At home fix for this rusty rock chip?

[K20FA5]

I’m not sure how to go about fixing this rock chip. It’s on the back door of my daughters Sentra. Is this even something that I should attempt? I’m not good at all with touch up paint Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks!

 

[gregk24]

Personally I would do a couple of passes with IronX then thoroughly wash and dry the area before applying touch up paint. You can get Dr. Color Chip as well, maybe you will have better results than simply using a traditional paint pen that you would get from the dealer.

 

[doitmyself]

I have never used one, but you can buy sandpaper pens to etch tiny chips. I fold up a piece of fine sandpaper and use the corner to carefully remove the rust inside the crater, being very careful not to enlarge or even feather edge the chip crater. I then use a metal prep product, usually phosphoric acid, to clean/etch the area - supposedly it converts any leftover micro rust. Let dry thoroughly. I apply automotive primer (a tiny bit from a spray can in a bottle cap) with a VERY fine tip artist brush. Let dry. Follow up with a few coats of color coat (same spray can method) with the artist brush. On these tiny chips I don't put clear coat on. I try to build the paint up in the crater a fraction above the surrounding area. After a few weeks, a gentle polish application will blend it down to the good paint. I have different techniques for larger chips. I usually just use Duplicolor products.

 

[kschachn]

I’ve used one of these fiberglass pens before (not sure if it’s the same thing doitmyself mentioned). Then prime and paint:

 

[Dave9]

Depends on how long you want it to last. You can just paint right over the rust which won't last long at all, or use abrasion (tiny piece of sandpaper, fiberglass pen like shown above, or easier might be a dremel tool) to only remove the visible rust, then put paint on to seal the edges of existing paint, OR if you want it to last long term then you need to enlarge the area till you are at clean metal under the edges of the existing paint.

It is difficult to match metallic paint with a touch up pen type product, even what's supposed to match can end up looking lighter or darker so there is an argument to be made for keeping the paint patch as small as possible then looking at it later to see if it needs redone. Make it too big and you could end up needing the whole section professionally painted to look right.

 

[Oro_O]

I used a pen like the above to attack some very similar spots on a car about four years ago. They look good still four years on - basically what I did was mentioned above -

1) Clean rust off with pen and a little sand paper where necessary. The pens are very effective and worth it.
2) Prep further with dabbed-on rust-sealing primer
3) Coat when cured with color-matched paint

The spots are not invisible, but they are not spreading and are much less noticeable.

 

[spasm3]

I used a pen like the above to attack some very similar spots on a car about four years ago. They look good still four years on - basically what I did was mentioned above -

1) Clean rust off with pen and a little sand paper where necessary. The pens are very effective and worth it.
2) Prep further with dabbed-on rust-sealing primer
3) Coat when cured with color-matched paint

The spots are not invisible, but they are not spreading and are much less noticeable.

For larger chips the abrasive pen works well! All of the above.

 

[Oro_O]

I came back to comment on this thread as I found a different, possibly easier method tonight. Fallout cleaner, like this:

Amazon.com: CarPro Iron X Paste 500 g: Automotive

Buy CarPro Iron X Paste 500 g: Cleaners - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

I was looking for something to get some REALLY stubborn/caked in brake dust off and was reading about these. Then I saw in comments that people use it to get rust out of chips instantly/easily before fixing them. Interesting. I haven't tried it, but it sounds solid.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Many of the paint dabbers come with the abrasive pen end.

 

[JHZR2]

I would use a fiberglass abrasive pen, then convert with ospho or similar (be careful, it will mess up your paint if left too long), then apply touch up paint. Key is less is more with the paint.

 

[Rand]

why iron x on bare metal?