I have some rock chips on my 08 pewter Silverado front hood clip and was wondering if anyone has done any touch-up fixes on their's and if you might have any tips or recommendations? It doesn't look that bad until you get like 3 feet away and you can tell they're chips in the paint and not debris.
Anybody Touch Up Rock Chips?
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Chips are going to happen its a fact of life. If it bothers you you can get some wax and grease remover and touch up paint from the dealership which will match your car/truck and use a fine tipped paint brush to apply a little paint to fill the void left by the chip. Don't use the cap lid brush they are much to large. If you don't like that idea a paint shop can match your color but you will need to follow up the color with some clear coat. Think of a chip like a hole in the ground, only difference is you fill it slowly with paint to make it level and smooth.
I used to touch up cars back in the day for dealerships. I used an airbrush for that, but a fine tipped paint brush also works quite well. I always applied the clear with a fine tipped paint brush, natural hairs are best. I had to mix my own paint to match.
I used to touch up cars back in the day for dealerships. I used an airbrush for that, but a fine tipped paint brush also works quite well. I always applied the clear with a fine tipped paint brush, natural hairs are best. I had to mix my own paint to match.
I have had success filling in chips using the following method: First, I clean the chip with xylol. Then, using a fine-pointed artist brush, I fill in the chip with touch-up paint. It takes multiple applications over several days to get the level of the paint in the chipped area slightly above the level of the surrounding paint. I give the paint a few days drying time to let it do its shrinking. Then I glue a piece of 1500 grit sandpaper on the middle of a popsicle stick. Wearing an optivisor, I use my popsickle stick to very carefully sand the paint in the chip down to the level of the surrounding paint. Then I polish the chip using Meguiar's #7 or similar. The process takes a bit of time but the results are usually very good even without clearcoat over the filled in chip.
Thanks for the tips...I will take it slow and easy so I dont make it worse.
Originally Posted By: TaterandNoodles
Chips are going to happen its a fact of life. If it bothers you you can get some wax and grease remover and touch up paint from the dealership
Would anyone know if lacquer thinner is good to use inside rock chips as a good road grime and wax remover? If so, is paint thinner the same thing as lacquer thinner, or might they be 2 different things?
Can regular masking tape you keep in your desk be used to isolate the chipped area from the undamaged finish, or do you need to buy a special kind of masking tape?
Chips are going to happen its a fact of life. If it bothers you you can get some wax and grease remover and touch up paint from the dealership
Would anyone know if lacquer thinner is good to use inside rock chips as a good road grime and wax remover? If so, is paint thinner the same thing as lacquer thinner, or might they be 2 different things?
Can regular masking tape you keep in your desk be used to isolate the chipped area from the undamaged finish, or do you need to buy a special kind of masking tape?
Lacquer thinner is hot and will soften most auto paint, even the newer 2-part finish. Unless I have a real crater to fill, I use alcohol to clean the area, and put in a couple layers of touch-up using a toothpick, let it dry, and like a previous poster said, use 1500 and 2000 grit wet or dry to level it. That will buff out to almost invisibility.
Built_Well, When I first started using the technique described earlier in this thread, I put scotch tape around the chip to protect those areas as I went after the raised fill-in paint with the popsicle stick sanding block.
Originally Posted By: flanso
Built_Well, When I first started using the technique described earlier in this thread, I put scotch tape around the chip to protect those areas as I went after the raised fill-in paint with the popsicle stick sanding block.
Wouldn't Scotch tape be too sticky, leaving behind a residue? That's why I thought there might be a special kind of masking tape, even less sticky than regular masking tape?
Built_Well, When I first started using the technique described earlier in this thread, I put scotch tape around the chip to protect those areas as I went after the raised fill-in paint with the popsicle stick sanding block.
Wouldn't Scotch tape be too sticky, leaving behind a residue? That's why I thought there might be a special kind of masking tape, even less sticky than regular masking tape?
You can also use painters blue tape, and take your time masking off the small chipped area. Good eyes (or a magnifying glass), a steady hand, and patience is the key.
Originally Posted By: ksJoe
taterandnoodles,
How did you get it smooth with an air brush? Do you fill the hole, or sand it to taper paint near the chip?
What we would do is build up the paint in layers if necessary until the chip was filled, since the paint is going to shrink while it dries you have to over fill by a reasonably amount. We always worked in small sections. When a section would dry enough you had to go back and knock down the paint with wax and grease remover again which levels the surface flat but often caused the gloss to go out of the base coat so you would follow that up with a dab of clear on a fine paint brush. When you spray base coat through a gun it will be glossy the same for single stage naturally. If you follow the base with clearcoat and some hardener it will be permanent. When done correctly the car appeared to have zits, on closer inspection it would look more like crater impacts (center low and high sides in a circle) before going back over the area with wax and grease again. If you did the whole hood or car the paint would have dried enough that it was nearly impossible to remove and a little thinner would be needed.
Since some of the cars where pre and some post buffing we could not afford to sand and rebuff every car. Rubbing with wax and grease remover on a rag leaves very few scratches that can be removed by hand with some compound. We also touched up things like door jams especially on trucks since they would get allot of wear and a quick spray with the airbrush would make them look like new. In the past I have blended a door jam quickly with the airbrush and later gone back with silicone dressing making it look new again.
