Polishing out touch-up paint spots

LouDawg · May 2, 2006

What's a "quick and dirty" way to polish/buff out some touch-up paint spots? I'm not looking for perfection, but I did some touching up on my silver-ish Nissan pickup last night and, while the color matches good, the spots look like sh#@!!!

I just want a good, safe polishing compound and the right way to finish it off...

TIA!!!

bretfraz · May 2, 2006

Most of the "scratch remover" polishes should be plenty safe. Look for Mothers Scratch Remover, Meguiars Scratch-X or that new NuFinish Scratch Doctor whateveritis. Most auto parts stores will carry them.

LouDawg · May 2, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by bretfraz:
Most of the "scratch remover" polishes should be plenty safe. Look for Mothers Scratch Remover, Meguiars Scratch-X or that new NuFinish Scratch Doctor whateveritis. Most auto parts stores will carry them.

Thanks...I'll give 'em a try!

1 FMF · May 3, 2006

I bought this a couple years ago and it works good. The chip repair liquid slowly removes touchup paint but doesn't harm clearcoat so you can blend out touch up blobs or remove them altogether.
I had to order it direct from mothers, it was fairly cheap at $10. But it looks like they don't carry it anymore, not on their website, but I did find it at amazon.com though. Autogeek looks like they have similar stuff, called Lanka, but is $20.
Key word is paint chip repair.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002JMVE2/104-6504209-9327169?v=glance&n=228013

rszappa1 · May 4, 2006

That is the same product and LANKA which has been out for years...sometimes it works other times it does not...Depends on how deep the chip is...the deeper the better for this product to work well...

LouDawg · May 5, 2006

I've already done the touch up with Nissan's factory touch up paint, and I tried Meguiar's chip/polish fixer-upper-stuff, and it didn't do anything. Basically, I now have very smooth touch up paint spots, but the touch up color still stands out. Will the Mother's or Lanka help blend in the colors?

iontrap · May 5, 2006

Wow, I was just thinking about this question. I might give the Meguiars Scratch X a try first.

Nebraskan · Aug 2, 2006

On my Buick I spray painted the GM color match and it really blended in nicely with the same hood color, a GM 9800 Dark Cherry metalflake. Some call it Maroon

But, I ended up with some overspray that a blind man could feel with his fingers across the finish. Will rubbing compound or Mothers do any good? Next project I'll use 40 grit sanding discs and a wood rasp.. LOL

Nebraskan · Aug 2, 2006

Can't we make the Email notification automatic???

darksparkz · Aug 2, 2006

You can try using rubbing compound or using 1000grit sand paper. Is there a clearcoat on top of the base color coat?

harrydog · Aug 2, 2006

I've never been able to make touch-up spots blend in well and I've tried several different products.

Once, the dealer scratched my door while doing some work on my car and they sent a guy to my house to repair it. When he was finished, I literally could not tell where the scratch had been.
What he appeared to do was apply thin coats of regular touch-up paint and let it dry for maybe
20-30 minutes. He would then apply a carnauba cleaner wax and rub it in really well. He repeated this process quite a few times until he got it perfect. I may try it some time. I think the key is to not let the paint dry to the point where it becomes really hard.

[ August 03, 2006, 08:26 AM: Message edited by: harrydog ]

Nebraskan · Aug 2, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by darksparkz:
You can try using rubbing compound or using 1000grit sand paper. Is there a clearcoat on top of the base color coat?

Yes, the there is a clearcoat on top.

AndyH · Aug 2, 2006

quote:

Originally posted by LouDawg:
I've already done the touch up with Nissan's factory touch up paint, and I tried Meguiar's chip/polish fixer-upper-stuff, and it didn't do anything. Basically, I now have very smooth touch up paint spots, but the touch up color still stands out. Will the Mother's or Lanka help blend in the colors?

Sounds to me like either the paint on your Nissan has faded a little bit, or the Nissan factory touch-up paint isn't quite the same color as your vehicle. Probably nothing you can do other than have a body-shop mix up some "custom" paint for you.

johnd · Aug 4, 2006

This technique works well on lighter color paints. Fill the chip with a toothpick so there is no paint on the outside of the chip itself. You have to do it a little at a time. If you do get a hump or get some around the edges, use 1000-1200 grit sandpaper wet and a block to get the surface back to level, polish and wax. This way you do not end with clearcoat on top of the chip but it still looks pretty good.

Nebraskan · Aug 19, 2006

I gave it another sand, and it was like glass... FROSTED glass Now I will need to add another bit of spray paint to correct the frosty mug look. I wanted some protection but it looks like it sure could use some better-than-me help.

GMGuy · Aug 19, 2006

quote:

Will the Mother's or Lanka help blend in the colors?

Blending is part of the painting process. You won't be able to make two different colors into one if that is what you are trying to avoid.

quote:

I gave it another sand, and it was like glass... FROSTED glass Now I will need to add another bit of spray paint to correct the frosty mug look. I wanted some protection but it looks like it sure could use some better-than-me help.

What grit paper did you use to sand it? Before you lay another coat of paint on it, use at least 1000 grit and water to gently polish up the spot.
After that you can follow up with a polishing compound.
Whats the saying again, 10% paint, 90% prep? That prep includes seemingly endless hours of sanding AFTER painting to get a mirror finish.

Alex.

Nebraskan · Aug 19, 2006

I used 1500 grit wet and dry. But it seemed to take off the paint "Dupli-Color" fairly easily. It was like the new spray paint is softer than the regular paint/clearcoat on the vehicle.

Dave H · Aug 21, 2006

I use 1500 wet, and then 2000 wet. I'd even use finer if I could find any near me. I also use extremely gentle pressure. Almost nothing but the weight of the paper. It takes awhile, but is worth it. Then polish out with a good polish, or even a fine rubbing compound if you are very gentle with it (like 3M's for 1500 grit sanding marks). Working very slow but a longer time frame with gentler products will usually achieve much better results in the long run. Trying to remove too much too quick is a bad thing here.

Dave

Polishing out touch-up paint spots

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