A few Questions about Touch Up Paint

[512detail]

Probably a silly question but I have to ask:

1) After compounding and polishing, If I was to apply touch up paint to a vehicle... do I need to wait 24 hours before applying LSP (sealant/wax) or longer for a coating?

I ask because I`m going to start offering this on some vehicles and needed to establish a time table for the entire job.

2) other question... is the customer applies touch up paint prior to bringing me his vehicle is that worse or better than if I applied it after polishing the area down and rounding the edges off (which to me seems like the best method to do this)
I just have this thought in my mind that polishing over a previously applied touch up painted area will remove it

I`ve used touch up paint on my truck but never polished over it.

Anyone able to shed some light here? Or tell me if I`m just completely off track...

Thanks

 

[Accumulator]

Probably a silly question but I have to ask..

No, no...not silly at all!

1) After compounding and polishing, If I was to apply touch up paint to a vehicle... do I need to wait 24 hours before applying LSP (sealant/wax) or longer for a coating?

First you gotta decide whether you believe that the LSP/coating will compromise the touchup paint`s curing/outgassing/hardening or not. Different people are on different sides of that fence; I happen to be on the side that believes it *IS* a valid concern. So I only use products known to be fresh-repaint-safe, such as OCW (tested/approved for this by Ford). SO....that`s what *I* would do. Others, i.e., David Fermani (unless he`s changed his mind), would just wax/coat/whatever right over it and not worry. "So what if that little touchup maybe doesn`t harden up as much as it could?" Hey, it`s not like the paint will "cloud up" or wipe off, or anything like that (at least not as far as I know).

I`d wait weeks/months before using anything other than OCW. But that`s just me.

BUT...if you do the correction first, then apply the touchup paint, you`ll have a "paint blob" to deal with. Leveling it (either chemically or mechanically) will instill new marring on that area, prompting another round of correction...which segues right into:

2) other question... is the customer applies touch up paint prior to bringing me his vehicle is that worse or better than if I applied it after polishing the area down and rounding the edges off (which to me seems like the best method to do this)
I just have this thought in my mind that polishing over a previously applied touch up painted area will remove it

I`ve used touch up paint on my truck but never polished over it.

IF (maybe a big "if") the touchup was done properly it should withstand subsequent correction. Wetsanding to level, compounding to remove the sanding marks, final polishing...lots of abrasion involved but it oughta be OK.. But things aren`t always perfect...

DrColorChips paint is generally pretty fragile IME and *will* be easily removed by aggressive correction. It`ll take some abrasion, but not too much. So be gentle when using their Leveling Fluid so you don`t instill more marring than necessary.

Other touchup paints, APPLIED PROPERLY TO A PROPERLY PREPPED SURFACE, should be fine to polish/etc. once the hardening/outgassing has taken place. I`ve always waited a while (weeks/months) before working those areas, no idea whether that was *really* necessary or not. I sure wouldn`t try leveling/correcting a thick touchup blob after just a day or so though.

That "round the edges and *then* touchup"...I don`t do too much rounding/correction prior to touching up, just make sure the edges of the chip are firmly adhered and not prone to further chipping. Generally they`re OK in that regard and the "hard edges" of the uncorrected chip seem to make things a bit easier *FOR ME* to work on..the touchup paint stays where it oughta be and subsequent leveling is straightforward. IF the area is prone to further chipping that`s different and yeah you will need to "go back to firmly adhered paint" first.

 

[512detail]

here`s the actual vehicle..I just received these

i think those are scratches too on the rocker or whatever its called

 

[512detail]

thanks accumulator...

so I have 2 thoughts here..
1) I`d be ok with him using touch up paint first and giving it a few days to dry - and then try my luck and polishing over it (but kind of worried he would not do a great job and leave me with a mess to try and fix)

2) the other part of me thinks these will round of pretty nicely with compounding and polishing and then I can apply some touch up paint but my main concern is that it will probably be one of those touch up pens so it may be difficult to get it `even` and `level` thus bringing me back to my initial quandary

I really need to start adding this service as its a good upsale and I am always asked about this

 

[Accumulator]

See what others here suggest....there are just *so* many different ways to go! Have him do it/do it yourself, correct it any first/not, what kind of paint- DrColorchips/touchup pen/single stage from dealer/touchup with both b/c and should you mix those together into a DIY single-stage?..then leave the blob/level it mechanically or chemically? and then the LSP. Lots of choices and I bet somebody will advocate every single one of `em!

