Paint chips..

[Russ@Exclusive]

What is the best method for fixing a minor chip. I have one person with a chip maybe one square centimeter and someone else with a minor scratch from a key. Both are down to bare metal.

[JaredPointer]

Factory touch up paint, wetsanding, and the polishing out the sanding marks. I have had very good luck with "overfilling" the scratch or chip, wetsanding it down, and then polishing the area.

[Russ@Exclusive]

That was exactly the process I was thinking. I figured I can always fill it up too much then polish down until it was level with the paint. What combo should I use? Would SSR1 + White or stronger? Maybe orange? Or SSR2.5 or a diff. polish?

[Luster]

That was exactly the process I was thinking. I figured I can always fill it up too much then polish down until it was level with the paint. What combo should I use? Would SSR1 + White or stronger? Maybe orange? Or SSR2.5 or a diff. polish?

I use a "layering" process... thin coats of paint to fill the chip, repeating until the paint is slightly above the paint surface...

Then wet sand with 1000, 1500, 2000. Then polish with SSR2.5, orange pad. Then SSR1 with white pad.

I just did this on my white Trans Am. Came out great...

It`s been about a month and I noticed that the paint has a tendency to shrink on larger chips.

Might have to do it again in a few months to fill in the shrinkage...

[Russ@Exclusive]

How long did it take you to do a small scratch? I figure I will only charge like $10 to do this scratch since its about an inch or so and my friend is supplying the paint.

[JaredPointer]

How long did it take you to do a small scratch? I figure I will only charge like $10 to do this scratch since its about an inch or so and my friend is supplying the paint.

To do it right, it may take some time. It`s not a fifteen minute job - the paint has to set up and dry before you can sand it.

[Luster]

How long did it take you to do a small scratch? .

It was 2 fairly deep nicks... about 1/2" long each. Had to put about 4-5 layers of touch-up paint on with drying time between layers. It probably took over 2 hours including touchup, sanding, polishing.

[Russ@Exclusive]

Alright thanks for all the help guys.

[CharlesW]

Paint chip repair has been a mixed bag for me.
It is a long drawn out PIA job.
As mentioned, the touchup paint will shrink for weeks and until it stops, I wasn`t able to do a satisfactory job. If you have the patience to spread the layers out over several weeks/months, maybe you will have better luck than I do.
I now just fill any areas I am concerned with and forget about them for a month or two. At the end of that time, I still usually need to add more paint.
I once had it done professionally over a period of three weeks. They sanded and filled it to start, added another layer in a week, another layer the second week, wet sanded and polished it the third week. Six months later, the paint had shrunk even more and I had to do it over.

[Luster]

Paint chip repair has been a mixed bag for me.
It is a long drawn out PIA job.
As mentioned, the touchup paint will shrink for weeks and until it stops, I wasn`t able to do a satisfactory job. If you have the patience to spread the layers out over several weeks/months, maybe you will have better luck than I do.
I now just fill any areas I am concerned with and forget about them for a month or two. At the end of that time, I still usually need to add more paint.
I once had it done professionally over a period of three weeks. They sanded and filled it to start, added another layer in a week, another layer the second week, wet sanded and polished it the third week. Six months later, the paint had shrunk even more and I had to do it over.

You`re absolutely right about the shrinkage... PITA!