I'm working on fixing several rock chips and damaged spots on the car I picked up 3 weeks ago. I've read the sticky "Paint chip repair" but still have a few questions. Someboy help!

One thing I did find out on my own is that a very small hobby triangular file works well for straight line type scratches as far as cleaning them out for paint. The fine teeth grab the wax, dirt and gunk and pull it out nicely.

I know nothing about body work..

I'm using touch up paint from the GM service department. So it already has hardner in it..????

Why wouldn't this dry within a day vs. waiting a week between coats?

And I don't seem to understand how you could put any paint in a chip a 1/3 the size of a pencil more then 2-3 times before it is filled up. What do you gain by a smidge here and a smidge there? A body shop paints a whole bumper in a couple days and sends you home with it. I don't mean to sound stupid, but don't understand why this would take a month to repair with all these steps.

Here are a couple photos of what I'm working on. The ink pen is for reference to the size of the chip.

This one is on a verticle surface and has only one coat on it.

This one has a fresh 2nd coat on it. Providing it dries above the normal paint level once the evaporation has occured, why wouldn't this be ready for a sanding block?


All comments and help are welcome.

 

The touch up paint in little bottles is typically lacquer therefore it does not have a hardner or catylist. The solvent just evaporates s it dries. It usually does not take very long for it to dry as long as it is not too cold.

If you feel that the chip is full of paint go ahead and block sand it flat and smooth and then buff.

 

One tip....DO not use the brush that is supplied with your touch-up paint. It will apply TOO MUCH paint at one time. I use a very small artist brush where I can control how much paint I apply in the chip area. The thinner layer of application you apply...the faster it will dry. Applying a big glob...will take a long time to dry... because this paint will "skin-over" but not be dry under the skin. This is why I apply very thin coats....and it still takes some time...but seems to go faster than one thick coat. And sometimes I add a drop or two of thinner to the paint mix I pull out of the bottle, so it will flow and dry faster...due to not being so thick.

DUB