Problem after touch up

[Cope]

A couple weeks ago I decided to fix a rock chip on my car. I cleaned it out and used a toothpick with some touch up paint to fill it in. I slightly overfilled the chip, but left it be until yesterday. I took a piece of wet 2000 grit sandpaper and glued it to the top of a pencil eraser. I then very very lightly sanded the blob. It didn`t take much to even it out with the rest of the paint. The problem I had was the chip was smaller than my piece of snadpaper so I accidentally sanded the area around the blob as well. When I finished sanding I used a small amount of 3M Perfect It II in hopes of getting rid of the sanding marks and then followed it up with a quick polish by PC with SSR 1 using a green Propel pad. After I finished I noticed the area beside the touch up paint looks slightly damaged. I can only see it at certain angles and in certain light conditions. I would best describe it as looking like a small dent in the paint. When I put my head down against the paint and look at the area I can tell that it is not a dent, it just appears that way. I tried going back over it with AIO but that didn`t help. Next I tried the SSR1 with the green pad again, no luck. Finally I tried an orange LC pad with SSR1 but that didn`t get it either. I am not sure what to do next. And I don`t really know what kind of damage this is.



I know pictures would help, but unfortuanetly I don`t have a camera right now. Can anyone help based on my description?

[Accumulator]

Cope- depending on how you did the sanding, you might`ve gouged the factory paint adjacent to the repaired area. Might not be much you can do to fix it. If you`ve polished out the sanding scratches (sounds like you have) and this is a different type of problem (that`s what it sounds like to me) then I`d probably just accept the imperfection. Somebody might suggest you add clear to build up the repaired area, but I`d worry about opening a whole new can of worms. Doing touch-ups to a high standard is infinitely more difficult than some might lead you to believe. The spots I`ve touched up on my vehicles look awful to me, but I`m not gonna risk making them worse by trying to "improve" them; I know my limitations ;)

[Five Star]

I think people expect too much from a touch-up.







Accumulator is right on the money

"Doing touch-ups to a high standard is infinitely more difficult than some might lead you to believe."

[imported_smprince1]

I can only see it at certain angles and in certain light conditions.



Most likely, you are the only person in the world who will ever notice it. I`ve learned to accept these types of repairs for what they are and move on.



I agree with the other advice already given above.

[ptim]

A couple weeks ago I decided to fix a rock chip on my car. I cleaned it out and used a toothpick with some touch up paint to fill it in. I slightly overfilled the chip, but left it be until yesterday. I took a piece of wet 2000 grit sandpaper and glued it to the top of a pencil eraser. I then very very lightly sanded the blob. It didn`t take much to even it out with the rest of the paint. The problem I had was the chip was smaller than my piece of snadpaper so I accidentally sanded the area around the blob as well. When I finished sanding I used a small amount of 3M Perfect It II in hopes of getting rid of the sanding marks and then followed it up with a quick polish by PC with SSR 1 using a green Propel pad. After I finished I noticed the area beside the touch up paint looks slightly damaged. I can only see it at certain angles and in certain light conditions. I would best describe it as looking like a small dent in the paint. When I put my head down against the paint and look at the area I can tell that it is not a dent, it just appears that way. I tried going back over it with AIO but that didn`t help. Next I tried the SSR1 with the green pad again, no luck. Finally I tried an orange LC pad with SSR1 but that didn`t get it either. I am not sure what to do next. And I don`t really know what kind of damage this is.



I know pictures would help, but unfortuanetly I don`t have a camera right now. Can anyone help based on my description?



I did the same thing on my Oxford White Mustang, but I only let it dry for a couple of hours, then I sanded it with 2000 wet/dry sandpaper. My sanded area was about the size of 2 postage stamps. I used a couple of applications of optimum compound and polish by hand. It came out perfect.

[Accumulator]

I did the same thing on my Oxford White Mustang, but I only let it dry for a couple of hours, then I sanded it with 2000 wet/dry sandpaper. My sanded area was about the size of 2 postage stamps. I used a couple of applications of optimum compound and polish by hand. It came out perfect.





Very impressive, that was a big area for that kind of repair! Glad it turned out so well.

[Cope]

Yes, a gouge in the clear coat is probably a good description of what it looks like from distance and at an angle. It just seems weird to me because when I put my eye right down to it I can`t see it. I guess that`s just because of the way the light hits it. I`m going to make time to give it another close look this weekend, but it sounds like there isn`t anything I can do but live with it. That really bums me out.



Thanks for the replies.

[Accumulator]

Cope- Heh heh, to put it in *my* perspective, I was bummed about my terrible touchups on the S8...then the deer incident happened, giving me all *sorts* of flaws be bummed out about :eek: I do know how you feel, but the sort of flaws we have to struggle to see, even when we *know* they`re there, could always be a lot worse.



Oddly enough, the two rock chips on my Jag (from an otherwise great afternoon in August of `86) are now "features" instead of flaws, at least to me. I think of them as "patina" from my long association with the car, momentos from a cool time in my life. OK, I`ll admit that I can be a bit weird where the Jag is concerned :o



Q: did you use a sanding block or something similar, or just the paper and your hand? I`d take a wild guess on the latter.

[Cope]

I just used a small piece of paper (apparently not small enough) glued to the end of a pencil eraser.



I think I`m coming to terms with the whole thing. Its just a small flaw, could be worse.

[Accumulator]

cope-OK, I should`ve got that (pencil, etc.) from the initial post :o



Yeah, it sounds to me like things turned out very well overall.