Best inexpensive way to hide paint/rock chips

[Egleone6]

I really noticed them when I put on a coat of wax this past week. WOW, lots of them, all minor, but I was shocked to see that many.



I was thinking of getting something to dab on a q-tip and just rubbing each individual spot. Would this work? Or are theyre any other ways of doing this.



Redoing and painting the whole hood was a quote of or around 5 bills.

[kapinnn]

toothpicks and touch up paint. Will run you about $10 bucks.

[Egleone6]

I had the guy at the autobody shop make me some paint, I tried it, but not happy with the results. After 6 years, the orignal paint and my paint are a little shaded.

[kapinnn]

No touch up paint is gonna look perfect. Do you have pics? You might consider that repaint. I got a quote for my bumper (350Z) and it ran between $500-800 on different shops.

[tquill]

No touch up paint is gonna look perfect. Do you have pics? You might consider that repaint. I got a quote for my bumper (350Z) and it ran between $500-800 on different shops.



I`m sure you`re front bumper probably looks like mine (swiss cheese). I also have a 350 and the paint is horrendous.



I was wondering though, did you ever try polishing or doing the scratch repair DIY through bettercarcare.com? My front bumper has a number of rock chips and bugs that don`t come off through normal washing. I was thinking about trying to hand polish the front bumper in hopes of getting all of the bugs and most of the chips out. Then just doing to scratch fix thing for the major ones.



You think that would work or help noticeably?

[kapinnn]

I`m sure you`re front bumper probably looks like mine (swiss cheese). I also have a 350 and the paint is horrendous.



I was wondering though, did you ever try polishing or doing the scratch repair DIY through bettercarcare.com? My front bumper has a number of rock chips and bugs that don`t come off through normal washing. I was thinking about trying to hand polish the front bumper in hopes of getting all of the bugs and most of the chips out. Then just doing to scratch fix thing for the major ones.



You think that would work or help noticeably?



I can remove swirls and most scratches through polishing and wetsanding. Rock chips are a totally different deal, though. It removes or pushes the paint in the surface. The Z front if practically perpendicular to the ground so it gets hit hard. I won`t even bother trying to fix my front bumper, I`ll just get it repainted. I`m trying to work a deal out with this body shop. I detail 2 of his cars for him and he paints my bumper.



Hand polishing won`t do much to those. It will help you remove the bugs but the chips with stay, unfortunately. When I repaint my bumper I`m getting a clear bra over it...

[tquill]

Yeah ppl in the 350z forum are all about the clear bra. I`m thinking of doing that too if and when I ever get mine repainted.



Is it practical to hand polish the whole car or is that too time intensive? I do not own a machine polisher or have any experience hand or machine polishing a car.

[kapinnn]

You can clean the paint and make it nicer but I doubt you will remove any swirls or scratches by hand. My Z clear is so hard that I have to hit it with wool by rotary first. It would take the whole week spending hours per section to get it ok looking.



If you need it detailed I suggest putting an add on the Regional Forum and look for an autopian in your area. You might either find a detailer or someone who is willing to help you can offer their services to you.

[tquill]

Ok I`ll do just that. I appreciate your help.

[kapinnn]

Wait... I forgot the 3rd option. You can always get a PC... (an used one goes for about $100 or so now with a backing plate) get it and learn how to use it from here. I did, you can too. I`m thinking about selling my PC backing plate and pads soon since I got the UDM. There are a couple of PCs for sale in the Hot Tub (Trading Post) section of Autopia. Go check it out. If you are gonna become an "autopian" it`s better to invest a little and do it yourself. A full detail will run you over $200 anyway.

[tquill]

`I don\`t have any experience with polishing or anything, much less machine polishing. I read that the PC is pretty newbie proof...? Is that correct? Also I have some pretty rounded surfaces which would need polishing.... Those would be ok to use the PC on? Or I just forgot you had a 350 too, the front lip that\`s under the grill, would it be ok to use the PC on that rounded and small of a surface?\r\n\r\nThanks a lot for your help... I\`ll definitely buy on of those in the next day or two. Which model should I get, the one that I see everywhere on this site I assume right?`