Paint chips my new paint job ! Help!!!

Wouldn't you know it. New gloss black paint job a year ago, and now a huge chip in the hood from debre on the freeway! (It's huge to me anyways. I bought a bra afterwards. Thanks Noah it fits great. . . but that's another story.) I have some touchup paint from my painter. Any tips on making these chips disappear? Sandpaper grit? Appling the paint? Best rubbing compound? Thanks in advance.

If I were you (read: I have the same problem) I would cruise by your body/paint shop and see what they can do to help. Filling, feathering and polishing a nasty chip or scratch is not easy and takes practice, and the hood is an area you don't want to mess up worse.

Remind the guy how much you paid him for the paint job and how much you love it...

I found a tech article somewhere that you would be very interested in. I'll look for the hard copy I have somewhere.

Anyway, this guy describes a process that involves a lot of materials, such as sandpaper, in eraser and toothpick. properly prepped, the chip will suck the drop of paint off the toothpick and lay it flat. I believe this process (I'll look for it) is what the pros use when they really need to make the repair invisible. It takes time, but.....

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'83 SC

Check out the website "carcareonline.com". I am not sure what area the tech article is in but they have a very detailed article on paint chip repairs. I think this is the article that Superman was referring to.

Thanks guys. "carcareonline.com" really spells out the procedure, and offers lots of other good tips for paint and rubber care.

A Bra! Remember, these things cause more damage than they solve. Imagine duct taping a wet piece of sandpaper to your hood and then driving down the freeway while it flaps against the paint. Once you put a bra on for awhile, you are married to it until you repaint. Be cautious of the rest of what is Im sure an very nice paint job. Its not worth it just to conceal a chip.
Nick.

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Nick Shumaker
1982 911SC Coupe

I think a bra is a good idea for track driving in a 'street' car with paint you care about. But put it on before you take to the track, and get it off immediately when you leave the track. Those things would seem to trap and rub all kinds of moisture, sand, dirt, leaves, bugs, rubber chunks, etc. etc. against the paint behind.

Everyone seems to bash the bras but I have been using a Colgan on my Sc constantly for two years and the paint under it is perfect with no discoloring

Even a guy who does the clear 3mfilm expected damage when he took it of to quote me on the clear film protection $300.

I just keep a layer of wax (thats not rubbed off) under it and have no problems ,occasionally I'll remove it and take the dirt out from behind it


For a chip repair I found out the hard way about trying to sand the repair flush with the paint ,my color is light (Cashmere Beige)
and when I was sanding the paint I placed in the chip to get it flush I went thru the clear and had an ugly brown ring around the chip ,the more I sanded the larger it became ,after my initial panic, much profanity and despair I took it to a touch up shop whom matched the rear quarter area perfectly and resprayed it $300 later. (Much less than the body shop whom wanted to charge me $700 for the whole rear quarter

I found the best way to repair the chips is to use a pint of professional matched paint from a body supply shop and thin it just a bit (the touch up in the small tubes is too thin) and get a small twig or tooth pick and glob some in the chip to fill it to the edge, this way you see no brush marks and it has a very smooth finish , after its done I'll fill it again in another day if needed or if not just leave it alone your finished

Jeff
78SC

One thing you have going against you is the color. You look funny ar black paint and it scratches. (I have a black S80). It will never be invisible unless repainted. The good news is that once you get your first one, the healing process can begin. (Remember that old Rod Stewart song, " The first cut is the deepest...."). Reminds me of my first new car. I just got it home and was vacuming the interior, when the vac fell over and dented the bottom of the door. Cheap Japenese steel. Touch it up and move on. Life is too short to let a minor imperfection bother you. You may want to try a company called "Chips Away". They are sort of like Dent Wizard. Alot of used car lots use them to clean up cars they are trying to sell.

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8 9 9 1 1, The last of the line.