brvette777

Greetings. Someone parked real close to me and I had my hands full and you know the rest of the story. My darn door swung open on its own a lot farther than I thought it would and scraped some paint off the edge of my door...enough that it can be seen even when the door closed. I have already gotten the order in for some torch red gm code 90 from Eckler's. Could someone give me tips on how to apply it. It took both the paint and primer off but is a very small area.

I do not have the expertise to do it the professional way and my game plan is to apply it in several layers using a toothpick. It doesn't have to be perfect but I do want it to be less noticeble. Right now it catches your eye but with red on it, it would not be so distacting. Do you guys think the touchup applied with a toothpick is the way to go or should I have the Chevy dealer handle it when I put the car in the shop for routine maintenance.

I have read that I should clean the area with "Goof Off' to be sure there is no loose paint. It says I should then apply primer (hopefully I can skip this step), then appy the touch up paint, then finally it says I should apply clear coat and then rub it with some sort of rubbing compound to blend it in. Is all of this necessary or do you think I can just apply the touch up paint alone? Or should I just let the Chevy body shop touch it up?

CMYC4GO

Damn! Are you painting the door edge or the whole car?
Just go down to Auto Zone and get a tube of Dupli-Color Torch Red Paint.
It matches surprisingly well. Clean the door edge w/alcohol and touch it up with several light coats. Simple as that.

brvette777

Glad to hear it. I have not used touch up paint before (never had a car worth using it on) so I wasn't sure if it could really be as simple as just putting it on evenly. It needs enough layers to bring it to the same height as the original paint.

avigar

Corrected Post:

Dupli-Color 70-9075/9076 (GM 510) Torch Red from Autozone, Pep Boys, Walmart, etc. Costs about $5.00 for the touch up bottle. Practice on a piece of plastic or something so you can get a feel for the brush stroke. Apply lightly and wait for a few minutes to dry before adding another layer.

CMYC4GO

He said Torch Red. I forget the code, but Dupli-Color does make Torch Red touch up paint.

leahy

using toothpick is the real deal for door edge paint touch ups! when i got my paint from www.touchuppaintonline.com for my SUV, I was being a knucklehead and didn't read the instructions. I just use the brush to put a whole blob on there. Then I called them up and they said to either apply in thin coats or use a toothpick. Since the chip was real small, the toothpick was great

avigar

Ok, missed that one, but post has been corrected. It seems that Torch Red, GM code WA9075, was used on the C4 models from '93 to '96.

anciano

Wal-Mart has GM touch-up paint, too. I use the brush -- can't see how the toothpick method is better unless you are filling a long, thin scratch.

Overblob (is that a word?) the spot with multiple layers of paint, then gently take it down to level with 2000-grit wet sandpaper, then polish with Scratch-X or some other swirl removing compound to remove the cloudiness.

If it's a BIG, DEEP chip you may have to first fill it with Bondo or something like that, because paint is not really a good filler. I use epoxy mixed with a lot of microbeads, but that's only because I have it left over from boat projects.

brvette777

Great advice....thanks. Well I already ordered torch red from Eckler's which they claim was good for vettes from 1993-2001 (GM code 70). I hope it is the right color. Spent way too much but oh well.

Alan777

Make sure you clean the area, rubbing alcohol works well. Use a toothpick or craft brush to put the paint in, and let it harden a little. Then use enamel reducer and a rag to take off the excess paint. Using a squeegee also helps.

This way you don't have to wetsand, leaving bad scratches behind.

Redeasysport

Wet sanding is not an issue use 3M finess it to polish it after wet sanding you can't see any scratches if done right(lightly, 2000 grit , spray bottle of water). Depending on how big an area I use a #2 pencil and tie wrap the sand paper over the eraser. You can spin it and do fine detail just like erasing the paint.

pologreen1

I bought a bottle of it from mid america and it matched perfect.

