Meteor Grey Metallic touch-up paint

[SilberUrS6]

My searching has revealed much, but doesn't reveal current thinking. Dr. Colorchip seems to have found some favor, but not consensus. Let's say I have a steady hand, and a good small brush. What is the current thinking on how best to address my own paint chips, in my own garage? All opinions are welcome, BTW, even if you've changed your mind from last time you opined on this issue.

[sugarwood]

It's not so much the product, but the correct process.
You can get a paint match from your local auto body paint supply store.

1) The basic idea is to fill the chip with paint. Verify this, but I don't think you need to go level or above level. Above level is that horrible type of "lipstick touch up" we've all seen that looks like battle scars. Just fill the bottom of the scratch so the color is now there.
2) The rest of the chip is then filled by clear coat.
3) You then wet sand the clear and surrounding overspray area...and blend it all together.
4) Polish and wax.

Have you ever wet sanded a car? If not, this can be intimidating if you've not seen the final results, partly because you will scuff up clear coat that is many times larger than the size of the actual chip. A dime sized paint chip might need a grapefruit sized repair spot.

Here are 2 videos that give some basic concepts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xi3xmeO6C4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5QAjWbx03s

[michael lang]

I did a thread entitled "My Chirstmas Gift" a couple of weeks back where I talked about this very subject. My wife had given me a Doctor ColorChip kit for Christmas. I have a Slate Gray coupe that has taken a beating in the front. Needless to say it needed some love. She gave me the squeegee kit which I tried. I demonstrated the single touch up and what they call the shoe polish methods. It's going to take a lot of extra time but I prefer to just touch up each individual chip, smear and then finish off with the SealAct. I still have a little more to do but the time I've invested has been worth it. I hope this is helpful to you.

[Cooper911SC]

Both methods have strengths and weaknesses.
With meteor grey, or any metallic, you have to realize that the touch up will never be 100% from all angles.

This has to do with the fact that when originally sprayed the metal flake all layed down a certain direction. Going back and touching the area up means that the metal flake will lay down slightly differently.
Some angles will be almost un noticeable while others will look dark or light.

With either method, use fresh paint and SHAKE IT WELL. When using Porsche touch up sticks I will almost always add a little bit of reducer (lacquer thinner). This helps the paint flow and level out.

The "smear" or "squeegee" method works especially well on darker colored cars with many small chips. (Road rash)

The traditional "brush and cup" method works best for slightly bigger chips, and excels at medium and large chips or things like burned edges or gouged door edges. I use a special flow pen for touch up. Lowe Cornell #92. Available from Rex Art in Florida. I also have several quality artists brushes.

With meteor grey you will want to drop in 1 or 2 layers of the color to get it to cover.
For small chips just stop there. Trying to clear over many tiny chips will not give better results. They will appear darker.

For bigger chips let the color coat sit and dry. Be patient! I often let a car sit over night.
You want the color coat dry so that when you drop in the clear, the solvents in the clear won't re-flow the color. If the solvents activate the color coat it tends to float the color and send the flakes sinking etc. often the chip will appear darker in this situation.

Follow up with layers of clear coat to fill the low spot up. I use Matrix Quick Clear. This is a catalyzed automotive clear coat.
The lacquer based touch up sticks work fine too. They just take longer to dry. Again, be patient, let your layers dry.

Once you have built up enough layers the chip will dry down to a high spot.
For novices I recommend sanding with 2000 grit paper, wet. Here is where many have problems... DO NOT fold up the paper and sand using your hand!
YOU MUST use a small hard flat sanding block. Keeping the paper flat will knock off the high spot but not sand through the surrounding clear coat.
My favorite block is about 11/2" X 1" balsa wood.
"But wait, my chip is on a compound curve, now what"?
Try to find a suitably shaped "block". Round dowels work well. As a last resort you can fold your paper into a suitable shape and sand by hand. Watch your progress carefully as you go. Focus on the high spot.

Once the chip is flat you can hand polish the area with a soft towel and a product like 3M Rubbing Compound or Meguiars Ultimate Polish. For older single stage paint I like to start with Blue Magic metal polish for an initial cut. Polish straight back and forth the way air would flow over the car. Going in circles will introduce swirl marks to the surface.

