of enamel thinner.
* tear off the smallest piece of 3000-grit paper you can manipulate with your fingers, saturate the paper in solution of light soapy water and also wet the touch-up spot and begin to lightly sand the blemish down. Do not make a sanding spot any larger than you have to, I inevitably make a 1/2" - 3/4" sanding spot although I try to be more careful. During sanding keep both the paper and surface liberally wet, and use light pressure, let time work for you rather than brute force. You will definitely see a 'ring' showing the edge of the touch-up dab, and as you work the spot down you will hit a magic moment when in just 1-2 sanding strokes the dab suddenly 'disappears' into the parent finish (no visible 'ring' anymore) - STOP SANDING HERE!
* clean the repair area; at this point you should have about a 3/4-inch 'chalky spot', to the beginner this will look alarming but have faith, it's going to come out ok... ideally with a wet finger you should not be able to feel the spot anymore (repair is level with original surface) but this is hand grenades, 'close' is good enough! If the spot is a tad 'shallow' you can apply a dab of touch-up clear coat, let dry, and sand flush with the 3000-grit but be very conservative with sanding so that you don't proceed too far. I do not usually apply a clear coat touch-up, I feel it's optional and besides you've already sanded down the surrounding clear coat already...
* take a very clean microfiber towel and use a quarter-sized dab of 3M liquid rubbing compound to work down the sanding scratches. You have to be VERY CAREFUL with this product, it's aggressive, just as much as the sand paper itself and if you go to far you will put a hole in your clear coat (yes, I've done it). What I do is use firm pressure and rub 4-7 random strokes to change the spot from 'chalky' to 'hazy'; specifically, 3M rubbing compound reduces 3000-grit scratches to 5000-grit scratches...
* clean the area again, and finish with liberal rubbing using the 3M Perfect-It polishing compound and a microfiber cloth, it's gentle enough that it's almost impossible to rub through your paint (you'd have to work at it like 30-minutes!). This last step will take a little while but will deliver a better than new shine, and all evidence of the repair will be gone.
Other tips - First timer's try this on an inconspicuous area (lower bumper, not the hood!) or another vehicle to get the hang of it. Also a word on metal flake finishes, I have not had such good luck with the touchup because when I dab on the paint all the metal flake runs to the bottom of the puddle, the top part of the touch-up is 'paint' and the bottom part is a lump of metallic - just be aware of gravity's affect on metal flake when you dab the touch-up paint.
If the rock strike is bad enough that it actually dents the panel then the best you can hope for is to repair the paint, but even after touching-up you will still see evidence of the damage in the altered reflection of the panel. DO repair the spot anyway, so that the rest of the paint around the chiped area does not get infected by air/polution, fail over time, and the surrounding paint begin to flake away.
Over-the-counter products don't work - i.e. Maguire's scratch-x doesn't work so save your money there. 3M abrasives & polishes WORK GREAT, and I find them economical.
If you have over 50 spots to do, then do yourself a favor and just have the panel repainted!
Also, how you drive makes a big difference. If you tailgate big trucks then you will have massive stone-chip damage on your vehicle, these trailers are heavy enough that they are breaking down the asphault and throwing it at your vehicle. And if you regularly drive triple-digit speeds (guilty) then bug strikes and airborne dirt/sand will really wreak havoc on your paint when the same foreign debris would not at slower speeds. I have just accepted the fact that I will be repainting my front clip regularly every 3-4 years... in the meantime I touch it up and nobody can tell the difference, even at the car shows.
Next time I touch-up my truck I'll take some pics and contribute a how-to.
03-12-2008, 01:26 AM
#14
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Calgary Alberta Canada
Posts: 319
RE: Chipped Paint
get them blown in by a paint guy and put a 3M front end mask on ( about 190.00 here in Canada) Its a clear film, you see a bit of a line and dont get all the shine of your regular paint but it beats road rash.
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