Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 12:48:44 -0700
Reply-To: Donna Stewart <DStewart@chrm.com>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Donna Stewart <DStewart@chrm.com>
Subject: Re: Repairing Stone Chips
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
I just let her wear the battle scars. (Primarily from Hwy. 395 in the Eastern Sierra Nevada). :)
>>> PSavage <psavage@saber.net> 05/11/01 11:41AM >>>
I've just washed & waxed my van. It's evident time has come to deal with
the many stone chips & small, deep scratches I've picked up in my travels.
Below is a post from the Go Westy site, authored by Bob Moser.
Before I dive in--I'd appreciate feedback from anyone with *experience*
repairing
stone chips. Anything to add to this system?
Thanks,
Phaedra
<snip>The past week, I've been repairing chips with great success. I've
repainted the front spoiler completely (I have a fair bit of automotive
paint background) and was moving on to the little details. Without a doubt,
the average paint novice can repair chips. Here's what I recommend. (By
Bob Moser) <snip>
[WHAT YOU WILL NEED]
- - Touch paint from VW.
- - Clearcoat touch up, if your car is multi-stage paint
- - toothpicks
- - several clean rags
- - 1000 and 1500 grit wetdry
- - a pencil with fresh erasure head
- - a "cleaner". Make sure it's organic - such as a citrus-based cleanser.
- - some contact spray (ie. 3M spray adhesive)
- - Meguiars #3 (medium cut) or Dupont's product or whatever, so LONG as
it's **NOT** rubbing compound AND it's a medium cut POLISH. FYI, Meguiars #9
(or any swirl remover) is not quite up to the job.
- - Zymol HD-Cleanse (highly recommended). If not, Meguiars #7
- - Zymol Carbon wax. If not, a good carnauba wax.
- - Of course, several clean, soft cotton rags.
** NOTE: Choose a spot easy to work on but hard to see, so practice can make
perfect for when you decide to tackle the hood ;-)
Prepping the area:
0. First we want to sand any high spots from the chip flush with the paint.
This will possibly take a dozen back and forth motions. If you look with
good light, you can sand one or two swipes and see a shiny area surrounded
by matte sanded paint. This indicates a high spot. If the area around the
chip is immediately dull from a couple swipes, there is no high spot.
Go to the sanding section below and set up a 1000 grit sanding block. Follow
sanding instructions below. Once the area is matte, move on. NOTE WITH
CLEARCOAT it is more difficult to tell. Just do a half dozen swipes with
1000 grit and move on.
1. Clean chip areas thoroughly. This can be done with the cleanser of choice
combined with a blotting rag, Q-tip, etc. You may want to run a toothpick
along the edges to remove grime built up in the chip. Remember, we basically
need to strip the wax out of the area.
Painting:
2. Dab paint on a palette (cardboard works) and dip toothpick in paint. Get
enough that it transfers to the chip - this takes a few trys. Put a THIN
COAT of paint in the chip, covering the chip completely. If a little paint
gets on the outside of the chip, fear not - we'll be sanding soon. THE IDEA
HERE IS TO PUT A THIN "CONTACT" COAT THAT ADHERES TO THE SURFACE AND
PROVIDES GOOD GRIP FOR FURTHER COATS.
3. Let dry recommended time. Most touchups can dry in 4 hours before
applying more.
4. From here, we want to work on filling the chip so that it is eventually
higher than the paint. One can use successive blots with the toothpick,
waiting 1/2 hour or so between intervals.
(NOTE - If you have a CLEARCOAT finish, just fill the chip with enough paint
to give a solid color. Let paint dry.Then proceed to fill the chip with
CLEARCOAT as described in step 4.)
5. Once the chip is filled higher than the original paint, let dry for a day
or so. Note the chip only needs to be slighty higher than the original
paint. An more than necessary just means more time sanding the chip down,
which takes time.
Sanding: [Steps 6 - 13 take approximately 15 minutes per chip]
6. Take the 1000 grit wetdry and spray adhesive on the back. Let sit for a
few minutes. Spray adhesive on the rubber tip of the pencil.
7. Cut a centimeter square of wetdry (enough to cover pencil rubber) and
stick to pencil. This is your sanding tool.
8. Wet area (water dab) to be sanded. Apply light pressure (don't put twenty
pounds of pressure - let the wetdry "cut" like it's suppose to) and stroke
the wetdry back and forth over the paint chip. Keep the pencil perpendicular
to the surface (flat) and always be on top of the chip (don't swipe
completely by the chip). You will sand some of the original paint. Don't
fret - this is why we are using 1000 grit. After two or three complete
swipes, look closely at the paint. You'll notice the paint mound in the chip
is being to dull, as is the paint surrounding the chip. Also, periodically
alternate sanding directions. I like to do 0 degree (left to right), 45 deg,
and 90 deg. This alleviates several problems, the largest is that you want
to sand the chip evenly and your strokes (and area) do not perform this if
you only go in one direction.
9. Keep the area damp/wet and change sanding squares after 20 or 30 sanding
swipes (when the wetdry dulls). Every 10 swipes or so, check your progress.
The idea is to sand the area until it is smooth. Use your fingers to feel
the area. Look for a shiny lowspot surround the chip (where the wetdry is
not touching the original paint around the chip since the chip is the high
spot). I run through approximately a half dozen squares per chip.
10. Once the chip area is fairly smooth, set up some 1500 grit wetdry in the
same way as steps #6 and #7. Wet area and sand 15 or 20 swipes perpendicular
to direction of the small scratches caused by the 1000 grit.11. Clean area
with water. Take the medium cut (i.e. Meguiars #3) and place a dime dab on
your fingers. Wipe back and forth with medium pressure, covering several
inches around and including chip. Wipe area dry. Look closely. If it is dull
or scratches still exist, do again. Note, do this with your fingers since 1)
you can feel the area and know what is going on and 2) it cuts much less
paint.
12. Once the area is polished, use Zymol HD-Cleanse to remove microscopic
scratches and rejuvenate oils in the paint. Again, wipe back and forth, but
this time with LIGHT pressure. 15 or 20 swipes should do it. Wipe dry with
cloth. Turn over to clean area of cloth and buff.
** At this point, the area should look good. If you are satified, move
ahead. If you feel the chip area is still high, go back to step #6 and work
ahead.
13. Apply Zymol wax (or good carnauba wax). Wipe area dry with a different
cloth (not the one with the polish!). Turn cloth over to dry area and buff.
***
