[DeTomaso] Paint chipped

[David F. Bakker]

I can pick the center of the chip. There is a body shop not too far from me who is always doing a Ferrari or Mercedes. Im going to take it to there to see what they can do.

-David


From: JJD1010 at aol.com [mailto:JJD1010 at aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 2:15 PM
To: David F. Bakker; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Paint chipped

In a message dated 7/21/2007 8:46:28 AM Central Daylight Time, dbakker at arrayasolutions.com writes:

Red top middle of the passenger fender. It doesn't look like its delaminating but I almost feel I  can pick the paint right off of it.
.

David, I have a paintless dent repair shop here in Dallas so I'm pretty familiar with the different paint touch up techniques. Because of where it's at, (on a top, highly visible surface) there are not any really good solutions. Touch up is always a touch up and that means a careful eye will be able to tell. So, short of a costly repaint of the entire fender and all the color match problems that go along with red, you want to pick the solution with the least amount of negatives. In my experience, that usually means "less is more."

Forgot to ask what kind of paint it is? Lacquer, basecoat/clearcoat?

So, first of all, make sure it's not delaminating. If it looks like the paint is coming off, it eventually will. Take a very sharp pointed pick (dentist pick or thin, sharp pointed knife) and very gently touch around the outside to see if there are any weak/loose spots. If so, you might as well pick them off now. Remember that less is more here too. The goal is to keep the chip as small as possible. If it keeps delaminating, I've seen some luck with super glue but that is generally not a real good solution.

For paint, you're better off going to a good paint dealer. Take your car and ask them to match the color. Some places are better at this than others, make sure you feel comfortable with the person doing the work. And ask them to test it on the car. You'll probably have to buy a quart to get a good match.

Lastly, make sure there is no rust in the chip.

Touch up techniques:

1. Sand the area smooth and then spray on the touch up with an airbrush.  Very difficult to do, leaves a low spot, color match issues, orange peel matches, and there will always be a blend line in the red or clearcoat, even for professional touch up people or painters. Most wouldn't even try it because of the color and where it is.

2. Because you have a solid color paint, you can take a fine tip paintbrush and layer in the paint several times so that it builds up to the level of the current paint. Do not let the paint get onto the existing paint. Once you've layered it on enough to rise just above the surface of the old paint, take some 2000 grit sandpaper and sand it level with the old paint, polish and your done. If you have a clearcoat paint on the car now, use the clear coat at the end to go above the level of the old paint and then sand. The clearcoat will help keep the red from fading as much. When sanding, wrap the paper around a small flat block and be gentle. With this technique, the edge of the chip will still be there as a fine line but you'll have to look hard to see it. Note, there is a product called Langka that claims it will level the paint blob; it doesn't work very well. Don't waste your money.

With metallic paints, this is kind of a hit or miss proposition. If the metallic flakes are at a slightly different angle, the color won't look exactly right. Use a very thin layer or airbrush it and try not to have it thicker at the edges, you want it to be absolutely flat throughout the whole process. You can use a brush for the clear coat, and then sand smooth.

3. Some of the professional touch up people have a new process that uses a very thick paint/paste that is premixed with the color. They squeegee it on and it fills the chip. Color matching may be an issue. Try this number to see if there is one in your area, 866-358-0777 or google it. Make sure they guarantee that it will meet your expectations.

4. Hire a professional touch up person. Hard to find really good ones. They all say they are the greatest and reference all the dealers they do work for. (Dealers, in general, only care about how cheap they can get the work done for, not how good the quality is.) Risky and costly for good ones. They always seem to want to do too much. And blend lines and differences in the orange peel are always visible.

I'm sure there are others but these are the ones I know. Numbers 2 and 3 would be my choice, in that order.

Good luck,

Jeff
6559



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