Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 36
From: Tempe, AZ
Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
I have some chips and a few scratches that I want to touch up on my car, but I'm not so sure about what to do exactly.
I went to my local Ford dealer and got some touch up paint there, and the guy told me that using the pen on it wasn't a good idea, or rather that they didn't recommend it.
But I read on here about layering the paint, if needed, with the pen, putting some clearcoat on top and then polishing or something like that.
All that aside, what are my options? are there any like online articles, or any sort of reading, that you could recommend that I check out?
Also, has anyone ever used the Duplicolor 2 in 1 scratch repair kit? How is that? It involves wet-sanding, which I'm honestly not sure about [&:]
4th Gear Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,842
From: Santa Monica, CA
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
Well when I recently bought my black 04 GT, it had a lot of small paint chips. I followed a tutorial I found written by someone online and did the job. I bought everything I needed online, and I am pretty happy with the results. I think my biggest complaint is now the touch up paint is not exactly the same color as the paint around my car, I think it's probably from the oxidation. However, it is nice to be able to cover up silver specs all around.
It really depends how big your paint chips are and etc?
It really depends how big your paint chips are and etc?
4th Gear Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,842
From: Santa Monica, CA
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
The key here is PATIENCE as doing a good job is gonna require you to get alittle involved. I don't know about a blue car, but I think that it will probably be easier than a black one. Here's a list of things thatI bought:
touch-up paint (pen)
clearcoat paint (pen)
spot sanding pen
tack rag
meguiars 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
rubbing compound
polishing compound
Lets assume you have like a paint chip that's about or less than 1/2" squared. A touch-up PEN shouldn't really be used for anything larger than this. What you first do is clean the surface to get rid of any dirt dust. Make sure you have not sealed/waxed over the the paint chips before, otherwise use dawn diswashwashing soap to remove it.
1. Use the spot sanding pen and carefully scrape the edges of the paint chipVERY LIGHTLY. What this does is lessn't the abrupt edges of the paint chip, so it's smoother. Make sure you don't remove anymore paint, you don't want the chip bigger than it already is.
2. Primer is probably not necessarily. Go over the paint chip with the paint pen. Work in even, single layers. Give it about 10-30 minutes to dry between each coat. Sometimes a clearcoat is not necessary, and in that case, work the layers until you "filled in" the paint chip and the paint level is sitting just a bit higher than the surrounding area. If you want to use clearcoat, the basepaint should JUST be a bit shallow from the surrounding area. Wait for a few hours for the basecoat to fully dry. Make sure you glide a tach rag over the work area and then apply 1-2 layers of clearcoat until the touch up area level is just higher than the surrounding area. Give all the paint work no less than 24 hours to dry.
3. After all the painting is fully dry, you are ready for wetsanding. Sanding will smoothen out the area and bring the touch up work level with the surrounding surface. Use a small piece of the Meguiars 3000grit wet/dry and carefully give it light, even strokes over the surrounding area. MAKE SURE the work surface is liberally wet at all times. I found using a small spray bottle with a bit of soap for lube very useful. This is the part that is the most work and requires the most patience, but it is worth it. Check your work very 10-15 strokes. Ideally, you should sand until you can glide your fingers across the touch up area and feel that it is level with the rest of the car. You shouldn't really be able to feel the touch up work "stick out".
4. Once you are done, clean and dry off the area. You will notice that the sanding produced heavy scratches in that area. Rest assured, this is where the rubbing and polishing compound comes in. I like to use a Q-tip with just a little bit of rubbing compound and work it into the area where the scratches are. BE VERY CAREFUL AS RUBBING COMPOUND IS AGGRESSIVE. Rubbing compound is like liquid sandpaper. That this will do is turn the 3000grit scratches you have just made, to "5000 grit" scratches. Just give it a few rubs until you see the previous scratches have been refined. Clean off and dry the surface.
5. Finally, do the same with the rubbing compound but with the polishing compound. This is the the final touch to removing all the scratches and bringing out the shine. What you can also do is to wrap your finger with a MF towel and apply some polishing compound and rub it around the area. Give it gentle, even strokes. Polishing compound is not as aggressive so you don't have to worry too much about it. I am pretty sure you can also better subsitute this step with a good electric polishing with a buffer.