Alan777

2000 grit sandpaper is still going to put in 2000grit scratches. 3M Finesse it machine polish is a finishing polish, used to remove light scratches. By hand especially, it won't remove the wetsanding marks if you hit the surrounding clearcoat.

anciano

Excuse me, but that's utter nonsense. Luckily no one has to take my word or that of redeasysport -- go to any auto paint shop and ask the experts.

If you haven't done it it's probably best not to offer an opinion. Just for the record, I wetsanded with 2000 grit and then polished out the resulting haze -- NOT scratches -- with Meguires Scratch-X a couple of hours ago on my green '94, since the car is new to me and I'm in the process of fixing little flaws. If you were around here I'd challenge you to find the sanded spots.

Redeasysport

Done many spots on both my cars and I defy anyone to even tell where it was done at. Best to practice on a place no one can see the first time but once you learn how you can blend and finess it to the point of perfection (as long as you have the right color touch up).

Redeasysport

Problem with that is the correct touch up paint IS NOT enamel it is a base/clearcoat mix.

brvette777

Oh? I thought the touch-up paint I buy will be base only and that I will also have to by some touch-up clearcoat separately. Are you sure what I buy will be a base/clearcoat mix.

So guys for the record.....since I have never sanded before....should I go the sanding route or not? Also, should I buy primer to put on it before the touch-up paint?

Here are instructions for touch-up paint:

"Directions For Touch Up Paint Bottles
Surface Preparation

Thoroughly clean area to be repaired with dish soap (Joy, Dawn etc.) and water. Then dry completely. The use of prep solvent and a clean lint free towel assures the best clean surface free of wax, grease, and other oil based surface contaminates. For better results do not apply in direct sunlight.

If sanding is needed: Use 180 grit sandpaper to remove rust or bad surface damage. Then use 320 to remove 180 grit scratches.

Primer

Primer will fill in 180-320 grit sand scratches. Apply touch up primer over bare metal or plastic 2-3 coats 5-10 minutes in between each coat. Primer can be sanded with 600 wet sandpaper in as little as 30 minutes.

If you want to blend: after sanding the area with 600, sand the outer edge with 1500 wet sandpaper. Clean the sanding dust with plain water and dry well. Touch up paint basecoat color will cover over 600 grit scratches, clearcoat will cover up 1500 grit scratches.

Paint Touch Up Application

Thoroughly shake the touch up paint basecoat color before applying. Apply as many coats necessary to cover the area leaving 5-10 minutes minimum between light coats. Do not wet sand or use prep solvent in between coats of touch up paint or clearcoat.

Please allow 30 minutes after the last layer of base coat color application to apply touch up clearcoat. Apply 2-3 coats of clearcoat using a light dabbing motion waiting 10-20 minutes in between each coat. Be gentle with the brush because you do not want to disturb the undercoats.

Clearcoat should be dry to the touch in 1-2 hours, but will completely dry overnight. Use Rubbing Compound once fully dry to bring out and optimum level of gloss. Do not wax the fresh paint for one month. "

Could you tell me what steps you think are necessary? I just want to do the best job I can without screwing things up and making it worse.

Alan777

That depends on what you consider "correct."

My aunts Mercedes, for example uses a basecoat/clearcoat set for touch ups. ANy dealer paint I've seen [sually paint pens/brushes] were all basecoat/clear, not singlestage.

Keystring

Why don't you put up a picture of the damage?

It would be a lot easier to judge what should be done.

anciano

Yes, indeed. Your original post mentioned only a chip on the door edge, and if that is the case you probably don't have to do anything more than dab on a little touch-up. That elaborate procedure you quote might be appropriate for a large area, but 180 grit sanding and then primering seems like overkill for a small chip or scratch. I'm not sure I'd call that "touching up," but more like repainting a damaged area.

BTW, you mentioned using "Goof Off" to clean the area. It always seems to me that the stuff leaves an oily film, just what you don't want before painting. Use acetone instead. Alcohol works OK, too.