Pearl white touch up paint "too transparent"

C

curls

New member
I have a number of stone chips on my 2004 Acura TSX. The color is a really nice pearl-white (looks light beige in some light, bright white in others, and up-close, has a really nice metallic flake to it).



Anyhow, some of the stone chips went through to the metal, and after trying numerous techniques (3M sanding pen, toothpick paint application, etc...), I STILL can't get the paint to match. The problem is that the touch up paint (OEM) is WAY too transparent.



I can still see grey underneath, and dark grey if the chip was down to metal.



I had a 1991 Integra before this, in white, and the touch up paint was a LOT easier to match -- never looked "transparent" or "opague".



And idea how to get the pearl white to look even halfway decent? I've tried layering it (4 layers) and it still gets nowhere close. If I really pile it high, just for kicks, it matches (but then again is about 3mm above the surface, so by the time I get it down to level w/ sandpaper or whatnot, its too see-through again!).



I was thinking I'd use a non-pearl white touch up paint (from my Teg) to act as a base, and then use the oem paint as a top coat to color match. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea?



Thanks all!!!



~Eric
 
I was thinking I'd use a non-pearl white touch up paint (from my Teg) to act as a base, and then use the oem paint as a top coat to color match. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea?
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Yes that should work as long as the white is close to the same. Pearl paints are transparent and need either a base coat or many layers.
 
so your car is Premium White Pearl ? Thats a tri-coat paint so yes it has a soild base - either white or silver most likely .

Give me the paint code and I'll help you figure what you need to do

Look on your plate on the drivers door pillar . should be two letter , two digits and give the last two numbers of your VIN also please
 
When I worked at a body shop, the painter mixed up some touch up paint for me for my pearl white Maxima. He warned me that it was a pain in the as* to touch up pearl white paint, and it would never match.



So he mixed up a can of base coat for me, and a can of pearl coat. He said to apply the white base coat first, and then apply the pearl coat. I was never able to get it to match at all. It would always be a different shade. Good luck with whatever you do. I'm happy with my new silver car. It should be WAY easier to touch up.
 
All honda paint I've used (as well as mazda) has been like that...since they're the same company as honda, acura paint is probably the same. Even if this weren't the case pearls are also very difficult to match. If it were me I'd try to get a decent match made at an automotive paint store or bodyshop. The smallest they'll do will probably be much more than you need, but it should be better than the crappy OEM touch up.



white95max said:
I'm happy with my new silver car. It should be WAY easier to touch up.
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Not with mazda paint. You'll have the same issue with it having too much clear. You could get Ford paint code TS and I believe it'll be pretty darn close to your color, or get it mixed up elsewhere.
 
The thing is the base coat can be heavy as it is the reflective coat really . The pearl coat has to be thin somewhat , but wont matter as much cause all it will do is look like a tiny spot off color .

Tricky part is getting the clear on . You try to keep the touch up level , then you have to put the cleat over after base/pearl tacks and eventually blend it with the original paint .

With small rock chips , the color being off doesnt matter when youre looking at the car two feet away .

If the clear isnt blended properly though , it will stick out no matter how small .
 
My '97 arctic pearl white Maxima is the same way (and probably the same color as White95Max's). Being a tri-coat, a white basecoat needs applied first, then the pearl. Going by just the paintcode on my car's placard, I got a bottle of the touchup from the dealer. It has absolutely no white in it; it just looks like a translucent pearl. I read some posts on another board, and also got the arctic white basecoat. Neither paint by themselves is even close to a match. But I'm guessing that when applied together properly, they'll be pretty close. A pro painter told me pearl or metallic paints are basically impossible to get a 100% match. Has something to do with the perfect blending of the batch of paint when manufactured and then application of the same exact thickness/number of layers. He said the best he'd be able to get was 90% match, and that may be stretching it. But on the good side, he said my little stone chips would be virtually unnoticeable with a 90% match. I seriously doubt I'll get a good match doing it myself, but I'm going to practice a lot on some scrap first to try it.

On a related note, I'm thinking of trying some touchup stuff with an airbrush. I figure with that I may be able to more accurately layer the paint, and blend it in to the surrounding paint to hide it even more. Anyone have any luck doing it this way? And would the edges be to thin to be durable, and start flaking with time or something? (a paint supply store clerk told me of this possibility when I ran the idea by him) I don't have an airbrush as of yet, so I'm not too familiar with the finished "product" so to speak.



Dave
 
What everyone mentioned above is correct. It is a pain to correct. I also had a G2 93 Integra with Frost White paint before. The paint quality was better and didn't chip as easily(not water based). I now drive an 05 Pearl White TSX and noticed chips in the hood that have exposed the primer. I have had decent results using the Chip-Mender touch up paint pens. It comes in two steps. The first step is the basecoat and the second is the pearl. Coming out of a pen, I found it much more precise than a brush.