I learned this method from someone in this forum who refered a tutorial from another forum. It was my first time doing such work as it was my first car. It worked well for me. If you have those really small paint chips that are like "dots", then most people like to use a toothpick and just coat the tip with paint and cover up the dots. It is obviously not worth clearcoating the dots as they are too small. Just use a toothpick to cover the silver chip with paint and maybe use the Q-tip with rubbing and polishing compound if necessary. For most of my small "dot" paint chips, I just apply some paint and leave it. I don't think it is worth doing anything else. Whether you bought the touch-up PEN/bottle, I think it is a good idea to buy a quality synthetic paint brush and use that instead.The tips on the touch up pens are not very durable and usually loose their edge soon IMO. If you bought the touch-up paint in form of a bottle, then I think you need a brush anyway.
Paint chips are part of driving, and it is inevitable. However, there are ways astoavoiding them:
1. Do not drive closely beind cars, ESPECIALLY large trucks as they are heavy enough to kick up all the dirt/rocks from the ground.
2. Avoid driving on the outside lanes, also on the freeway (unless theres a big shoulder). I find that all the road debris gets pushed to the sides where these lanes are.
3. Obviously avoid roads are really dirty, like ones where construction recently took place. If you have to go through them, drive slowly.
4. Go downstairs and look at your car every single day like I do and inspect for paint chips, then go ape s*** if and when you find them, calm down, and then touch them up.
I hope this gives you alittle idea on how it's done, let me know how it goes!
Brandon
touch-up paint (pen)
clearcoat paint (pen)
spot sanding pen
tack rag
meguiars 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
rubbing compound
polishing compound
Lets assume you have like a paint chip that's about or less than 1/2" squared. A touch-up PEN shouldn't really be used for anything larger than this. What you first do is clean the surface to get rid of any dirt dust. Make sure you have not sealed/waxed over the the paint chips before, otherwise use dawn diswashwashing soap to remove it.
1. Use the spot sanding pen and carefully scrape the edges of the paint chipVERY LIGHTLY. What this does is lessn't the abrupt edges of the paint chip, so it's smoother. Make sure you don't remove anymore paint, you don't want the chip bigger than it already is.
2. Primer is probably not necessarily. Go over the paint chip with the paint pen. Work in even, single layers. Give it about 10-30 minutes to dry between each coat. Sometimes a clearcoat is not necessary, and in that case, work the layers until you "filled in" the paint chip and the paint level is sitting just a bit higher than the surrounding area. If you want to use clearcoat, the basepaint should JUST be a bit shallow from the surrounding area. Wait for a few hours for the basecoat to fully dry. Make sure you glide a tach rag over the work area and then apply 1-2 layers of clearcoat until the touch up area level is just higher than the surrounding area. Give all the paint work no less than 24 hours to dry.
3. After all the painting is fully dry, you are ready for wetsanding. Sanding will smoothen out the area and bring the touch up work level with the surrounding surface. Use a small piece of the Meguiars 3000grit wet/dry and carefully give it light, even strokes over the surrounding area. MAKE SURE the work surface is liberally wet at all times. I found using a small spray bottle with a bit of soap for lube very useful. This is the part that is the most work and requires the most patience, but it is worth it. Check your work very 10-15 strokes. Ideally, you should sand until you can glide your fingers across the touch up area and feel that it is level with the rest of the car. You shouldn't really be able to feel the touch up work "stick out".
4. Once you are done, clean and dry off the area. You will notice that the sanding produced heavy scratches in that area. Rest assured, this is where the rubbing and polishing compound comes in. I like to use a Q-tip with just a little bit of rubbing compound and work it into the area where the scratches are. BE VERY CAREFUL AS RUBBING COMPOUND IS AGGRESSIVE. Rubbing compound is like liquid sandpaper. That this will do is turn the 3000grit scratches you have just made, to "5000 grit" scratches. Just give it a few rubs until you see the previous scratches have been refined. Clean off and dry the surface.
5. Finally, do the same with the rubbing compound but with the polishing compound. This is the the final touch to removing all the scratches and bringing out the shine. What you can also do is to wrap your finger with a MF towel and apply some polishing compound and rub it around the area. Give it gentle, even strokes. Polishing compound is not as aggressive so you don't have to worry too much about it. I am pretty sure you can also better subsitute this step with a good electric polishing with a buffer.
