Januari 23, 2017
larry kosilla: what'sup, guys? i'm larry from ammonyc.com. and one of the most commonquestions i receive is how to properly touch up yourcar's paint. in this episode, we'll discusshow to resolve chip damage caused by dings and rocks. in addition to resolving theunsightly chip marks, touch-up primarily protects the paintfrom future corrosion. that's all coming up today onthis episode of "drive clean."
[music playing] larry kosilla: detailing cars isa very visual skill that i learned by watching talentedartists in their respective fields. our industry has several methodsfor touching up cars. some techniques work betterthan others, and some professionals and weekendwarriors are more precise and patient than others when itcomes to the application. as you can see on the hood ofmy car, the previous owner
should be commended for takingtime to touch up the rock chips, but the result wasn't necessarily visually beautiful. today i'm going to walk youthrough the methods i'm most comfortable using. the process typically takes acouple of days from start to finish, so patienceis required. it involves four steps-- assessing, prepping, applicationand leveling.
but before we get started,here's what you need-- touch-up sticks, 2000 gritsandpaper, carnauba wax, rubbing alcohol, microfibertowel, heat gun, no. 2 pencils, crazy glue, colorcoat and clear coat, touch-up paint and hole punch. step one is assessing thedamage to determine the severity of the impact. does it need touch-up, or willwet sanding be enough? proper touch-up is a long andsometimes tedious process.
and if the impact can berepaired by simply wet sanding, i would avoid usingtouch-up if at all possible. since these two areas aremissing clear-coat paint and bare metal is exposed, touch-upis our only option. first i circle the area with apaint pen to help find the small chip quickly and to showyou the viewers at home where we're working. next, it's important to cleanout the jagged and loose edges of the existing chipfor two reasons.
the first one is you don'twant to put touch-up over unsecure paint, becauseit'll simply fall off, defeating the purpose. it's much like scraping flakypaint off an old house before the painting process begins. the second is that by scuffingup the bottom of the chip, the touch-up that you will soonapply will have better adhesion because it's not asmooth, slippery surface. to do this, you'll need a pencilwith an unused eraser,
one 2000 grit sandpaper,and a hole punch. cut out one piece of sandpaperand remove it from the hole punch reservoir. this tiny perfect circle sitsatop the pencil's eraser with a drop of crazy glue. be sure to affix thesandpaper with the gritty side facing outwards. the purpose of this trick is toonly scuff up the chip and not the surrounding area, ifpossible, because we only want
touch-up within thechip itself. the number one reason whytouch-up has a tendency to look bad is because it overflowsinto the surrounding areas that don't actually needit, causing an uneven or bumpy texture that is obviousto the eye. however, the pencil trickfocuses the repair precisely where it's needed most. the next step is a techniquei've used for years to help corral the touch-up paint intothe scratch and to avoid the
non-chipped areas. first, add a light layer ofcarnauba wax over the entire area, including the chip. next, use rubbing alcohol on atouch-up stick to clean out or remove the wax from the chip. you may need to do this severaltimes to ensure no waxes remain on the exposedbare metal. the reason we do this is becauseany waxed surface will not allow touch-ups to stickto it, which helps us avoid
the number one cause of badtouch-up jobs, and that, of course, is having touch-upin the wrong area. it also helps with the cleanupprocess, because misplaced drips can be wipedaway easily. now that the chip is clean andready to accept the touch-up, we need to mix the paint andclear-coat prior to the application. add an even amount of colorand clear-coat. then mix in a small cup untilit becomes slightly thicker,
or more viscous than water, butless viscous than syrup. this can be very tricky, becausethere's usually an optimal 10 to 20-minute windowof time before the paint becomes too clumpy. now, traditionally, color-coatwas added, dried, then clear-coat was addedon top afterwards. but from a practical standpoint,this is not as effective if your goal is tohave it look good as well. i prefer to mix the color-coatand the clear-coat together
prior to adding it to the chip,because it's a healthy balance between protection,looks, and ease of to apply this new mixture ofpaint and clear, i remove the fibers from the touch-up stickso that it's bare plastic. you can use a razor blade orsimply bite off the end. next, dip the touch-up stickinto the paint so that there's a small collectionat the very tip. your goal is to allow the paintto flow into the chip and to fill up thecavity slowly.
the most common misconceptionis that a painting motion is needed. it's best to actually dab andpush 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 makesure it doesn't get too hot during this process. as the touch-up dries, it willshrink, so additional layers
of paint will mostlikely be needed. this will take time, asteady hand, and a good deal of patience. next, wet sand the area with2500 grit to blend the surrounding paint, and notice ifit needs additional layers of touch-up. use even pressure with a foamor rubber sanding block. this process will help exposeanything 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 a3-inch rupes polisher. our goal is to see if we filledin the chip or if it needs additional layers. now, as expected, more touch-upis needed to build up the layers within the chip untilit's perfectly flat. repeat this process until you'recompletely satisfied. the touch-up process can takeone hour or one week, depending on your tools,skills, and level of
perfection required foryou to be satisfied. the very last step, of course,is to wax your car for additional protection. but always keep in the back ofyour mind that touch-up is designed to help preventpremature corrosion and with a bit of patience can make itlook much better, too. the small chips on the frontof my car have been filled, leveled and polished, all forsignificantly less money than if i had repainted it, andi'm feeling pretty good.
for a pdf download of ourstep-by-step tips on how to touch up your paint, be sureto visit ammonyc.com. well, that's if for me, guys. thanks again for watchinganother episode of "drive clean" right here onthe drive network. -like this, and rip thisthing off, right? ok, good. see how it came off? -yeah, that's great.
[inaudible] put it in your mouthand bite it off. -i have to put it in mymouth 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 upjust real quick?
-now you're bad ass.
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