IME the touchup pens leave a lot to be desired and I always do best with tiny brushes (either artist`s brushes or the little disposable ones made for this).

I gotta use magnification for this kind of thing, and always appreciated it even back when my vision was better.

I can`t quite sell myself on the idea of having the owner do the touchup, at least not unless you have reason to believe he`ll do it better than you would.

I`d tell touchup customers that you can`t apply [whatever LSP] until the touchup has finished curing. I`d *expect* any reasonable person to be on-board with that idea, but I guess you never know.

 

[512detail]

See what others here suggest....there are just *so* many different ways to go! Have him do it/do it yourself, correct it any first/not, what kind of paint- DrColorchips/touchup pen/single stage from dealer/touchup with both b/c and should you mix those together into a DIY single-stage?..then leave the blob/level it mechanically or chemically? and then the LSP. Lots of choices and I bet somebody will advocate every single one of `em!

IME the touchup pens leave a lot to be desired and I always do best with tiny brushes (either artist`s brushes or the little disposable ones made for this).

I gotta use magnification for this kind of thing, and always appreciated it even back when my vision was better.

I can`t quite sell myself on the idea of having the owner do the touchup, at least not unless you have reason to believe he`ll do it better than you would.

I`d tell touchup customers that you can`t apply [whatever LSP] until the touchup has finished curing. I`d *expect* any reasonable person to be on-board with that idea, but I guess you never know.

It`s a tough sell for me to, to let them do it. I mean I may be no better but I`ll at least know how much was put on, etc.

I offered to just come to the client and finish the door after the touch up cures (as the door is the only area of concern for the client)..I was thinking about putting Optimum Quick Wax on there as I`ve heard that`s safe for `fresh` paint and then coming back in a week or so and using paint prep or even a very light polish and add LSP to the door but he`s also interested in a coating so that makes things a little more difficult to figure out

 

[dcjredline]

It seems backwards to me for you to polish first then clean that polish out so the touchup sticks THEN touch up. If you dont get the touchup perfect then you would need to correct again.

What I always do is touchup first let dry for a day or more then correct. You just have to let the customer know that there will be a day of cure time. I wouldnt want to try and wet sand and or correct someone elses touchup blobs they could leave a big mess cause they dont know what they are doing and dont have to correct it. OR just charge more if you let them do it.

 

[512detail]

It seems backwards to me for you to polish first then clean that polish out so the touchup sticks THEN touch up. If you dont get the touchup perfect then you would need to correct again.

What I always do is touchup first let dry for a day or more then correct. You just have to let the customer know that there will be a day of cure time. I wouldnt want to try and wet sand and or correct someone elses touchup blobs they could leave a big mess cause they dont know what they are doing and dont have to correct it. OR just charge more if you let them do it.

I completely see your point there....so perhaps get the vehicle and do the touch up the first day...and the next day polish that door (or come to client a few days later and polish that door and then LSP)

seems like that might be my best option here...I do feel just adding the touch up after polishing will lead to having to level something again and then you have to deal with cure time

this way I guess I could have control of the application and polish that area the next day or a few days later if necessary

 

[512detail]

got a little side job to do then gonna check this again and call the customer.. need to get this scheduled today

anyone have any other opinions?

 

[JustJesus]

Dr ColorChip suggests polishing the area FIRST, then applying the touch up. This bothered me for the reasons others have stated. But I`m also not going to go against what the MFG suggests!

