DIY repair of large paint chips on a car

Car operation inevitably brings minor damage to the paintwork. Chips formed from high-speed travel and flying insects or pebbles are the cause of more serious damage if not eliminated in time. Corrosion processes begin under the paint and are invisible to the naked eye. This is what makes the numerous chips that are not painted over are terrible. They are hotbeds of rapid body destruction.

In order not to lose the integrity of the body and not to reduce to the limit the cost of the car in the secondary market, as well as to maintain the good appearance of the car, it is necessary to eliminate all the chips that have arisen before they lead to irreversible consequences. It is much easier to paint over minor damage to the paintwork than to fix the problem of rotten spots in the body. There are three different options for dealing with chips, which depend on the degree of damage to the body.

The most prone to this damage in the car is the hood. It is here that the greatest influence of stones flying from under the wheels of oncoming cars is concentrated, and any chip will be very clearly visible. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the problems that have arisen quickly and efficiently. Moreover, on a flat bonnet, the bad shading of the chip will be strongly visible, so you need to take into account the high quality of work to eliminate such problems.

With a large amount of damage, it makes no sense to make a spot body repair. Indeed, in this case, your hood will be covered with spots or dots with a slightly different color. It is better to paint the entire body part completely. The painting process is quite complicated, but you can do it yourself:

• if the body part is easy to dismantle, separate it from the vehicle to avoid painting other parts;
• otherwise, cover all adjacent elements with masking tape and newspapers or film;
• thoroughly rinse and dry the surface of the workpiece;
• clean the paint and soil with fine sandpaper with a constant supply of water (you can use a spray gun);
• dry and degrease the metal surface with a solvent;
• apply a layer of primer (we will talk more about the painting technology below);
• wash the soil with the finest sandpaper and water;
• degrease the surface again and apply a coat of paint;
• if necessary and desired, use a special varnish after painting.

About a month after completing this procedure, it will be possible to gently polish the painted part, as well as polish the rest of the body to bring the car into a single color. It is best to select paint in a company that has computer equipment and provides accurate results.

The technology for applying primer and paint is simple. You can use spray paint or spray it on. Do not concentrate the spray on one point, performing sideways movements, and also make sure that the spray can or the gun is at the same distance from the car body (approximately 20-25 centimeters). This saves you the trouble of dealing with paint drips.

If you don't have to deal with a huge amount of chipping, the painting procedure will be much easier and faster. The most important thing here is to choose a quality paint that will fully match the color of the body of your car.Such repairs are easier and faster, therefore it is better to deal with chips until they reach the metal and begin the corrosion process.

If the chip is very small, take a match or toothpick and apply a drop of paint to the washed and dry area of ​​the chip. When the paint has hardened a little, you can smooth it out with a small brush. Do not use varnish for such repairs, otherwise the place of the former chip will be very noticeable. If the damage is relatively large, you need to do the following procedure:

• rinse and dry the body repair site;
• in no case use solvents for degreasing - they get under the paint and cause further corrosion;
• take the softest art brush possible;
• apply paint with neat strokes exactly at the place of the chip;
• carry out such painting until you get a satisfactory spreading of the enamel over the chip;
• let the paint dry and correct visual imperfections with a minimum amount of enamel.

After a few days, you can polish the entire body part or the entire car using an abrasive polish, and focus on the place of the chip. If all tasks are performed efficiently, you will not be able to distinguish the point at which the repair was carried out.

In the event that the paint is selected poorly, serious problems can arise. The chip will become a dark or light point on the body, which will require repainting of the entire body part. Therefore, it is important to choose high-quality paint in the perfect color for your car.

In this case, the repair of the chip will be more difficult and time-consuming, because it is necessary to remove the incipient processes of rust spreading. To do this, you need to use traditional body repair, which removes corrosion and allows you to locally paint over the part without visible differences from the rest of the body.

To work with this chip, you will need 600, 800 and 1000 grit sandpaper, possibly putty, primer and paint, as well as tools for applying them, and a solvent for degreasing. The process of work in this case is as follows:

• cleaning of the local place of the chip is performed, taking into account the possible spread of corrosion under the paint;
• rust must be cleaned to metal, then the surface must be rinsed and degreased;
• if necessary, apply a putty, let it dry and use 600 and 800 sandpaper to bring the surface in accordance with the requirements;
• degrease the surface again and apply a primer, which then needs to be washed off with 1000 sandpaper and water;
• after that, degreasing and painting of the body part or the place of the chip occurs.