I learned this method from someone in this forum who refered a tutorial from another forum. It was my first time doing such work as it was my first car. It worked well for me. If you have those really small paint chips that are like "dots", then most people like to use a toothpick and just coat the tip with paint and cover up the dots. It is obviously not worth clearcoating the dots as they are too small. Just use a toothpick to cover the silver chip with paint and maybe use the Q-tip with rubbing and polishing compound if necessary. For most of my small "dot" paint chips, I just apply some paint and leave it. I don't think it is worth doing anything else. Whether you bought the touch-up PEN/bottle, I think it is a good idea to buy a quality synthetic paint brush and use that instead.The tips on the touch up pens are not very durable and usually loose their edge soon IMO. If you bought the touch-up paint in form of a bottle, then I think you need a brush anyway.
Paint chips are part of driving, and it is inevitable. However, there are ways astoavoiding them:
1. Do not drive closely beind cars, ESPECIALLY large trucks as they are heavy enough to kick up all the dirt/rocks from the ground.
2. Avoid driving on the outside lanes, also on the freeway (unless theres a big shoulder). I find that all the road debris gets pushed to the sides where these lanes are.
3. Obviously avoid roads are really dirty, like ones where construction recently took place. If you have to go through them, drive slowly.
4. Go downstairs and look at your car every single day like I do and inspect for paint chips, then go ape s*** if and when you find them, calm down, and then touch them up.
I hope this gives you alittle idea on how it's done, let me know how it goes!
Brandon
1st Gear Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 57
From:
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
yeah just dab the paint on the spot making sure its cleaned of course, then dab some clear on it and once its dry wetsand it to smooth it down. It works pretty well.
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 36
From: Tempe, AZ
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
ORIGINAL: StriderTacticaL
The key here is PATIENCE as doing a good job is gonna require you to get alittle involved. I don't know about a blue car, but I think that it will probably be easier than a black one. Here's a list of things thatI bought:
touch-up paint (pen)
clearcoat paint (pen)
spot sanding pen
tack rag
meguiars 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
rubbing compound
polishing compound
Lets assume you have like a paint chip that's about or less than 1/2" squared. A touch-up PEN shouldn't really be used for anything larger than this. What you first do is clean the surface to get rid of any dirt dust. Make sure you have not sealed/waxed over the the paint chips before, otherwise use dawn diswashwashing soap to remove it.
1. Use the spot sanding pen and carefully scrape the edges of the paint chipVERY LIGHTLY. What this does is lessn't the abrupt edges of the paint chip, so it's smoother. Make sure you don't remove anymore paint, you don't want the chip bigger than it already is.
2. Primer is probably not necessarily. Go over the paint chip with the paint pen. Work in even, single layers. Give it about 10-30 minutes to dry between each coat. Sometimes a clearcoat is not necessary, and in that case, work the layers until you "filled in" the paint chip and the paint level is sitting just a bit higher than the surrounding area. If you want to use clearcoat, the basepaint should JUST be a bit shallow from the surrounding area. Wait for a few hours for the basecoat to fully dry. Make sure you glide a tach rag over the work area and then apply 1-2 layers of clearcoat until the touch up area level is just higher than the surrounding area. Give all the paint work no less than 24 hours to dry.
3. After all the painting is fully dry, you are ready for wetsanding. Sanding will smoothen out the area and bring the touch up work level with the surrounding surface. Use a small piece of the Meguiars 3000grit wet/dry and carefully give it light, even strokes over the surrounding area. MAKE SURE the work surface is liberally wet at all times. I found using a small spray bottle with a bit of soap for lube very useful. This is the part that is the most work and requires the most patience, but it is worth it. Check your work very 10-15 strokes. Ideally, you should sand until you can glide your fingers across the touch up area and feel that it is level with the rest of the car. You shouldn't really be able to feel the touch up work "stick out".
4. Once you are done, clean and dry off the area. You will notice that the sanding produced heavy scratches in that area. Rest assured, this is where the rubbing and polishing compound comes in. I like to use a Q-tip with just a little bit of rubbing compound and work it into the area where the scratches are. BE VERY CAREFUL AS RUBBING COMPOUND IS AGGRESSIVE. Rubbing compound is like liquid sandpaper. That this will do is turn the 3000grit scratches you have just made, to "5000 grit" scratches. Just give it a few rubs until you see the previous scratches have been refined. Clean off and dry the surface.
