LARRY KOSILLA: What's up, guys?
I'm Larry from ammonyc.com.
And one of the most common questions I receive is how to
properly touch up your car's paint.
In this episode, we'll discuss how to resolve chip damage
caused by dings and rocks.
In addition to resolving the unsightly chip marks, touch-up
primarily protects the paint from future corrosion.
That's all coming up today on this episode of "DRIVE CLEAN."
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LARRY KOSILLA: Detailing cars is a very visual skill that I
learned by watching talented artists in
their respective fields.
Our industry has several methods for touching up cars.
Some techniques work better than others, and some
professionals and weekend warriors are more precise and
patient than others when it comes to the application.
As you can see on the hood of my car, the previous owner
should be commended for taking time to touch up the rock
chips, but the result wasn't
necessarily visually beautiful.
Today I'm going to walk you through the methods I'm most
comfortable using.
The process typically takes a couple of days from start to
finish, so patience is required.
It involves four steps--
assessing, prepping, application and leveling.
But before we get started, here's what you need--
touch-up sticks, 2000 grit sandpaper, Carnauba wax,
rubbing alcohol, microfiber towel, heat gun, No.
2 pencils, Crazy Glue, color coat and clear coat, touch-up
paint and hole punch.
Step one is assessing the damage to determine the
severity of the impact.
Does it need touch-up, or will wet sanding be enough?
Proper touch-up is a long and sometimes tedious process.
And if the impact can be repaired by simply wet
sanding, I would avoid using touch-up if at all possible.
Since these two areas are missing clear-coat paint and
bare metal is exposed, touch-up is our only option.
First I circle the area with a paint pen to help find the
small chip quickly and to show you the viewers at home where
we're working.
Next, it's important to clean out the jagged and loose edges
of the existing chip for two reasons.
The first one is you don't want to put touch-up over
unsecure paint, because it'll simply fall off,
defeating the purpose.
It's much like scraping flaky paint off an old house before
the painting process begins.
The second is that by scuffing up the bottom of the chip, the
touch-up that you will soon apply will have better
adhesion because it's not a smooth, slippery surface.
To do this, you'll need a pencil with an unused eraser,
one 2000 grit sandpaper, and a hole punch.
Cut out one piece of sandpaper and remove it from the hole
punch reservoir.
This tiny perfect circle sits atop the pencil's eraser with
a drop of Crazy Glue.
Be sure to affix the sandpaper with the
gritty side facing outwards.
The purpose of this trick is to only scuff up the chip and
not the surrounding area, if possible, because we only want
touch-up within the chip itself.
The number one reason why touch-up has a tendency to
look bad is because it overflows into the surrounding
areas that don't actually need it, causing an uneven or bumpy
texture that is obvious to the eye.
However, the pencil trick focuses the repair precisely
where it's needed most.
The next step is a technique I've used for years to help
corral the touch-up paint into the scratch and to avoid the
non-chipped areas.
First, add a light layer of Carnauba wax over the entire
area, including the chip.
Next, use rubbing alcohol on a touch-up stick to clean out or
remove the wax from the chip.
You may need to do this several times to ensure no
waxes remain on the exposed bare metal.
The reason we do this is because any waxed surface will
not allow touch-ups to stick to it, which helps us avoid
the number one cause of bad touch-up jobs, and that, of
course, is having touch-up in the wrong area.
It also helps with the cleanup process, because misplaced
drips can be wiped away easily.
Now that the chip is clean and ready to accept the touch-up,
we need to mix the paint and clear-coat prior to the
application.
Add an even amount of color and clear-coat.
Then mix in a small cup until it becomes slightly thicker,
or more viscous than water, but less viscous than syrup.
This can be very tricky, because there's usually an
optimal 10 to 20-minute window of time before the paint
becomes too clumpy.
Now, traditionally, color-coat was added, dried, then
clear-coat was added on top afterwards.
But from a practical standpoint, this is not as
effective if your goal is to have it look good as well.
I prefer to mix the color-coat and the clear-coat together
prior to adding it to the chip, because it's a healthy
balance between protection, looks, and ease of
application.
To apply this new mixture of paint and clear, I remove the
fibers from the touch-up stick so that it's bare plastic.
You can use a razor blade or simply bite off the end.
Next, dip the touch-up stick into the paint so that there's
a small collection at the very tip.
Your goal is to allow the paint to flow into the chip
and to fill up the cavity slowly.
The most common misconception is that a
painting motion is needed.
It's best to actually dab and push the paint around to help
it settle into the chip.
To speed up the drying process, use a heat gun on low
for two to three minutes.
Keep touching the panel to make sure it doesn't get too
hot during this process.
As the touch-up dries, it will shrink, so additional layers
of paint will most likely be needed.
This will take time, a steady hand, and a
good deal of patience.
Next, wet sand the area with 2500 grit to blend the
surrounding paint, and notice if it needs additional layers
of touch-up.
Use even pressure with a foam or rubber sanding block.
This process will help expose anything you may have missed
during the original touch up.
To remove the wet sand marks, I'm using a microfiber cutting
pad, leveling fluid, and a 3-inch Rupes polisher.
Our goal is to see if we filled in the chip or if it
needs additional layers.
Now, as expected, more touch-up is needed to build up
the layers within the chip until it's perfectly flat.
Repeat this process until you're completely satisfied.
The touch-up process can take one hour or one week,
depending on your tools, skills, and level of
perfection required for you to be satisfied.
The very last step, of course, is to wax your car for
additional protection.
But always keep in the back of your mind that touch-up is
designed to help prevent premature corrosion and with a
bit of patience can make it look much better, too.
The small chips on the front of my car have been filled,
leveled and polished, all for significantly less money than
if I had repainted it, and I'm feeling pretty good.
For a PDF download of our step-by-step tips on how to
touch up your paint, be sure to visit ammonyc.com.
Well, that's if for me, guys.
Thanks again for watching another episode of "DRIVE
CLEAN" right here on the DRIVE network.
-Like this, and rip this thing off, right?
OK, good.
See how it came off?
-Yeah, that's great.
[INAUDIBLE]
put it in your mouth and bite it off.
-I have to put it in my mouth and bite it off?
-All right, hang on.
Any second.
-There you go.
-If you ask me.
-There, bro, now you got it.
-Can you hold it up just real quick?
-Now you're bad ass.