When painting, be careful not to hit other areas of your vehicle with the spray. For this, they often use masking tape and newspapers. Once the paint is completely dry, you can polish and enjoy the excellent visual properties of your vehicle.

Many also apply car varnish, believing that this step will improve the visual properties of the car. In fact, under varnish, any difference in paint becomes more noticeable, therefore it is better not to use varnish for local repairs.

If you think that a clever pencil-shaped scratch-repair tool will help completely remove chips on your car, watch this educational video.

The body repair process is always difficult and requires maximum concentration from the contractor. But a job well done bears great rewards. It is much easier and better to repair chips before they cause more serious body problems. If you notice a chip on the paintwork of your car, you should immediately deal with it. Then you will be able to remove the problem in a few minutes.

As you can see, you can easily do without the expensive help of professionals and paint over the chips with your own hands. Are there any drivers among our readers who performed body repairs on their own? It will be instructive and interesting to read more practical tips.

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In this article, we will look at how to remove chips on a car with your own hands.

Lots of stone chips look terrible, especially on dark cars. Worse, the chips break the protective paintwork and contribute to the appearance of rust in these areas. After a while, rust can grow in depth and in diameter and it will be difficult to remove it (see the article on removing corrosion), so it is best to repair chips as soon as possible from the moment they appear.

Chips appear due to stones flying during the movement, which fly out from under the wheels of other cars. The more distance you keep from other vehicles, the less chips will occur.

The stones do not fly out from under the wheels of other cars like bullets, they just go up a little and do not have much acceleration. The full force of the impact, due to which the chip occurs, is given by the speed of your car. Thus, the faster you drive and the shorter the distance, the more likely you are to chip paint.

In modern cars, the paint can be an independent protective coating (acrylic paint without varnish) or paint coated with varnish (base + varnish). To be more precise, first the primer is applied to the metal, and then the base (a thin layer that gives color) and varnish (the thickest layer that gives protection).

Chips can be of three types - damage only to the varnish (if the paint is varnished), damage to varnish and paint to the ground and damage to all layers to the metal.

• Depending on the type of chips and the type of paint, different materials and components may be required. This can be either a scratch / chip corrector (for very small chips), or a bottle with paint selected by the code, a primer for metal and varnish in the same bottle (for varnished paints). Paint from an aerosol can can also be used, which has certain features, which we will discuss below.

Drawing brushes with a sharp tip are better for filling in chips with paint than a brush attached to the cork of a bottle.

• The brushes supplied with the tinting paint bottle are usually made of plastic. They do not absorb and hold the paint normally and "capture" a large area when applying paint, therefore they are inconvenient when repairing small chips. Better to buy a small brush for painting with natural bristles and a fine tip. This will make it easier to paint over the chips as it gives you better control. The tip of the brush should be V-shaped to hold the drop of paint. Brushes can be purchased in different sizes from the smallest to 5 mm. They are useful for filling in paint chips of different sizes.

Sanding paper P600 / P800 glued to the eraser of a pencil for easy handling of large chip edges.

• To prepare medium to large chips for repair and to smooth out the paint with which the chip is filled, you need to prepare sanding paper P600 / P800, P2000. On the eraser at the end of the pencil, you can super glue P600 or P800 sanding paper (can be cut or made with a hole punch).With this mini sanding block, it will be convenient to smooth the edges of medium and large chips and, if necessary, clean off the rust inside the chip. P2000 sandpaper wrapped around a school eraser can be used to smooth out dried paint after filling in the chip.
• Abrasive polishing paste to restore gloss, in case you decide to smooth out excess paint by sanding.

• Examine the body of the car carefully and look for places where there are chips. Most of the chips are usually found on the front of the car, next to the headlights and grille. Also, chips can be on the mirrors and the bottom of the doors.
• If the chips are very small, then you can use a special pencil (corrector) of a similar color. Medium to large chips cannot be repaired with a proofreader; this requires paint.
• Before repairing chips, wash and dry the body surface.
• For large chips, use a P600 or P800 sanding paper to smooth the edges and clean out the cavity (for convenience, use a pencil eraser with sandpaper glued on). The beveled edges of the chip will allow the paint to flow more smoothly and reliably. You will get a smooth transition from the old paint to the new one and the chip border will be less noticeable after the paint dries. You can "capture" the area around the chip a little. If soil remains inside, you need to try not to clean it off.

