Repairing a paint chip is pretty close to painting the whole car. The only difference of course is the scope or the area that you need to paint. If someone has scratched your paint or you accidentally scraped off a part of your car’s paint, don’t panic. You don’t have to think hundreds of dollars just to have it repaired. You can do it on your own. All you’ll need is a guide that will teach you how to do a car paint chip repair as shown below. Continue reading to get started.
In order to complete this car paint chip repair, you’ll need to prepare a couple of items and your workspace. The things you’ll need to do this job are as follows:
- Touchup or color matched paint
- Compatible primer
- Organic cleaner
- Solvent – Rubbing Alcohol or Prepsol or Enamel Reducer
- Imperial Hand Glaze
- Sanding Block 2000 grit
- Car wash
- 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper
- Round natural color wooden toothpicks
- Large lightweight cardboard boxes like a large shoe box or bigger
- Several 100% cotton towels
- Magnifying glass if necessary
- New Pencils with unused erasers
- Rubber glue
- Several heavy clean plastic cups
- Roll of quality paint masking tape
Before you start this task, note that repairing paint chip is a learned skill. If you are doubtful of your skills, perhaps you can first practice doing so in an area that is not that visible. Or perhaps you have an old car part that you can practice with. At the same time, make sure to test your cleaners and solvents on the paint before you use it completely. You can use the seam underneath the rocker panels. Just apply a little solvent or the cleaner to a piece of cloth and rub the seam. If no color gets on the cloth, then your solvent and cleaner is safe for your paint. If there is however, don’t use that cleaner or solvent and get another brand. On the other hand, 24 hours prior to doing the repair, use a rubber glue to attach small 600 grit sandpaper circles to the new pencils. Make sure the eraser is flat on top.
- Wash your car with the quality car wash and let it dry. This will eliminate debris that can cause your paint chip repair ugly.
- Paint chips can either have exposed the bare metal or has left the original primer intact. Hopefully, you still have the primer there. But whichever is the case, clean the chipped area with a degreaser. If there is rust on the exposed metal, use your sandpaper glued to the pencil as if you are erasing the rust from the car. Use a toothpick and your magnifying glass to probe the area. Make sure that there are no edges of the chip waiting to fall off. If there is an area waiting to fall off, take your pencil and dip it into clean water and slightly rough up the chipped area. You don’t want to dig scratches and you don’t want to make the chipped paint bigger. If however your car has the new clear-coated finishes, you can skip this part.
- Now, clean up the sanding dust you just made with a use of a rag applied with a small amount of alcohol, prepsol, or enamel reducer. Carefully wipe only the area you worked on. It will also help remove the grease and oils. If you have a number of chips, use a new area of the rag to clean it up. Let it dry before proceeding to the next step.
- If you are using a touchup, shake it thoroughly. If you are using color-matched paint, mix it thoroughly and pour a small amount into a plastic cup.
- Now, using a new toothpick, dip it in the paint such that the first 1 to 2 millimeters of the toothpick gets a thin coating. Now place the tip of the toothpick against the center of the chip, letting the paint flow throughout the depression of the chip. Repeat for the other chips. Just make sure not to use too much paint.
- Cover the area with your paint box. Let it dry 2 hours and repeat it 8 to 12 times until the depression is filled with paint and there is a slight upward bulge. If you are using a clear coat, then you can substitute the last 2 to 3 applications with the clear coat. When you’re done, let it dry completely for at least a week.
- After a week, it’s time to remove the bulge. Make sure to soak your finesse block in clean water for at least 1 day before using. Gently polish the high spot on the paint. Make sure to use only one direction when using this. If the block dries out, re-wet and continue doing so until you get a continuous flat plane in the area. Once your satisfied with the smoothness, clean the area with quality car wash and water. Then, use the glaze to restore the high gloss finish.