My wife has a 2014 Z51 convertible in Laguna Blue.

The other day the overhead garage door caught the nose of her car on it's way down. It caused only minor damage but she felt terrible about the incident.

We took the clear bra material off the nose piece and polished most of the scratches/marks off the paint. There is a place right on the point of the nose, however, where the paint was rubbed off. It's only about 3/4 inch long and less than 1/4 inch high.

We took it to the dealer and they said they would have to pull the nose off, paint the whole thing and reinstall it. The estimate for the repair was $600.

The body shop manager suggested we just use some touch up paint on it, rub it out the best we could and have the clear bra replaced. He didn't think anyone would notice it. I asked him if that was something they could do for us since they have experience with this kind of thing. He said they didn't want to do that because they couldn't guarantee that we would be satisfied with the result.

I'm willing to give it a try and have been looking for touch up paint. We aren't serious show car people so it doesn't have to be perfect. I have absolutely no experience with this sort of thing and thought maybe some of the experts or vendors on the Forum could recommend a product that would be easy to use and give satisfactory results.

Here's a photo. The blemish on the upper left is just a bug. The damage I want to repair is on the very nose.

 

Good luck trying to match it. I have not had good results trying to match paint but I am curious to see the replys you get. I am sure someone can help you out.

 

Could you please send us a picture of it? We can go from there. I have done touch up and you can't even tell it was done. Even pointing directly at it. But it depends on what it looks like before I could make a suggestion. Thanks.

 

Here's a photo. The blemish on the upper left is just a bug. The damage I want to repair is on the very nose.

 

I would suggest you try Dr. ColorChip. My experience has been very good paint match. May take a few applications but you will end up with no touchup paint blob. Practice on lower rocker stone chips to get the hang of it.

 

OK. Because you have no experience with chip repairs, for this particular repair I suggest Dr Colorchip if you are going to try it yourself. That kit will let you reverse your repair if you don't consider it proper. And even if it hardens you can take it to a detail shop that also offers a chip repair service. They usually don't charge that much for doing a rock chip repair, and they are experienced. Dr Colorchip also has instruction videos on how to do it.
If you decide to go with the Dr Colorchip you could experiment with a rock chip on your car under the rocker area where nothing is noticed, or some other inconspicuous place.

 

I am not trying to add fire too the wound but that just must of caught it by a fraction . I feel your pain. Touch up paint will look great to everyone but yourself but if it was me I would still use touch up paint maybe from a good body shop. I would rather have that blemish than having the entire front nose painted.

 

The door actually hit the car about 2 or 3 inches above that scrape on the nose. There were scrapes and black marks all the way down to the nose. Fortunately the clear bra saved the paint. There are just a couple of very minor scratches in the paint just above the mark on the nose. You can see them in the photo if you know they are there.

 

Hey LEJ, sorry it happened, but that's life. I'm sure your did, but give your wifey a great big hug and tell her no big deal. This will serve you well the next time you mess up.

So........I have lots of painting experience. Here are my thoughts:
* Your dealer was correct - to do it 'right', the bumper needs to be removed, etc. They were also correct that it's a small deal and you can do it so it's hardly noticeable.
* There are no seams or other body 'curves' that are sufficient to try and blend this, so keep the repair area as small as possible.
* Go to Dr Colorchip as suggested and get the match for your paint - brush, not spray. Also get some clear - brush, not spray. They also have some other 'chip tools' and kits, and I think they have some videos to help you thru the process. BTW, my process may differ a bit from their suggestions. Use whichever you prefer. I know mine works for me - but I also used to shoot cars that I put in the world of wheels, etc.
* Mask off around the areas - an inch or two.
* Clean the area and get rid of the 'rough edges' around the damage with a small sanding tool (I'll bet DrCC has them).
* Use the paint and brush light coats in the damaged area, filling up the damaged area without going outside the damage much if at all.
* Use small amounts of paint for each coat and wait sufficiently between coats. Don't get impatient. What you're really trying to do is fill the damaged area to where it's sufficiently coated with color, but the 'level' or 'height' of the colored damage area is still slightly below the surrounding area. Let it dry.
* Use the clear, brush it on the same way: light coats, go ahead and overlap a bit. Get the damaged area to where the clear is now slightly 'above' or 'higher' than the surrounding non-damaged area. Don't get impatient. Let it thoroughly dry.
* Wet sand the area with a flexible rubber sanding pad. Do NOT sand using sandpaper and your hand without a flexible pad that will conform to the curves of the area. Start with 600 or 1000; then go to 2000. Just get the area to where you can see that it is now smooth with no ridges. Don't get carried away, use plenty of water while sanding, and check periodically so you don't go too far.
* Remove the taped area, use an orbital and soft pad, and polish the area to a nice gloss.