• If there are several chips on the car, and there is no experience in repairing them, then to start the repair it is better to choose the chip in the least noticeable place.
• If the chip passes through all layers of coatings to the metal, then a primer must be applied before the paint and allowed to dry. It will help to increase adhesion, and the paint will hold more securely.

• Stir the paint well before use, as this can affect its color. Place a small amount of paint in a container, from where it will be more convenient to take it with a brush or toothpick / match.
• If the ambient temperature is low, a hair dryer should be used to heat the surface. The paint should flow easily inside the chip. The cleavage cavity can be filled in stages, over and over again. Also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying time between coats.

• The paint inside the chip must be applied from the center to the edges. Dip the very tip of the brush or toothpick into the paint so that a small drop forms at the tip. Place this drop in the center of the cleavage. Large chips must be filled in stages. First apply one coat, wait at least 30 minutes, then apply a second coat. Thus, it is necessary to fill the entire cleavage cavity and so that it is above the level of the entire adjacent plane. The paint will settle a little after drying, so it needs to be applied more than necessary.
• Excess paint after drying must be sanded with P2000 sandpaper with water, always with a hard block (you can use an eraser for this). It is simply impossible to smooth out the paint to the level of the entire surface with sanding paper.

• When grinding, it will be clear whether the repaired chip is at the same level. This requires the water to dry after sanding. The surface should be evenly matt. If there is a depression left, paint or varnish can be added and sanded after complete drying.

• If you have smoothed out chips by grinding, then to restore the gloss of the paint, you need to use a polishing paste with a special polishing wheel, or a polishing cloth. You can read the detailed article “do-it-yourself body polishing”.

• Some colors are more visible after chipping repairs than others. On a car in red, black, white, blue, green, it is quite easy to make the chips invisible. Light "metallics" and "mother-of-pearl" are much more noticeable after renovation.

• Varnish is used when a chip is repaired on a machine covered with paint and varnish. Varnish provides basic surface protection.

• If you plan to apply varnish, then, filling the chip with paint, you need to leave space for the varnish.

• Each coat of varnish should dry for at least 30 minutes before applying the next one.
• Some paints that are sold for repairing chips can be mixed with varnish without the need to apply varnish over the top.

If using spray paint, shake it thoroughly and spray into a small container. Next, soak a toothpick or paintbrush in the paint and spread the paint inside the chip, starting in the middle. Repeat paint application at intervals to dry. As a result, the paint should be slightly higher than the general surface, as it will settle after complete drying. You can finish at this stage, or continue leveling the applied paint by sanding. This is best done after 1–2 days, depending on paint thickness and temperature conditions.

One method of protection against chipping is to use a protective film (such as 3M VentureShield) on areas that are most prone to chipping. It is translucent and thick and soft enough to resist the impact of stones, but turns yellow over time.

Another way to protect the hood from chipping is with a special plastic trim. Its disadvantage is that some stones that fall on it can, like on a springboard, rise and fall on the roof.

On any freeway, there is a pebble that, flying out from under the wheels, hits the car body with the energy of a bullet fired from a small-bore rifle. As a result, chips are formed - point damage to the paintwork of different depths (from tenths of a micrometer to a millimeter) with bare metal. They are not as harmless as they seem.

Corrosion of the body usually begins from this place. In addition, the car has a sloppy appearance and significantly loses in value. We suggest you familiarize yourself with how to repair chips on a car body using the technology of Nussle (Germany), which is engaged in body repair and the production of professional tools for repairing dents without painting.

If you are not particularly interested in high-quality elimination of chips, then you can take a thin brush, nitro enamel of a suitable color and paint over the damage. For those who do not think a light spotting of the car is a good idea, you should do differently, spending up to three days to repair the chip.

Works are carried out in dry and heated garages. In extreme cases, repair work can be done in the summer. The room must be electrified. Alternatively, find a portable power generator.

Electricity will allow you to well illuminate the place of work and connect an infrared heater. Before starting work, you need to acquire some tools and supplies.

• acrylic paints for outdoor use. You can use water-soluble or Gifthalic;
• two-component acrylic primers;
• two-component acrylic varnish;
• waterproof sandpaper P1500 and P2000;
• final polishing paste;
• magnifying glass;
• a metal tool with sharp ends - a tool knife, a hook, and the like. You can make them yourself;
• portable infrared emitter. For example, Ballu BHH / M-09.

Repairing chips is a good reason to thoroughly wash your car. Work begins after complete drying. The repair area is thoroughly degreased, even if you used a cleaner like Fairy when cleaning. White spirit is best suited for this.