I'm not going to tell anyone to take sand paper to their hood since not everyone has the same abilities or experience. You can wet sand an entire car that doesn't mean the inexperienced should. I've found a light touch with a fine tip brush will work just fine if you take your time and build the paint up slowly on larger chips. Allot of chips are on or at edges were the paint is thinner then the rest of the surface. If you are going to sand just be cautious not to sand through the paint on the edges. Even when buffing we always had to be cautious of the edges on some makes or you can quickly burn through.
taterandnoodles,
How did you get it smooth with an air brush? Do you fill the hole, or sand it to taper paint near the chip?
What we would do is build up the paint in layers if necessary until the chip was filled, since the paint is going to shrink while it dries you have to over fill by a reasonably amount. We always worked in small sections. When a section would dry enough you had to go back and knock down the paint with wax and grease remover again which levels the surface flat but often caused the gloss to go out of the base coat so you would follow that up with a dab of clear on a fine paint brush. When you spray base coat through a gun it will be glossy the same for single stage naturally. If you follow the base with clearcoat and some hardener it will be permanent. When done correctly the car appeared to have zits, on closer inspection it would look more like crater impacts (center low and high sides in a circle) before going back over the area with wax and grease again. If you did the whole hood or car the paint would have dried enough that it was nearly impossible to remove and a little thinner would be needed.
Since some of the cars where pre and some post buffing we could not afford to sand and rebuff every car. Rubbing with wax and grease remover on a rag leaves very few scratches that can be removed by hand with some compound. We also touched up things like door jams especially on trucks since they would get allot of wear and a quick spray with the airbrush would make them look like new. In the past I have blended a door jam quickly with the airbrush and later gone back with silicone dressing making it look new again.
I'm not going to tell anyone to take sand paper to their hood since not everyone has the same abilities or experience. You can wet sand an entire car that doesn't mean the inexperienced should. I've found a light touch with a fine tip brush will work just fine if you take your time and build the paint up slowly on larger chips. Allot of chips are on or at edges were the paint is thinner then the rest of the surface. If you are going to sand just be cautious not to sand through the paint on the edges. Even when buffing we always had to be cautious of the edges on some makes or you can quickly burn through.
I have not done it yet, but from advice I have gotten from some people, basically said the same thing as flanso said, clean it out, then put little coats of paint on to build it up, then they said once it is filled in just above the surface, let it dry for a couple of weeks as you want it to be rock hard. Otherwise *if* you are using a machine to buff out the area after you sand it down the heat/friction from the pad/machine will pull the paint back out if it is not fully cured.
I would like to do it but there are soooo many chips on the fron of my g/f's explorer that it will take a looong time to do them all.
I would like to do it but there are soooo many chips on the fron of my g/f's explorer that it will take a looong time to do them all.
Originally Posted By: 02zx9r
Otherwise *if* you are using a machine to buff out the area after you sand it down the heat/friction from the pad/machine will pull the paint back out if it is not fully cured.
I would like to do it but there are soooo many chips on the fron of my g/f's explorer that it will take a looong time to do them all.
I've done allot of explorers etc, the leading edges get very bad if they don't have a deflector. To add on to the mechnical buffing you can also blast the paint right out with a pressure washer if its not fully cured or you are to close or both. I've had that happen to a car I had just finished when it got to the wash bay.
Otherwise *if* you are using a machine to buff out the area after you sand it down the heat/friction from the pad/machine will pull the paint back out if it is not fully cured.
I would like to do it but there are soooo many chips on the fron of my g/f's explorer that it will take a looong time to do them all.
I've done allot of explorers etc, the leading edges get very bad if they don't have a deflector. To add on to the mechnical buffing you can also blast the paint right out with a pressure washer if its not fully cured or you are to close or both. I've had that happen to a car I had just finished when it got to the wash bay.
Thanks for the info!
Years ago I painted lots of equipment and maybe a dozen cars. Not professional quality paint jobs but very nice "back yard" ones.
My IS350's got several rock chips on the front I've been thinking about working on. Its also got a license plate bracket on the front bumper I'd like to remove.
Some day when I'm feeling adventurous I'll get out the airbrush.
Years ago I painted lots of equipment and maybe a dozen cars. Not professional quality paint jobs but very nice "back yard" ones.
My IS350's got several rock chips on the front I've been thinking about working on. Its also got a license plate bracket on the front bumper I'd like to remove.
Some day when I'm feeling adventurous I'll get out the airbrush.
Once I detailed my g/f's explorer, with the paint gloss and clarity brought out to the next level, it also brought out all the imperfections in the hood. All these white specks.
If stand back a few feet you can not see them really that much, but up close....but the truck looks 100% better than it did so...
If stand back a few feet you can not see them really that much, but up close....but the truck looks 100% better than it did so...
Originally Posted By: 02zx9r
Once I detailed my g/f's explorer, with the paint gloss and clarity brought out to the next level, it also brought out all the imperfections in the hood. All these white specks.
If stand back a few feet you can not see them really that much, but up close....but the truck looks 100% better than it did so...
If its the tinny specks I'm thinking of I would leave them alone. If the chip is not readily visible at 5-6 feet then its not cost effective to repair it. The customer always decided what car was touched up and what was not. Dealerships always want a car to have a good 5-6 footer unless the car was going to be on the showroom floor.
Once I detailed my g/f's explorer, with the paint gloss and clarity brought out to the next level, it also brought out all the imperfections in the hood. All these white specks.
If stand back a few feet you can not see them really that much, but up close....but the truck looks 100% better than it did so...
If its the tinny specks I'm thinking of I would leave them alone. If the chip is not readily visible at 5-6 feet then its not cost effective to repair it. The customer always decided what car was touched up and what was not. Dealerships always want a car to have a good 5-6 footer unless the car was going to be on the showroom floor.
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