5. Finally, do the same with the rubbing compound but with the polishing compound. This is the the final touch to removing all the scratches and bringing out the shine. What you can also do is to wrap your finger with a MF towel and apply some polishing compound and rub it around the area. Give it gentle, even strokes. Polishing compound is not as aggressive so you don't have to worry too much about it. I am pretty sure you can also better subsitute this step with a good electric polishing with a buffer.
I learned this method from someone in this forum who refered a tutorial from another forum. It was my first time doing such work as it was my first car. It worked well for me. If you have those really small paint chips that are like "dots", then most people like to use a toothpick and just coat the tip with paint and cover up the dots. It is obviously not worth clearcoating the dots as they are too small. Just use a toothpick to cover the silver chip with paint and maybe use the Q-tip with rubbing and polishing compound if necessary. For most of my small "dot" paint chips, I just apply some paint and leave it. I don't think it is worth doing anything else. Whether you bought the touch-up PEN/bottle, I think it is a good idea to buy a quality synthetic paint brush and use that instead.The tips on the touch up pens are not very durable and usually loose their edge soon IMO. If you bought the touch-up paint in form of a bottle, then I think you need a brush anyway.
Paint chips are part of driving, and it is inevitable. However, there are ways astoavoiding them:
1. Do not drive closely beind cars, ESPECIALLY large trucks as they are heavy enough to kick up all the dirt/rocks from the ground.
2. Avoid driving on the outside lanes, also on the freeway (unless theres a big shoulder). I find that all the road debris gets pushed to the sides where these lanes are.
3. Obviously avoid roads are really dirty, like ones where construction recently took place. If you have to go through them, drive slowly.
4. Go downstairs and look at your car every single day like I do and inspect for paint chips, then go ape s*** if and when you find them, calm down, and then touch them up.
I hope this gives you alittle idea on how it's done, let me know how it goes!
Brandon
The key here is PATIENCE as doing a good job is gonna require you to get alittle involved. I don't know about a blue car, but I think that it will probably be easier than a black one. Here's a list of things thatI bought:
touch-up paint (pen)
clearcoat paint (pen)
spot sanding pen
tack rag
meguiars 3000 grit wet/dry sandpaper
rubbing compound
polishing compound
Lets assume you have like a paint chip that's about or less than 1/2" squared. A touch-up PEN shouldn't really be used for anything larger than this. What you first do is clean the surface to get rid of any dirt dust. Make sure you have not sealed/waxed over the the paint chips before, otherwise use dawn diswashwashing soap to remove it.
1. Use the spot sanding pen and carefully scrape the edges of the paint chipVERY LIGHTLY. What this does is lessn't the abrupt edges of the paint chip, so it's smoother. Make sure you don't remove anymore paint, you don't want the chip bigger than it already is.
2. Primer is probably not necessarily. Go over the paint chip with the paint pen. Work in even, single layers. Give it about 10-30 minutes to dry between each coat. Sometimes a clearcoat is not necessary, and in that case, work the layers until you "filled in" the paint chip and the paint level is sitting just a bit higher than the surrounding area. If you want to use clearcoat, the basepaint should JUST be a bit shallow from the surrounding area. Wait for a few hours for the basecoat to fully dry. Make sure you glide a tach rag over the work area and then apply 1-2 layers of clearcoat until the touch up area level is just higher than the surrounding area. Give all the paint work no less than 24 hours to dry.
3. After all the painting is fully dry, you are ready for wetsanding. Sanding will smoothen out the area and bring the touch up work level with the surrounding surface. Use a small piece of the Meguiars 3000grit wet/dry and carefully give it light, even strokes over the surrounding area. MAKE SURE the work surface is liberally wet at all times. I found using a small spray bottle with a bit of soap for lube very useful. This is the part that is the most work and requires the most patience, but it is worth it. Check your work very 10-15 strokes. Ideally, you should sand until you can glide your fingers across the touch up area and feel that it is level with the rest of the car. You shouldn't really be able to feel the touch up work "stick out".