The light should be placed so that the place of work is not obscured by hands and tools. So use two or three sources.

First you need to determine the type of paint coat on your car. Not all bodies are lacquered. On budget models, a glossy enamel film is formed during hot drying. Evaluation is done with a clean cloth and a drop of polishing paste, which should be rubbed over the body without using significant force. If there are colored stains on the cloth, then there is no varnish, there is only pigment.

Assess the extent of the damage with a magnifying glass. If the chip has reached the metal, then it is better to assume that the corrosion has already begun.

When working with a chip, a miniature tool and literally homeopathic portions of materials are used - primer, paint, varnish, rust modifiers.

Trace the area with a colored wax crayon to keep it in view.

Clean the metal underneath the chip using the sharp end of the wire and the tip of a tool knife. Place a drop of rust modifier. Turn on the infrared heater, wait for the moment when the body part is noticeably heated, and the place of repair is completely dry.

Clean the repair site with P1500 sanding paper, making a matte “patch” with a diameter of about 8 cm around the chip. In order not to capture a larger surface, take a piece of wooden lath the size of a matchbox and wrap it with sandpaper.

Dilute a small amount of 2K acrylic primer. It can be drained into a container from an aerosol can. Using a toothpick, sharpened match, or a fine-tipped brush, place the soil inside the chip so that it is half full. Use the infrared heater again and wait until the applied material is completely dry. It can shrink, so the priming process is repeated.

If the car is new, then it makes sense to find the paint code, which is written on the model nameplate, next to the VIN code. Each manufacturer finds a special place for it, but in most cases it is installed under the hood, on the shield between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment. As an option - the lower rear corner of the front door, the B-pillar. After two to three years of operation, the color of the paint becomes less saturated. But the lighter the car, the more likely you will be in tone using the factory markings.

It is a common misconception that automobile paints are habitually called "nitro paint". Pigment formulations based on dissolved cellulose (hence the root "nitro") are not currently used. All modern car paints are produced on an acrylic base. They can be water-soluble or Gifthalic containing an alkyd resin that acts as a binder.

The paint, which is considered "native" for a car, is probably gift-colored; when it dries, it forms a durable waterproof film and does not require additional varnish. An indispensable condition for its use is thermal curing. Therefore, after application - the process is similar to a primer - the place of repair is necessarily warmed up by an infrared emitter. It should be warm to the touch. Complete drying time from 5 to 10 hours. At temperatures below 20 ° C, this paint will completely polymerize after a month.

It makes sense to use water-soluble acrylic paints for outdoor use in two cases:

• the paintwork changed its tone during operation;
• the finishing layer is varnish.

Water-soluble paints can be mixed with each other to achieve the desired shade. Moisture will not be able to penetrate the primer layer and cause corrosion. Although they form a strong waterproof film after complete drying, it is best to apply a layer of two-component acrylic varnish on top of them.

It is not necessary to use an infrared emitter to dry a layer of water-borne acrylic paint or two-component varnish. In this case, it will take at least two days for complete curing.

As a result of the sequential filling of the chip with layers of primer, paint and varnish, a pimple with a height of no more than two or three tenths of a millimeter should appear on the surface of the part being repaired. To get rid of it, they carry out finishing.

The surface around the pimple is painted with any paint that can be easily washed off. For example, water-dispersion. This will allow you to precisely control the position of the abrasive paper and not sand down what you should not.

First, an abrasive paper P1500 is taken. It is fixed on a small wooden block the size of a matchbox and is slightly moistened. Grind the bump until streaks appear on the surface of the control paint. Check the quality of the work by sliding your finger along the tubercle. Ideally, you shouldn't feel the difference between it and the rest of the surface.

The protective paint is washed off, the sandpaper 1500 is replaced with P2000, which finally smoothes the protrusion. The surface remains matt. Polishing is done with a paste applied to a soft cloth made of natural material. For example, flannel, bikes, felt. The felt pad is too rough for this job.

The technology offered by Nussle is a long and painstaking process. But time and effort will not be wasted. The place of the former chip is no different from the rest of the body surface.

When driving a car, small scratches and chips appear on the surface of the body. They spoil the appearance of the vehicle and are a hotbed of corrosion. Well, rust destroys the bodywork of the car. To solve problems, you need to know how to touch up chips on the car yourself.