On a side note, I did a job on a 2017 BMW M2, in which the owner had applied touch up paint to a small part on the bumper. The end result, well, let`s just say he wanted me to level it down. I didn`t want to, knowing that it probably should have been polished out first, and I told this to the owner. He said no problem and worst case scenario, we just do the touch up again. I went ahead and improved the overall appearance. Still not perfect, but I didn`t want to push my luck.

The touch up paint he had was a 2 part system direct from BMW.

 

[pdqgp]

I have done it both ways. Honestly I prefer to do the correction first. Just be sure to clean the area you`re gong to touch up well so that there`s no compound, polish or LSP left in the mark prior to touching up.

In cases of larger chips, I touch up, wet sand/level then re-polish. Both work well. Don`t over think it. Just practice your technique.

 

[dcjredline]

Dr Colorchip AFAIK is different than other touchups like the dealer pen or brush and the autoparts store ones. With the Dr Colorchip I can understand the touch up after it just still seems crazy to lsp or polish something then clean it out of the tiny chips or scratches then try and fill them just right so you dont have to re-polish (doesnt seem to be a problem with the DCC)

 

[JSFM35X]

While I have not made a study of this I have touched up a fair amount of cars. The way I do my car is with very thin coats and a toothpick or if it`s deep and large in a flattish surface I usually use a paint pen (thanks Larry nyc ammo) you can get at a craft store.

My car at least a full day between coats until it`s over the level of the surrounding paint. Then let dry few days before wet sanding and polish.

On cars I need to process in real time. Several thin coats cured by heat gun. Until over surface the follow the above. I have coated over heat cured touch up paint without issue.

 

[atgonzales]

512 always set the expectations for your customer. When I have done touch ups for customers I tell them I use the 3 foot rule, what this means, it will look good 3 feet away any closer, it mat not look so good, that when I suggest going to a body shop for full paint job on the panel. Also I use these tools:

 

[Angus]

Timely thread! I`ve got a few spots that need touch up before winter and thanks to Larry from AMMO NYC picked up the above mentioned touch up toothpicks and paint pen.

 

[512detail]

512 always set the expectations for your customer. When I have done touch ups for customers I tell them I use the 3 foot rule, what this means, it will look good 3 feet away any closer, it mat not look so good, that when I suggest going to a body shop for full paint job on the panel. Also I use these tools:

I told him it`d probably go from a 10 footer to a 5 footer but not to expect perfection unless he wants to have the door resprayed (and then that`s even controlling for the skill of the person who did the door respray)

 

[Civicclutch]

I would want to level a touch up I didn’t do myself personally but by the looks of those scratches it looks like dr color chip will work after a buff and then a light polish after the color chip has sat a day or so. Also use a decent mfr that you’re willing to throw away after using their paint leveler


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[512detail]

I`m thinking I need to invest in some of these tools... and I`m also guessing most of them are Air powered?

will a small pancake air compressor suffice? probably need one of those anyways and I can wait for a HF sale or something

So far my only experience is with paint pens and dr colorchip, but I think I`d like to eventually have a `kit` or something I could use (pipe dreams I guess right now)

I suppose the only way to step up one`s game is to start walking, right?

 

[atgonzales]

Dr Color Chip does have a huge color kit

 

[Accumulator]

I`ve had *FAR* better results with the DrColorChips when I applied it like normal touchup paint rather than using their "smear it around" method. I *always* had to do some degree of polishing after using their Leveler, but maybe that`s just me. Their paint is pretty fragile so watch that you don`t just polish it away. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked on the white Crown Vic, DEEP gouges to fill, weathered white color that would never be perfectly matched...turned out great. Worked plenty OK with other colors including metallics, and very user-friendly even the way I do it, BUT...IMO it`s just not as good as doing a basecoat/clearcoat touchup and then leveling that. Still plenty good though, so don`t think I`m flaming it.

I`m thinking I need to invest in some of these tools... and I`m also guessing most of them are Air powered?

Which tools? The stuff atgonzales posted pix of aren`t powered, more like dental/firearms/etc.-cleaning picks.

When I have a chip that`s surface-rusted or otherwise needs serious abrasion, I grind it bare/clean with a diamond burr on a rotary tool.