How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

[newcar2009]

I am new to all of this. I brought home my brand new car last week. I washed it with Gold Class car wash, waxed it with Gold Class liquid wax and two days later I got a rock chip. I have a touch-up paint pen from my dealer, but I have absolutely no idea what to do. I am assuming I wash the car, but after that I am lost!! Should I clay the area? If I can't find Meguiars grit sandpaper in my area, will any sandpaper with the same grit level do? Do I have to prime? Any guidance would be appreciated.

[Maserati Mario]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

Well it's kinda easy and hard.
You need to clean out the chip, I use lacquer thinner.
Then I paint the whole.
Let it dry for a few days
Then I wet sand it smooth.
Finish with M105 and a wool pad on a rotary
That's it in a nut shell
Look here for some more answers Wet-Sanding, Color Sanding, Rock Chip Repair

[newcar2009]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

I do not own a rotary. Can I do it by hand?

[Murr1525]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

Well, the other less perfect technique is mine....

Clean out the chip as needed, I usually use a little sandpaper to get any loose edges.

Then apply the paint with a toothpick, in little thin dabs. Let dry a bit in between dabs.

By doing it thin, I dont build up the mound to sand down, but it doesnt look as perfect either. But it avoids the sanding process.

[Maserati Mario]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

^^^^^^ I agree

I do not own a rotary. Can I do it by hand?

Yes you can.
You don't need to sand it flat that's just what I do.
You can just fill it.

[newcar2009]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

What grit sandpaper should I use? The other question I have is how do I determine if the chip goes down to the primer or the metal? I see grey, but is that the primer or the metal?

[Maserati Mario]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

I'd say use 2000 so you can get the scratches out by hand.
I think that would be the primer.
It it was metal it should be darker, but it doesn't matter.
Sand it a little just to ruff it up, I don't do this I just clean it and fill it.
Did you look at the other posts on doing this?
All your questions can be answered there along with pictures.

[newcar2009]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

If it was the metal, then wouldn't I need to put primer on first? If I don't will the paint stick?

When I have a sec I will check other posts.

thanks

[zeegs]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

Try this, works well!!

http://drcolorchip.com/

[Andy M.]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

I really can't believe that we are recommending wet sanding to someone who is new to this. Lets remember this is a new car we are talking about. I use a match stick cut at a 45 degree angle. Tooth pick will work also. Clean the area, and do this a little at a time. In other words dont just glob it up with touch up paint. Build the paint in layers. If you are new to this and have limited experience, DO NOT WETSAND, as you will probably create more problems for yourself.

Mario, do you have any pics of your wetsanding, rotary buffing technique? How many YEARS have you been wetsanding? ETC......

Andy M

[yalerd]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

I really can't believe that we are recommending wet sanding to someone who is new to this. Lets remember this is a new car we are talking about.

I agree with Andy. Lately guys I'm seeing recommendations of methods like wet sanding to be the first thing without knowing if the person has the tools and techniques to dill with the consequences that methods like this involves.

I would follow what Murr said, very simple, NOT PERFECT, but will do.

[akimel]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

The best advice I've been I have seen on this forum on touching-up rock chips was given by Mike Phillips over two years ago:

Chip repair is never easy and unless you have some experience with this type of thing then it can be very challenging to make the repair actually look good. Paint chip repair consists of two things,

Applying touch-up paint
Making the repair look good

That's two things and the second one is the hard one, anyone can dab some paint to the surface.

Meguiar's doesn't have an official "how-to" on chip repair, the best thing you can do is NOT use the brush built into the cap, instead use a toothpick or do like I do and go to an artist supply store or a craft supply store and purchase a couple of very fine tipped artists paint brushes and a little bottle of paint thinner to clean the tips and the brushes are not cheap. Clean the chipped area as best as you can with whatever tool/brush/pick etc. you can find and then apply just a little touch-up paint into the chipped area and then stop and walk away from the car. Allow the paint to dry for a couple days and then inspect, if you see that you have room to apply more touch-up paint then apply a little more and again, stop messing with it and let it dry.

