• The site migration is complete! Hopefully everything transferred properly from the multiple decades old software we were using before. If you notice any issues please let me know, thanks! Also, I'm still working on things like chatbox, etc so hopefully those will be working in the next week or two.

REPAIR "touch up always looks like butt"

A

abc

New member
The title phrase for this post was borrowed from another post here. In general I would completely agree with that opinion.

My '08 Grand Prix had a number of fairly big scratches and chips when I got it. So I bought the official GM paint tube with pen & brush, and tried to touch up. It did indeed look like butt! The GM color was close but not a perfect match. Since it was not a 2 -step coat it had a different finish. At most viewing angles it looked too light.

Recently I added a few more scratches in a parking lot. I was thinking about taking it in for some professional paint repair, but the insurance estimate convinced me not to do that. I'm not ready to pay many hundreds of $$ just to fix some chips and scratches.
I did some research on the web, and decided to try a new Duplicolor product, the All in One Repair Kit. It sells for about 15 bucks.
I already had some polishing compound and surface cleaner, so I spent a couple hours working on it today.

The results were not perfect, but a big improvement over before. The Duplicolor paint has the exact same code number as the official GM tube, but Duplicolor is a better match. The duplicolor kit comes with a clear top coat too. I could have done better with the clear coating. I learned it's best to just make one big swipe, don't try to touch it up or smooth it out. Messing with the clear coat only makes it look worse. I may decide to buff it off and try over, but I'll wait a while on that. Overall it does not look bad at all for the money.
 


I have the same kit (matched for my paint obviously), but I haven't gotten a chance to use it. I've heard great things about it though, glad to hear it worked out decently for you.

If you have the patience, try putting on a layer of clear coat, letting it cure a bit, and then giving a swipe or two of wet, very fine grit sandpaper. Layering it up slowly with thin coats and "refining" it between each coat seems to work very well for clear coating head lights and tail lights, and I'd imagine it would be the same for touch-ups.
 
To really to get touch up paint to come out decent.. It's best to fill the scratch or chip with a toothpick then clear and wetsand it.
 
stocker said:
You mean use a toothpick as a paint application tool?
Click to expand...


yup its also called pinning the paint in as some use a pin, then wet sand the paint smooth, then clear coat and sand again, buff the scratches out.

ive seen vids of that dulicolor kit in use, looks legit.
 


Scottydoggs said:
yup its also called pinning the paint in as some use a pin, then wet sand the paint smooth, then clear coat and sand again, buff the scratches out.

ive seen vids of that dulicolor kit in use, looks legit.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I learned something! I was kind of being a smartass but I knew what he meant. I was just laughing to myself thinking of someone taking his advice literally - filling a large scratch with a toothpick and globbing clearcoat over it. Then standing back and thinking "still looks like butt..."
 
even when its pinned or tooth picked in the scratch. the new paint will still be higher then the paint on the car. so wet sanding the new paint just over the scratch and try not to sand to much into the cars finish levels it out nice, clear it and wet sand and its like it was never there.

they had a micro sanding block in the one kit i saw. like 1/4 inch wide.
 
Even tho I still recommend the Dupli-Color kit for small scratches, it has its limits. The scratch I was trying to fix was too large, and down to the base plastic in one spot. After about a year, car washes had worn off the touch-up paint. I decided to do it better this time. I ordered custom matched spray paint from an online company. It came with clear glosscoat spray also. I followed their instructive videos and this time the repair really looks invisible. It took more time and some sanding and buffing, but I'm finally happy with the results. I would upload before/after photos but for some reason the forum won't let me. I'm satisfied with this particular online company, they go by the names microfinish and automotive touchup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top