I recently found some small stone chips on my car , whats your opinion on the best method to sand down the paint after it’s dried to get as near possible a flat surface , I’ve searched the Internet and found this tool which looks interesting as is would keep the sanding to a concentrated area this the link would appreciate your feed back
A Paddle pop stick with 2000 grit sandpaper glued to it is what most people I have read use.
Cheers , i had thought of that idea but i wanted to try and keep the sanding area as small as possible and thought that tool for the price was a good alternative
Go to a dealership near you and see if they will give you the phone number for their airbrush guy. ALmost all dealers use one to fix stone chips, usually they come by the dealership once a week and do all the cars that need if for about $35-40 per car.
Thanks for the tip but I’ve never heard of that service here in Spain
id use something slightly softer than a popsicle.
id also use the highest quality sandpaper available. that micro mesh sandpaper you posted is metalworking specialty paper.
look for some japan made silicon carbide paper. meguiars sells some but in your country i dont know what brand is most popular so just ask for quality silicon carbide. it cuts fast and leaves fine uniform sand scratches. will end up saving you time and money since it works faster and the paper lasts forever.
do you have a good compound to remove the sanding haze? will need at least 2 different grit sandpapers and a good finishing compound or a cheap rubbing compound and a light polish with glaze or something.
if you have one or two rock chips take it to a reasonable priced pro. if u have more than that then it could pay off to learn how to do it and pick up a sheet of 1500 and 2500 and compound and have at it. buying all the proper materials to do 2 small rock chips isnt usually worth it. especially since you will be doing trial and error your first time.
i run a small customization and detailing business so if anyone has automotive questions PM me. id love to help!
I can almost guarantee whatever you do yourself will end up looking worse than it does now, either have it fixed as recommended above or learn to live with it, just remember no matter what you do there’s every chance new stone chips won’t be far away.
That tool is too narrow and will leave a valley in the paint. You need a sanding block to sand the whole area so as to get flat. Where are the chips? Has it been repaired/painted? Pics?
Keith
No way to fix it properly unless the whole panel is sprayed. Touch up paint will only do so much. My friend is a spraypainter and does mobile /scratch and dent repairs and I often help him out. Sand/fill/sand/ fill/ primer/sand/ paint/clearcoat. He uses a paste product with a special scouring pad to rub back the rest of the clear coat on the panel. Then a wax and grease remover.
youd be surprised what you can do with conventional touch up paint on non metallic paintwork. you lightly sand the chip,dab primer, dab a couple layers of paint so it creates a sphere, let it dry completely then use a razor to level it down as much as possible then sand a small radius around the touch up with a 2x3 rubbery sanding block then polish out with compound and polish.
this isnt my review just a popular one from member at autopia.org
http://autopia.org/forum/click-brag/70028-small-how-chip-repair-wetsanding-spring-cleaning-black-g35-56k-%3D-owie.html
i could comfortably say that only the most discerning customer would say thats not proper, especially for the impossible jet black color. id personally try this method first before a mobile sprayjob. id rather keep 95% of the bumper in factory oem paint for as long as possible. theres nothing like factory paint! unless u have a mazda,subaru,honda, or a few others with overall poor quality paint from the factory then a quality respray isnt a huge loss.
if you have great paint like on a lexus,infiniti, or mercedes getting a respray is a huge deal.
Thanks for the link I’m going to join the Detailing World forum and see what they recommend hope it’s not like CPF and i have to wait weeks before i can post
I have done this on solid colors as well. Unless it is a show car it works fine. If it is a low cost job I cheat and fill the chips (let it shrink back, fill again) prime,spot color then clear whole panel. It all depends on the car and what the customer wants. The OP does not say what he has or wants so it is hard to say.
Keith