Most people use the brush that comes built into the lid and go from a divot, (a low spot in the paint), to a blob, (a high spot in the paint), because they apply too much touch-up paint.

So less is best, move slow, take your time.

On the advice of a body shop guy, I have used a cardboard matchstick to apply touch-up paint to a couple of places--just the tiniest amount. It worked okay. I try not to look at the spots.

[Eddie6th]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

All in all,we don't know the end users capabilities.Not everyone has the same flare for these kinds of jobs,also requiring patience.I've done these touch up jobs before using sanding and rubbing out,where the technique differs that you deliberately leave a slightly raised surface.If done properly,only the owner knows where it is.Others don't see it.

I think the easier method described earlier(without any sanding) is safer to use on the forum.

I did give advice to a user recently,invloving sanding,assuming that he'd know because he painted the part himself(color and CC).But,I thought about it after and realized that he wouldn't have asked in the first place if he knew........

[Tim Lingor]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

Hey Eddie,

Yes, you are right we do not know and that is the problem. No offense, but we do not even know what your level of experience is and if your advice is based on years of experience in actually doing it yourself or not. See what I mean? You may have years of experience, in which case, please post photos of the various cars/trucks/SUV's etc and show us some of your work! I love seeing photos of other people's work!!!

The internet is full of Keyboard Commandos who simply read posts elsewhere and then re-post it makiing people think/believe that they are the ones who actually have the experience when that is not the case. Moreover, watching a few videos or hanging around with an actual Pro is different than doing it yourself. Again, I am not referring to you, but rather people in general.

So, how do you deal with the fact that metallic flakes when touching up paint will lay differently than sprayed metallics? This difference is very visible and yet no one has mentioned that fact.

If a person sands down the touch-up paint that has metallic flake, it will stand out, usually brighter than the rest of the paint as the metallics will not be distributed the same as when being sprayed. It will create a visible dimpled effect that looks terrible if several spots are done on say a hood for example.

Secondly, in the examples I have seen lately, how do we know if a person has gone down below the maximum accepted loss .3 -.5 mils of clear coat that surrounds the touch-up spot? You have to level the paint to match the repaired spot or again, you have a dimpled effect. If you go below that accepted maximum, clear coat failure may occur in those areas fairly quickly.

Thirdly, while I have seen a lot of people saying that they can remove sanding marks with a PC, I have yet to see it done with 100% perfection. Under halogens you may not see it, but in the sun and a critical eye, you can spot the sanding marks that are often remaining. Now before I get jumped for that, new products like M105 with the SMAT abrasives are changing that fact, but I still have not seen it done on OEM paint to 100% perfection. Factors such as paint hardness etc all play a major factor in the success of wet sanding mark removal. Have you ever tried to remove sanding marks from an OEM painted Vette or newer MB, or BMW? It is NOT easy at all. It does not matter if someone has all of the drive in the world, if you do not have the tools, products and knowledge, those sanding marks are not coming out.

Finally, what about doing a touch up and sanding it in the center of a hood of a black car? Have you seen waves in paint caused by arbitrary sanding of paint in spots only?

While we all had to learn some how, it is haphazard to suggest to anyone to wet sand their paint as there are so many variables that must be considered. If the advice is taken by someone who has a Vette and they can not remove the sanding marks, and/or waves or flat spots are created, they will not be happy. Bad advice can also lead to legal liability issues even over international boundaries. Just something to keep in mind.

Tim

[newcar2009]

Re: How do you repair a rock chip with a touch-up paint pen?

I would like to thank everyone for their advice. The online forum rocks. I think I will shy away from wet sanding and go with the following:
1) wash with Gold Class Car Wash
2) rubbing alcohol
3) Cut toothpic at 45% angle
4) touch-up paint layer by layer with tons of patience.
5) wait 60-90 days for paint to set
6) wax

Since I just waxed my car a week ago. Will the rubbing alcohol clean the area enough?