Ok so I dont know how it happened, but I have about 15 or so tiny chips on my hood , and they go down to the bare metal. What are my options for taking care of these? Any cheap companies around, or an easy and inexpensive way to do it myself?

6/10/2007 7:24:17 PM

I did this recently on my car. If your paint is metallic it will be next to impossible to get to look perfect.

1. Clean the surface really good. I used tar/wax stripper.
2. Get a tube of touchup paint, preferably one that has a pen and a brush.
3. Begin to fill chip with paint and repeat step 3 until the surface is about flush with the rest of it. This will take ~ 15-20 coats and let dry between coats.
4. Take some 400 grit wet dry automotive sandpaper and scuff the touched up paint to smooth the surface down and get it to match the surface of the car's paint. Be careful not to sand the rest of the paint.
5. Wet sand with 1000 grit (not too much just to blend it in)
6. Wet sand with 2000 grit (several inches around repair)
7. Use scratch remover polish or polishing compound and rub the shit out of it.
8. Wax it.

6/10/2007 9:28:14 PM

^that's pretty much the process

you're in for some work if you wanna do a good job of it...

6/10/2007 9:34:50 PM

ok so i dont need a primer? Also did you get the paint from the dealer, car shop, or lowes? Im not sure what you mean by metallic paint...but its a 2003 ford taurus so im sure its nothing fancy.

i think i can handle it though and if it looks bad i guess i can take it to a professional

6/10/2007 10:58:26 PM

Dealer would probably match the best, but it may run $2-3 more. By metallic paint I mean "do it shine in the light is it platinum is it gold". Does the paint have tiny specs of "glitter" that makes it sparkle somewhat.

Ford Taurus would have metallic green, gold, silver, ...
sometimes black is metallic and sometimes white is as well.

6/11/2007 5:57:41 AM