Take your time with the polishing. It takes effort to get the sanding marks out.
One of the shops I work for is very old school traditional and asks for hand polishing only. No machines. The vehicles they restore have too many complex body lines, moldings, louvres, and rivets. Hard to polish and high risk for burning edges.
I have hand polished 2 Model J Duesenbegs from 1500 grit scratches. Each front fender takes around 10 hours to complete.

Take your time and the touch up can come out great!

Cooper

[SilberUrS6]

Thanks for the replies. The chips I have are really small rock chips, and not large defects.

[sugarwood]

Look into alternatives to hand polishing the final step after wet sanding.
I was never able to get a mirror finish from hand polishing.
A dual action polisher takes it to the next level, and is fairly idiot-proof (not to be confused with an orbital, which can wreck your paint in the wrong hands)

[Cooper911SC]

@Silber, thanks! Sounds like just applying color will give you the best results. Tiny chips don't really get any better with clear etc.

@Sugarwood, sounds like you have tried some touch up. That's really great! You're doing and learning a lot with your 911.

I don't want to come off like a jerk here...I am a nice guy who is VERY happy to share knowledge and how to. Please understand I'm not taking your suggestion personally. 😃

First, hand polishing is time consuming indeed. Hard to get amazing results. It does require an initial cut with one polish, followed by a finer polish, and then a coat of wax for best results.

I had a hand polished 100 point Duesy on the lawn last year at Pebble Beach. I get it.

As far as machine polishing goes, a DA or Dual Action polisher and an "Orbital" or, generally referred to as Random Orbital, are the same thing... I believe you are thinking of a Direct Drive polisher as the "enemy". You are correct in your advice to avoid a Direct Drive polisher or "Wheel" as some in the Mid-West refer to the machine/process.

There are several quality Random Orbital polishers available in the market. The most common being those offered by Meguiars and Griot's garage. (Porter Cable) These work slowly and are great for a DIY enthusiast.
There are also hydrid machines like the Flex or Rupe's polishers that offer faster cutting while minimizing risk compared to a full Direct Drive machine. (The new BOSS polisher from Griot's is a Rupe's machine)

Just wanted to clarify here for others reading the thread.

Hand polishing a few minor chips or scratches after color sanding shouldn't be a huge deal for most of us enthusiasts here on Pelican.
Slow and steady gets it done.

Best, Cooper

[SilberUrS6]

Originally Posted by Cooper911SC

@Silber, thanks! Sounds like just applying color will give you the best results. Tiny chips don't really get any better with clear etc.

@Sugarwood, sounds like you have tried some touch up. That's really great! You're doing and learning a lot with your 911.

I don't want to come off like a jerk here...I am a nice guy who is VERY happy to share knowledge and how to. Please understand I'm not taking your suggestion personally. 😃

First, hand polishing is time consuming indeed. Hard to get amazing results. It does require an initial cut with one polish, followed by a finer polish, and then a coat of wax for best results.

I had a hand polished 100 point Duesy on the lawn last year at Pebble Beach. I get it.

As far as machine polishing goes, a DA or Dual Action polisher and an "Orbital" or, generally referred to as Random Orbital, are the same thing... I believe you are thinking of a Direct Drive polisher as the "enemy". You are correct in your advice to avoid a Direct Drive polisher or "Wheel" as some in the Mid-West refer to the machine/process.

There are several quality Random Orbital polishers available in the market. The most common being those offered by Meguiars and Griot's garage. (Porter Cable) These work slowly and are great for a DIY enthusiast.
There are also hydrid machines like the Flex or Rupe's polishers that offer faster cutting while minimizing risk compared to a full Direct Drive machine. (The new BOSS polisher from Griot's is a Rupe's machine)

Just wanted to clarify here for others reading the thread.

Hand polishing a few minor chips or scratches after color sanding shouldn't be a huge deal for most of us enthusiasts here on Pelican.
Slow and steady gets it done.

Best, Cooper

Thank you for your advice. I will look into the touch-up paint from Porsche.