I know that DrCC and others have a 'smear, fill, and blend' type product set that works pretty well in many cases. But I don't think it will work with what I saw in the picture because the damaged area is a bit too large (IMO, without seeing it in person) and deep to use that method.

If you don't have all the tools, buy them and have some fun. Then you'll have them for the next time.

Hope this helps.

 

That is one great product, I advise you watch the video, several times, before doing it.
It really blends in done right, you will never see it.
I had chip from stone on my hood, used Dr ColorChip, and you never find the chip, blended it in, and I myself can't find it.

 

I also have a Laguna Blue car and have had poor results with regular touch up paint. The color is a poor match. I just received my Dr. Colorchip kit but am waiting for warmer weather to use it. I have several chips on my front fascia and hood. I'll post my results after I try it.

 

Thats an easy fix. A good detail guy can fix it easy.

 

Maybe a little practice touching up a spot on one of your other cars? Better to mess up there and to get an idea of what not to do.
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It sounds like Dr ColorChip is the way to go. I'll order some out, watch the video and give it a try.

Thanks for the help !

I'll try to repost after the job is complete.

 

perhaps this?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-2015-2...lVbuba&vxp=mtr

 

If you are going to have the clear film replaced I would take it to a professional detailer and see if they have paint match capability. That way perhaps you would only pay for replacing the film. The detailer that I used for my film has a lot of paint match capability and can do correction before applying the film. It could save you a step and some money.

 

drcolorchip should do the job to your satisfaction. Easy product/process to use.

 

There are matched paints available. The first place to try is a NAPA Paint and Body supply store. They may be able to blend a small can of paint for you. Not all NAPA stores sell Paint and Body materials/equipment so you may have to look for one.

https://www.automotivetouchup.com/

http://www.paintscratch.com/company/about.html
PaintScratch is the company I used for the touch up paint on my Jet Stream Blue 2008 Z06 when I damaged the nose of the car. The GM touch up paint didn't quite match and the first product I received from Paint Scratch didn't match either. True to their word when I called they worked with me to get a paint that did match perfectly.

A lot easier than working with DuplColor who doesn't sell direct to the Customer.

Bill

 

Just to add to hopper12's excellent process, wipe down with alcohol and let thoroughly dry before applying paint. I wish I had that process 2 days ago. I just repaired a similar location although smaller chip. I used Dr. Color Chip. Blade Silver was a perfect match. I tried their process of applying paint adjacent to the repair area, then wiping over the ding. It didn't work well on the wide, flat ding. And, following their directions of letting the paint dry a couple minutes/dry to touch then using the Sealac to smooth and remove excess removeded the paint from the repair area every time.

I ended up dabbing paint directly on the repair area, letting it dry thoroughly (~10 min on a 77 degree day), then wiping down with Sealac. It still would remove paint from the repair area but with each application (dab, let dry, wipe), it built up and finally offered complete coverage. Just keep repeating. The coverage got better and better with each application. I did something I usually don't do, and that is stop where I'm thinking one more time, and it'll be even better. For me, it never is.

End result, I'd call a one-footer. That is how close you'd need to be to see it. You'd need to know it was there to go look in the first place. Sorry the pix aren't from a shorter distance.

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EASonBAss, did you apply only a small amount to the chip or did you apply enough to completely fill it and then wipe down the area to make it smooth? Once the weather warms up I have several to fix on the front of my car. Thanks.