Should I try a little paint repair?

[Edmond]

Hi,

I have this chip of paint that has totally come off and it's totally exposed. I have a white car and this section about 3x2 the grey color of this page is exposed. It doesn't look very good and I'm thinking about trying to do a small patch job on it until I came come to terms with spending the money for a good paint job.

I've thought about it and have come to this procedure:

1. Clean the area

2. Isolate the area that needs to be painted so that I don't paint the other parts of the car.

3. Put a 2 coats of primer on there. Sand it smooth.

4. Put as many coats of white paint on there as necessary. Sand it smooth.

Am I thinking along the right lines here?

 

[Edmond]

Any suggestions from anyone?

 

[JonM]

Where is the spot? Do you have a spray gun? Compressor? Have you painted before? If you do not have the tools, a body shop should do a small repair for not to much...Its white, not a special color they need to order.

 

[WhalePirot]

Wow, that's a big chip!

White can be VERY hard to match. Also, getting the thickness of the area right will be tough. Know that these cars have a very thin color coat and a rather thick clear coat.

I have touched up nicks, using a matching bottle of paint (from repaint) and a toothpick, but it requires a very steady hand, and a lot of patience (to allow the prior dab, to dry). A 600 wet sanding and polish largely makes it disappear, but another method wil be needed for such a large area. The nick was carefully cleaned with lacquer thinner and a very sharp point, to get the edge crannies.

If your 'chip' is on the flex bumper, you may be in for many more, which will frustrate any efforts at dressing this one. 'My' body shop, sent my covers out to a specialty shop for prep. I'd cafrefully inspect the entire thing for peeling and cracking. My paint specialist told me the flex agent is only good for about six months.

 

[Edmond]

It's right between the rear hatch glass and the wheel. Nope, don't have a spray gun but I do have an air compressor. It's such a small spot, I figured that the paint that comes in a can would do.

I've never painted before. I just want to get it to acceptable standards until I can do the whole thing, hopefully later this year.

Thanks Jon!

 

[JonM]

If you do it with a can, you are going to hate yourself and the way it looks. You need to sand and feather the chip out. Remove all the wax, sand the area from the molding upwards to the glass and up to a seam on eather side. Then prime it a couple times with high build primer, sanding it between coats about 650 grit should work. Then if I were you I would find someone to shoot it real quick for you...But if you really want to shoot it...you may be able to rent a gun at a tool rental place...If you really don't care...take it to Macco.

 

[vette-dude]

One other thing is to use the back tape method for masking the area off. This is where you put the tape on the paper and the place the masking paper over the area to be painted and fold it back over itself at the masking tape ( leave half the tape sticking to the surface of the car.) this gives the edges a nonlinear line and it will keep you from having a big build up of paint where the masking tape is placed. I know it sounds like it works the same as just taping off the area directly with masking tape but something about the reverse fold makes the edge of the masked area blend in better. Don't be afarid to use a spray can on a small area. I have seen excellent results from guys who took their time and used a rattle can. Just don't put it on too heavy at any one time.

Randy

 

[paintdaddy]

Please dont do that to an anniversary car.Correct white is easy to match but it doesnt take much for it to be a shade off.If the paint came off of a section that big then you might want to sand all of the paint off of that section,because if it hasnt come off anywhere else then it probably will.It has probably had a repair done in that area.I would say that if you have never done this then dont try it.You will be mad at yourself afterwards.

 

[maxm]

Edmond...I say go for it....you have the chip, that looks bad.
Can it look bader with some paint on.
Max