what to do with VERY tiny rock marks on black ?

[chip douglas]

On the fron of my hood i had like a good bunch of chip to be done, which are ok now, but there are still a good deal of much much tinier ones, that can very hardly be done, as they re not really chips, i mean they re ever so small, i can notice em only cause my car is black.



What do you guys do to solve this ? A glaze a i guess ?



I thought i would ask just in cse someone would come up with something i havent thought about, since im very tired, and may have forgotten something very obvious.



best regards:wavey

[Jngrbrdman]

If you can feel the damage with your fingernail then glazes aren`t going to fix them. Colorsanding the hood is the way to fix those. Or you can just wetsand and touch up each one of them individualy. There isn`t a product that you can apply that will hide them though.



Its worse on black because you can see them more, but I think that most daily drivers deal with the `sand blasted` hood look. Wetsanding the hood is really the only way to remove them or even hide them. I`ve put more layers of stuff on my car than you can imagine and I can still find those damn dots when I`m looking for them. You can`t hide them. They have to be removed. Its possible that a heavy cut on the car could do the work for you. Maybe a rotary with a wool pad and Diamond cut could do it. lol I wouldn`t doubt that you wouldn`t have any paint problems after a couple passes with that combo. :p

[chip douglas]

you re talking to me about wet sanding them, but have tried it yourself ?....If so what were the results ? Holy jesus, i have like 60 of them on front of hood :scared :shocked :(



Of course i could have the hood repainted, but the thing is i want to keep it`s original paint as long as i can possibly can, for obvious reasons. As to wetsanding, i know it is the way to go, but the whole front of hood would have to be wetsanded then, and quite frankly i dont feel like practicing on my own car, so i would have to have the job professionally done i guess.



Another thing is i can catch my fingernail in em dots, so i would have to remove a lot of clear if not all of it :scared :nixweiss



the best i have done so far is to fill them so they are slightly beyond surrounding paint then wait couple days and try and blend them using the rotary and some polish.....usually it does an ok job.

[DETAILKING]

Make your peace with them.....its only gonna get worse as time goes on. THey are probably through the clear coat, so I wouldnt try any abrasives. You probably cant see them from 6 feet away anways, so thats not that bad, as in most cases....



If you decide on a repaint, you can look into some clear bras like XPEL.....

[chip douglas]

I guess it`s d best to preserve original paint as long as i can, instead of having it repainted, unless reconditoning paint is alomost as good as automaker`s paint...........i know a lot of guys use dupont paint, which is very good stuff.



DETAILKING, do you suffer from sandblasted hood as well:D ....it`s comperable to any degenerating disease, it eats away at you, unless one do as you suggested, and make peace with it, and wuite frankly and though i don`t like to admit it, i dont think there s much to do aside making peace with it, as you say:(

[Accumulator]

Chip Douglas- I second DETAILKING`s "make your peace" suggestion. Aggressive abrasive processes will only hasten the day when you`ll have to repaint.



When (if) you just can`t stand them, get the hood repainted by a GOOD shop. FWIW, I too prefer (imperfect but) original paint.



*I* would use a product that doesn`t make such things jump out at you. Sorry, at the moment I can`t remember what you`re using :o Something like SG, Zaino, etc. that doesn`t leave a residue the way wax does will minimize how noticeable they are.

[chip douglas]

I use zaino, and s100 as well. As to having it repainted, well, i asked a good shop(whose owner ive known for years.......the guys is a custom painter, and does museum car paintjobs) he said that if my hood is heavily sandblasted, he has to repaint the whole hood, fenders, and maybe bumper as well. He said that for hood + fenders, it`d cost me like 300$(CAD $)..............as for cost, it`s reasonable, but how long will that repaint job last ?? I`m sure it`d be nice to my eyes, and prolly match quite well, but as to durability, im not too sure...........prolly why a LOT of people prefer to maintain factory paint.



accumulator,what have you found best to hide em small rock chips on front hood ?





catch you later bud:doh

[DETAILKING]

Yeah, my car has some chips in the hood.........



You cant see it though unless you are really looking. I expect it to get worse as the miles rack on from highway driving. In comparison my Silver Z-28 had NO chips in it after 50K of highway driving....

[Accumulator]

Originally posted by Chip Douglas

I use zaino, and s100 as well. As to having it repainted, well, i asked a good shop(whose owner ive known for years.......the guys is a custom painter, and does museum car paintjobs) he said that if my hood is heavily sandblasted, he has to repaint the whole hood, fenders, and maybe bumper as well. He said that for hood + fenders, it`d cost me like 300$(CAD $)..............as for cost, it`s reasonable, but how long will that repaint job last ?? I`m sure it`d be nice to my eyes, and prolly match quite well, but as to durability, im not too sure...........prolly why a LOT of people prefer to maintain factory paint.



accumulator,what have you found best to hide em small rock chips on front hood ?





catch you later bud:doh



Heh heh, honestly, I don`t currently have a car with that kind of pitting. A few of our cars DO have SOME pitting of that nature, I just don`t worry about it. I don`t apply any of my products heavily enough to worry about "white residue" highlighting the chips. Your Zaino oughta work as well as anything and the S100 will be OK if you apply it thin and really buff it out of the chips.



*I`VE* never had a problem with repaints by GOOD shops (but I`ve had PLENTY of problems with work by LOUSY shops). Your price sounds suspiciously low to me, but prices DO vary. No, it`s usually not as good as the (baked) factory paint, and some of us just like to keep original paint on certain cars. But on "drivers", I`d say "paint it".



Examples similar to your situation:



Accumulatorette`s A8 had to have a bunch of paintwork (including the hood, front bumper cover, and a front fender) done after the dealership`s car jockey got sideswiped by a semi. Silver is tough to match, but it really does look OK (we`re particular enough that if it DIDN`T, I`d have replaced the vehicle). Yeah, *I* can tell, but I`m looking for it. It`s been a few years now and so far it`s holding up just fine.



The front bumper cover of the WRX got creamed by some highway debris. Replaced and repainted, again, no problems so far (including the plugged license plate holes).