Small chips and scratches, it is quite easy to fix it yourself. However, before carrying out the restoration of the paintwork in small areas, you need to prepare:

• Drive the vehicle into a heated and well-lit area.
• Wash and degrease the surface to be treated. At the same time, gasoline cannot be used as a degreaser, as it can damage the paintwork of the body. Use a lint-free cloth for application.
• After degreasing, coloring compounds are applied to small defects (they are used to paint chips) or a special pencil is used to remove scratches, well, around large damages, they are sanded, the place is treated with a primer. In some cases, a putty is used to smooth out small dents.

Upon completion of the preparatory work, proceed directly to the restoration of paint on the car.

Small damages are easy enough to remove with your own hands at home.

When painting chips on a car, you need to determine the nature of the damage. If these are shallow defects, then you can use a polishing agent or a pencil. After surface treatment, the damage is almost invisible. If the chips have a deepening, then the restoration process is carried out as follows:

• A primer is applied to the prepared surface.
• On the dried primer, paint is applied, identical to that with which the body of the vehicle is painted.
• After staining, a small layer of varnish is applied, it hides artistic defects and makes the tinted area almost invisible. Well, the treatment of the area with a layer of wax will give it a glossy shine.

To choose the right shade of paint, they turn to the services of a colorist. However, the shade code can be found in the technical documentation for the vehicle.

If there are a lot of chips on one part, spot painting will not help solve the problem. The dye applied with a brush will be quite noticeable. For more efficient repairs, local body painting is performed.

The part is dismantled, washed and worn out. After drying, it is completely sanded with a polishing machine (first, coarse-grained discs are used, after which they are changed to fine grain). Some areas are treated with sandpaper. An acidic primer is applied to the surface. After it dries, an acrylic primer is applied. If the part has been damaged, an epoxy primer must be applied over the acrylic, it gives the surface mechanical strength.

After the primer has dried, the part can be painted over. The painted part of the body, after the paint has dried, is applied with varnish. At the end of the work on the restoration of the paintwork, the place of repair is polished.

If the body part cannot be dismantled, entire sections of the car body are pasted over with newspaper and masking tape.

If a part of the car is covered with a small number of small chips, and there are no signs of corrosion, then you can touch up the chips on the car's paintwork with your own hands. It doesn't take much time and effort.

Chips are tinted with a soft artistic brush, then varnish or enamel is applied. This is how they get rid of shallow damage. If the chips have depressions, then the recovery algorithm is as follows:

• Prepare the surface for work.
• Apply a primer to the chip and let it dry. Grinding.
• The restored place is painted, varnish is applied.

Only wet sanding can perfectly level the surface to be treated. For this, the area is sprayed with water.

If you do not pay attention to damage to the paintwork for a long time, metal corrosion occurs. It is impossible to remove rust from the body with a pencil. If corrosion appears, you will need to remove it, and only after that, proceed to eliminate chips. The algorithm of the work performed is as follows:

• The damaged area is cleaned to metal. This applies to both large and small damage.
• The area affected by rust is treated with a corrosion neutralizer and degreased.
• A primer is applied to the surface, polished, painted and polished.

If there are dents, they must be repaired. To do this, use special pulling devices and automobile putty.

To make the painted area invisible, you need to choose the right color. To do this, you need to know how to determine the shade:

• The first way is to study the vehicle's documentation. In the technical passport of the vehicle, the painting code is indicated, according to it you can find the coloring material of the desired shade.
• If the documentation for the car is not available, you need to dismantle the gas tank cap and go to the store. There, the desired paint is selected according to the color.
• An alternative option would be to use the services of a colorist. A specialist in custom templates will select the exact shade of color.

The surface of the car is painted from a spray gun or a spray can. The paint is applied to a dried, degreased surface in a dry, enclosed area. If dust or moisture gets on the treated area during painting, the painting will be damaged. After tinting the bodies, with a type of metallic or mother-of-pearl color, they carry out polishing, which almost completely masks the restored area.

After drying, tinted areas are visible to the naked eye. To fix this defect, they need to be polished.This operation is performed using a grinder and special milk.

Methods for polishing a car body after painting have a number of nuances:

1. Sanding is carried out with P1000 grit sandpaper soaked in water.
2. The next step is to use a sandpaper with a finer grit P2000.
3. A matt and smooth surface is formed at the polishing site. To give shine, polish with a grinding machine with a coarse abrasive paste.
4. The result is fixed with a medium abrasive polish.
5. At the end of the work, the surface is treated with polishing milk and a soft grinder.