Rock chip repair prep?

[Micawber]

It seems that the paint on my '11 Camaro is prone to rock chips. There are quite a few already and I'm afraid the car will need repainting before long if I can't figure out how to deal with them. There are a few chips on the front fascia, hood, drivers mirror, and quite a few on the sides, especially behind the doors where the body flares wider. I picked up some touch up paint from a dealer and I'm going to try it soon. Do I need some kind of clear touch up paint too? The paint I have looks like it's in a pen type applicator but I'll try it on something else first and, depending on how that goes, maybe just use a toothpick or something to be more precise on the actual repairs.

So the first step would be to clean each spot of dust or wax, right? Since there are quite a few chips, should I instead clean and strip the whole car, try some repairs, then redo the wax after some time for the touchup paint to cure? Car wash soap is designed to leave the wax there, isn't it? Any suggestions on what to clean the car with?

Are there any other "gotcha's" that I should watch for?

[FX4619]

Re: Rock chip repair prep?

It seems that the paint on my '11 Camaro is prone to rock chips. There are quite a few already and I'm afraid the car will need repainting before long if I can't figure out how to deal with them. There are a few chips on the front fascia, hood, drivers mirror, and quite a few on the sides, especially behind the doors where the body flares wider. I picked up some touch up paint from a dealer and I'm going to try it soon. Do I need some kind of clear touch up paint too? The paint I have looks like it's in a pen type applicator but I'll try it on something else first and, depending on how that goes, maybe just use a toothpick or something to be more precise on the actual repairs.

So the first step would be to clean each spot of dust or wax, right? Since there are quite a few chips, should I instead clean and strip the whole car, try some repairs, then redo the wax after some time for the touchup paint to cure? Car wash soap is designed to leave the wax there, isn't it? Any suggestions on what to clean the car with?

Are there any other "gotcha's" that I should watch for?

You should check out Dr. ColorChip before you do anything.

[h_bomm]

Re: Rock chip repair prep?

Check out the Dr. Colorchip. I viewed the demo video on the website and it blew me away, i will be getting some sometime relatively soon for my truck to take care of my own rock chip problems.

[mis3]

Re: Rock chip repair prep?

Please update us with the results.

[Micawber]

Re: Rock chip repair prep?

Ok, update ... I already have the dealer's touch up paint so I'm trying to use it. I got some 'grease and wax remover', sold in the auto paint area of a local hardware chain outlet, and used it on the chip sites after a thorough washing. The chips are all too new to have any rust yet. I tried to use a fine toothpick to apply the paint but the paint dries too quickly to get it to transfer to the chipped site. The paint comes in a very small container with a 'pen' type tip so I tried that. It fills the chips but in most cases they're overfilled. At least the color matches perfectly and, my major concern, the metal underneath is no longer exposed. The small raised dot is much less visible than the open, off-color chip was too. I'm hoping that I'll be able to buff or sand the surface level again but I'm giving the new paint some time to dry first. I'm also hoping to end up with a repair that's indistinguishable even from close up, something that bothered me about the Dr.Colorchip product.

I still have to try buffing out the original swirl marks yet too, so I'll focus on the chip repair sites then. I don't have an inside work area yet and the weather outside has been too extreme this spring so far, either raining or high winds, with a few sunny days but very high temps in the sun. I'm a bit nervous about learning to use a DA while fighting the weather too, but it'll happen eventually. In the mean time, the car body is protected.

[Micawber]

Re: Rock chip repair prep?

I also just found another thread with a reply by Mr.Stoops on fixing the chip repair spots:

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?54305