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Stone Chip Repair Guide

1M views 404 replies 251 participants last post by  Breezy 
#1 · (Edited)
A common sight on everyone's bonnet is stone chips unless you've just had it re-sprayed but even then they are still inevitable!







So after spotting a few on mine I thought I would have a go at repairing them after reading a couple of repair guides. Firstly I got hold of some touch-up paint from Paints4U you can alternatively just buy a touch-up stick from the stealers but for the same price, I got a 100ml tin of paint and 30ml clear lacquer which was a perfect colour match too it also came with a fine artists brush.

I also got some IsoPropyl alcohol to clean out all the dirt, crap, polish & wax from the stone chips, once this was done i went round filling the chips with paint and making sure the paint filled the chip and not the area around it as this can easily be done if you use a brush that's too thick you need to fill the chip so that the paint is raised over the area of the chip.

once left to dry the bonnet looked like this with blobs of paint



the wet & dry paper I used was Meguiars unigrit 2500

The next job was to wet sand the blobs of paint down to the same level as the existing paint and the best way I found to do this and keep the repairs to the local area was to wrap a small bit of sandpaper around the end of a flat piece of plastic (aka a bicycle inner tube remover!) or a pencil and gently rub down the raised paint and then level it out with the rest of the surface.

I used plenty of water with fairy liquid which foamed up nicely and acted as a good lubricant and also soaked the sandpaper in some fairy liquid before hand.

some nice sanding marks afterwards!





these were easily removed using my porter cable polisher with a "4 lake & country orange light cut pad & Menzerna Intensive polish, the whole bonnet was then followed up with Menzerna Final Finish Polish (P085RD) with a "6 Sonus SFX blue finishing pad and 2 coats of Collinite 476s wax.

if you don't have a porter cable you can easily remove the sanding scratches by hand using 3M Perfect-It III fine cut compound

I can't see the chips anymore! :D





 
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#37 ·
Couple of questions...can this be done on plastic bumpers and with my car having soft soft paint (or so i have heard) will i have to take extra care when carrying out the repairs. Also on the paints 4 U site they have a touch up and G3 compound option, what does the compund do.

Cheers

Chris
 
#38 ·
I applied the lacquer only to larger scuffs i repaired using the same method after the base coat had been leveled off, sanded and the polished with the pc.

yes this can be done on plastic bumpers as I repaired a few small scuffs on mine, the compound is basically used to remove coarser sanding marks e.g. 1200 grit but menzerna intensive polish or meguiars 83 will remove 1500-3000 fairly easily
 
#47 ·
Just my 2p worth, if using an aerosol lacquer on localised repairs, spray fade out thinners over the repair before polishing, this helps dissolve the edge of the newly applied lacquer and blends it in to the surrounding paint/lacquer and makes for less blending work afterwards with wet and dry and polish. It can be bought from paints4u in an aerosol can, I used to use this stuff from a gun when doing smart repairs, works brilliantly and gives a more invisible repair.
 
#49 ·
Thy, i don't think it matters too much as long as the actual chip has been filled in, obvouisly the smaller the bump, the less work you have to do with the sanding down. Check out the sponsor's on the site....most of them sell Meg's Paper 2000/2500/3000 in singles and packets, depends how much you need.
 
#55 ·
I really want to try this technique out, but am just too scared. I know that all of you say it'll be fine, but there's always that little bit at the back of your head that's telling you that you could screw things up badly.

Might have to practice a bit on my runaround first
 
#56 ·
brilliant guide thanks Breezy, had a little play on SWMBO's car over the weekend (was too scared to use mine for my first go) and it looks loads better now.

Just got to get a PC before tacking my car as I've got loads of stone chips on my bonnet and my arm will ache if I have to polish all the scratches out:eek:
 
#57 ·
HI there

I dont own a PC yet, but i want to have a go at this

What kind of polish is good to remove the wet/dry marks??

i have some tcut currently but i guess thats not good enought

What is good things to buy

3M stuff?? and Sonus pads good to use with no PC??

Feebs
 
#59 · (Edited)
Any medium grade polish should be fine to remove the sanding marks Menzerna Intensive Polish PO91L / PO85RD 3.02 or 3M Fine Cut Compound 09375 I have both found to be very effective at removing 2000 - 3000 grit sanding marks although following up 2000 grit sanding with 3000 sanding makes marks a lot easier to remove.

I've also using these polishes with the white side of a german applicator pad by hand which makes them a lot easier to work / break down
 
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