Repainting small dings

[ClarkB]

The hood of my Civic has several spots where it has been dinged. This happened several years ago (before I owned the car) and so there is now rust there. Each of these spots is individually the size of a quarter, max.

I recall seeing a kit several years ago that was designed for such dings. It had the different abrasives, cleaners and paint for such a job and all were packaged/designed for a small job like this. Does something like that exist anymore? Is there something similar that would meet my needs?

Granted, I'm not looking for a great paint job but rather something to prevent the rust from growing and maybe make the car look good at 20 feet or 20mph.

Clark

 

[JHZR2]

If there is rust, youll have a tough time fixing it for a lasting repair. You are best off finding a good unrusted hood and replacing, IMO.

 

[Carbuff]

Eastwood.com sells something called the Final Finish System. It consists of a small (1") sanding spool and stick-on sandpaper.

You sand the bare rust chip, apply primer or rust catalyzer, build up the spot with layers of touch-up paint, and sand smooth.


Results are acceptable, barely visible if your touchup paint matches well. Takes some practice (as with any paintwork).

 

[mechtech2]

Getting the rust off is critical.
Then prime it.
Use layers of final paint, not one shot.
You will note that the paint builds up in a crater formation, it is not domed -that would be ideal.
Wet sanding afterwards will get it smooth.
then buff/polish it when good and dry/cured.
Metallic paint is tough to match exactly. But it can be a decent to very good repair, if you do not rush it.

so it is worth a shot to try and fix this. Understand that is is NOT an easy job to get perfect.

 

[ClarkB]

Thanks for the information. I'll definitely try it this summer as I'll be moving back into the salt belt later this year. I really don't expect an exact match. Something close to the current color will look better than rust spots.

Clark

 

[mechtech2]

Just to repeat, getting the underneath rust 'kinda' off is not good enough.
Careful use of common and cheap Naval Jelly will get it out of the pores, and is worth the extra step.
Have plenty of rinse water ready.
it is not difficult, and only takes 10 minutes.