3_pens.jpg




You can purchase here for about $7, http://www.handa-accessories.com/tsx.html
 
Master Gaignun said:
What everyone mentioned above is correct. It is a pain to correct. I also had a G2 93 Integra with Frost White paint before. The paint quality was better and didn't chip as easily(not water based). I now drive an 05 Pearl White TSX and noticed chips in the hood that have exposed the primer. I have had decent results using the Chip-Mender touch up paint pens. It comes in two steps. The first step is the basecoat and the second is the pearl. Coming out of a pen, I found it much more precise than a brush.



3_pens.jpg




You can purchase here for about $7, http://www.handa-accessories.com/tsx.html
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Did these at least solve the transparency problem? And from the site it looks as though that's a 2-step paint (paint + clear), not a 3-step (base + pearl + clear). Wouldn't that be the same as my touch up bottle I got from the dealership (I also bought clearcoat in a pen at a local automotive store).



Can anyone suggest a good paint and color I can use as a base coat for this repair? I will only be able to put maybe 2 VERY thin coats, so I need good hideability with this base coat. (non-transparent).



Thanks!

~Eric
 
Gonzo0903 said:
You could also just have a bad tube of touch up paint... it hapopens!
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Doubtful - many people on tsx.acurazine.com have this problem, especially with the Premium White Pearl.
 
papi_jay said:
so your car is Premium White Pearl ? Thats a tri-coat paint so yes it has a soild base - either white or silver most likely .

Give me the paint code and I'll help you figure what you need to do

Look on your plate on the drivers door pillar . should be two letter , two digits and give the last two numbers of your VIN also please
Click to expand...



From ChipMender.com:



NH624P Premium White Pearl (requires 2 pens) $11.95



The last 2 digits of my VIN are "32"



I am positive that NH624P is my paint code, as I recall seeing it on the touch up bottle as well.



Thanks a TON for helping me here!!

~Eric
 
http://paintscratch.com/ is where you want to go curls . At the 3rd screen directly above the color blocks , read the Honda/Acura owners Please read!! link or click there <<

You have to find your factory code and enter it into the box for perfect matched kit .

Paintscratches kit consists of pens or touch-up bottles of base/pearl/clear .



Depending what technique you want to use to fix the chips will determine which one you want .

The pens are cool , but also the tried and true touch up bottles match stick or super fine tip painters brush , paint knick sander pen and wetsanding the mounds works awesome if you relly take your time learning how to do it right .

Base coat can be thick as you want with barely a layer left for pearl and clear to blend properly .

Autopia has a good write up for touch ups .

Use extreme caution when wet sanding and only with 2000 grit - take your time , the mound WILL work down .

Also there is a pencil eraser with a hole punch out and rubber cement to punch out a sandaper hole and only work on the mound that works well , but I dont have a link .

Good luck

P.S. Since this is spot / chip repair paintscratches' system may also be a custom blend of base + pearl in one . They've been doing it for 15 years though , they know what to do for it to match up right .
 
Thanks for the info papi_jay.



Unfortunately, $52.00 is WAY too much for me to spend on 1 oz. of paint. I think I will look for the dual-pens (like handa-accessories.com sells) locally. PaintScratch.com wanted over $41.00 USD for the two required pens, and convert that to CDN$ and add the duty I'll be paying, and its not worth it.



Thanks again!

~Eric
 
you're only covering chips though . 1 oz of paint is enough for an entire hood and fenders FULL of chips . that's 1 oz each of base/pearl/clear .

Your money though of course , just thought I'd clear that up .
 
papi_jay said:
you're only covering chips though . 1 oz of paint is enough for an entire hood and fenders FULL of chips . that's 1 oz each of base/pearl/clear .

Your money though of course , just thought I'd clear that up .
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OK, a bit of potential justification:



How long is the shelf life of this paint -- If I only use it once or twice a year, how long can I expect this paint to last in the pens (or bottles, whatever I choose to get), without going bad and not matching?



For $50+, I'd like to get a LONG time out of this paint.
 
Good luck getting pearl white to match. Note that it's a multi-step (3-4 steps) paint system- more than just basecoat/clear. Even pro shops have an *awful* time getting it to match when they spray it. My father's pearl white Audi never did get matched decently after many tries.



I find that touchup paint lasts a long time if it's sealed properly. I have some that's still OK and it was bottled in the early '90s.



FWIW, I generally don't bother touching up stone chips on our silver vehicles. It always shows and as the museum curator said "real cars have stonechips". If rust is the worry, use a little rust converter. The chips on the Jag are still OK after 19 years with just two applications of Rust Avenger.
 
For bottles to last longest , take saran wrap and place over the top before screwing lid back on .

For pens to last , clean the tip with paintScratches thinner before storing .

Dip the tip into a small cap with the thinner in it without depressing the tip and let it sit a second or two and shake out the excess off the tip .

Do that after each use when you will be setting the pen to the side and not using a few hours so paint doesn't set on the tip and cause improper flow and lay .
 
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