4. Once you are done, clean and dry off the area. You will notice that the sanding produced heavy scratches in that area. Rest assured, this is where the rubbing and polishing compound comes in. I like to use a Q-tip with just a little bit of rubbing compound and work it into the area where the scratches are. BE VERY CAREFUL AS RUBBING COMPOUND IS AGGRESSIVE. Rubbing compound is like liquid sandpaper. That this will do is turn the 3000grit scratches you have just made, to "5000 grit" scratches. Just give it a few rubs until you see the previous scratches have been refined. Clean off and dry the surface.
5. Finally, do the same with the rubbing compound but with the polishing compound. This is the the final touch to removing all the scratches and bringing out the shine. What you can also do is to wrap your finger with a MF towel and apply some polishing compound and rub it around the area. Give it gentle, even strokes. Polishing compound is not as aggressive so you don't have to worry too much about it. I am pretty sure you can also better subsitute this step with a good electric polishing with a buffer.
I learned this method from someone in this forum who refered a tutorial from another forum. It was my first time doing such work as it was my first car. It worked well for me. If you have those really small paint chips that are like "dots", then most people like to use a toothpick and just coat the tip with paint and cover up the dots. It is obviously not worth clearcoating the dots as they are too small. Just use a toothpick to cover the silver chip with paint and maybe use the Q-tip with rubbing and polishing compound if necessary. For most of my small "dot" paint chips, I just apply some paint and leave it. I don't think it is worth doing anything else. Whether you bought the touch-up PEN/bottle, I think it is a good idea to buy a quality synthetic paint brush and use that instead.The tips on the touch up pens are not very durable and usually loose their edge soon IMO. If you bought the touch-up paint in form of a bottle, then I think you need a brush anyway.
Paint chips are part of driving, and it is inevitable. However, there are ways astoavoiding them:
1. Do not drive closely beind cars, ESPECIALLY large trucks as they are heavy enough to kick up all the dirt/rocks from the ground.
2. Avoid driving on the outside lanes, also on the freeway (unless theres a big shoulder). I find that all the road debris gets pushed to the sides where these lanes are.
3. Obviously avoid roads are really dirty, like ones where construction recently took place. If you have to go through them, drive slowly.
4. Go downstairs and look at your car every single day like I do and inspect for paint chips, then go ape s*** if and when you find them, calm down, and then touch them up.
I hope this gives you alittle idea on how it's done, let me know how it goes!
Brandon
For the rubbing and polishing compound, is there any particular brand that you could recommend?
4th Gear Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,842
From: Santa Monica, CA
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
Well I bought my touchup paint as well as the rubbing compound from www.paintscratch.com. It worked well. It comes in a small bottle and cost about $7.50.
It looks like this http://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/...gi?ShowItem=28
As for the polishing compound, I'm not too sure. I just bought turtle wax premium polishing compound and it managed to do the job.
Brandon
It looks like this http://www.paintscratch.com/cgi-bin/...gi?ShowItem=28
As for the polishing compound, I'm not too sure. I just bought turtle wax premium polishing compound and it managed to do the job.
Brandon
6th Gear Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,193
From: Montaner
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
The pen sucks. You have to put pressure on it while tip is inside the chip to get anything flowing. At least mine was picky about that and I was not happy with the results. I had a better experience just using the brush to fill up the void. Experience helps because it's real easy to put to much on there and end up with a droplet instead of a good even coat that doesn't stick out.
I have heard that if you get to much on there and it sticks out you can wet sand it down.
I have heard that if you get to much on there and it sticks out you can wet sand it down.
4th Gear Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 1,842
From: Santa Monica, CA
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
Well yeah a brush might be better but the pen isn't that bad. I don't know why you pushed it down on the chip to get it to flow because you are not supposed to. You are meant to get it flowing on something else like a piece of cardboard or something and then get it flowing lightly and consistantly before applying paint on the chip.
6th Gear Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 6,193
From: Montaner
RE: Working with touch up paint - methods, techniques, etc.
ORIGINAL: StriderTacticaL
Well yeah a brush might be better but the pen isn't that bad. I don't know why you pushed it down on the chip to get it to flow because you are not supposed to. You are meant to get it flowing on something else like a piece of cardboard or something and then get it flowing lightly and consistantly before applying paint on the chip.
Well yeah a brush might be better but the pen isn't that bad. I don't know why you pushed it down on the chip to get it to flow because you are not supposed to. You are meant to get it flowing on something else like a piece of cardboard or something and then get it flowing lightly and consistantly before applying paint on the chip.