chip in paint down to bare metal

[GR00VY]

I am not new to detailing. I used to detail for a major car dealership for 2 years a while back and still detail family and friends cars occasionally. I have never used touch up paint on vehicle that had a chip down to the bare, shiny metal. Anyway, I had rocks get kicked up and hit my front left quarter panel. The chips went through all layers of clear coat, color, and primer. I cleaned the are off and degreased it. I had some rustoleum 2 in 1 primer and sprayed it in a container and dabbed some on the spots with a toothpick (Spots are about 2mm x 4mm). That was a pain in the butt because of how small the chips were. I had to keep wiping it off and reapplying it because some would run on to the good paint .

After getting good coverage with the primer. I let it dry for about 30 minutes and then applied the touch up paint. I let that dry for about 30 minutes to 45 minutes and hit it with hair dryer on hot. Then I applied a clear coat to seal it. This was all done in a 55 - 60 degree temperature. It cooled down over night to about the low 40s and then proceeded to rain. It rained on the fresh touch up job about 4 hours after I completed it. The paint doesn`t looked disturbed but my question is, do you think it was dry enough to keep out moisture when it rained? When I used to detail for mu job, the vehicles were inside afterward so it wasn`t a concern. When I have done this at home in the past the vehicle was in the garage. Well, this time my garage was full from moving so I did this in the driveway. I should have checked the weather for that night. So should it be ok? My concern is if it was not dry enough and moisture crept in it would form rust since the chip was down to the metal. Should I do this over or should it be good to go?

Thanks

[Accumulator]

GR00VY- I`d just keep an eye on it and hope it`ll be fine. Which I`d sorta expect it will be, though as I think you realize, we`re just playing the crystal ball game here.

Heh heh, IMO those were pretty sizable chips, not what I consider small, see how perceptions differ?!?

FWIW, maybe get some small artist`s brushes for the next time, sizes in the #1-#000 range are what I usually use (anything smaller gets problematic with metallics). Infinitely better than the toothpick approach, though admittedly a lot more expensive. The little disposable touchup brushes work surprisingly well too, at least if you use the right size for the given job (I have, IIRC, four different ones and that sure covers all the bases).

[GR00VY]

They aren`t tiny but small enough to be touched up with touch up paint. I ordered some new brushes. I am going to blend it better and wet sand, compound, and re-polish/wax to help blend. My main concern is about rust. I would imagine that it should be fine and if there were a problem I would notice within a few months if it started to rust under the paint because it would start to lift the paint.

[Accumulator]

GR00VY- I get *really* nervous when I read "wet sand". I strongly implore you to not do that for any reason. There are countless threads that feature "so I was carefully doing some very gentle wetsanding and I...[totally trashed my paint to where it`ll need expensive refinishing].." Seriously, and I am in *NO* way insulting your intelligence. IF you want to level it, I suggest you use a solvent-based approach instead.

People get something like...oh, 1500 grit with 2K for a follow-up, and figure "how tough can it possibly be?!? Very straightforward process..." and then things go horrifically sidways and they`re asking how to fix it (the inevitable answer being "with your checkbook").

And yeah, if there`s a rust issue you`ll see it sooner or later, the good news being it won`t be some "rusted out"-type issue.