Is it worth it to get touch up paint for the little darn rock chips in the car? I know it isn't possible to buff them out and wax over it, so I was wondering if anyone has done this..And if so, anyone with and EB? I know that is a really hard color to match...

 

i just got a bottle (actually it's 2 bottles - one basecoat, one clear coat)
from the dealer and use a tooth pick to apply to those darn chips.

I put a dab into a yogurt cup and use a toothpick with a flattened tip.
the paint will pull itself into the chip. let dry 15-20min, and do the same
to apply the clear over it.

it is hard to match some colors, but it's better to touch up than to leave
bare metal showing.

 

Thanks! Ok so here is my next question...Where would the best place for me to get EB paint from? Do the dealers still carry it? ARGH!!
Looking for suggestions!!!

 

Call MOS or Towson. They will mail it to you!

Or order one here http://www.autovisuals.com/

 

suppliers are typically required to maintain at least 5 years (nowadays
up to 10years) of service parts available for modern cars by contract.

that's 5 years from the product's end of life from production.

so, should be available for a long time. plus, most places just
mixes the color when they receive orders from you...

www.paintscratch.com
www.paintworldinc.com

 

i got some touch up paint from MoS ..it was DS, but they have a LOT of colors.

 

I went to a local body shop and they mixed it up for me, He did some work on my old MINI and you never could see where it had been painted, so I trust him completely.

 

I've had bad luck with touch-up, I can never do a good job painting on and always end up with a noticable blob.

This year I bought some paintscratch pens and am much happier. They apply more like a marker, so it's much easier to get a small amount of paint applied. It still takes a fine touch but much easier than a brush.

 

^^ but that thing dries up too easily...meaning, the paint inside dries up.
i bought one of those pens for kicks. no more

 

I got it for free from my dealer when I had my 30K service. I asked for some when I was there and they didn't have any at the time, so they ordered some for me for free. I haven't tried the stuff yet though.

 

Tell you the truth, it's pretty hard to do a descent job on metallic paint (fixing the white paint for the roof on the other hand is much easier).
Unless the bare metal is showing, I would not touch it (otherwise do like kenchan advised).
You might want to consider a clear bra for preventive measure as well (worth evrey penny and some).
After a few small chips on my Dark Silver, which didn't look much better after touch ups, I got a clear bra....best thing I could have done for the car. Wish I would have done it from day one.

Good luck!

 

i'll second the clear bra. definitely worth every penny.

 

TO ALL EXPECTANT OR BRAND NEW OWNERS:

Get a clear bra. It's my ONLY regret (besides not getting xenons). After-marketing them is not easy.

If I get the bonnet repainted for between $300 -- $600, I think I STILL have to wait 6 weeks for the finish to cure before I can stick on the protection. During which time it could get nicked again.

Next time...

 

I'd love a clear bra.... I cant use traditional touch up paint on my car... and at $7.50 for 1/2 an ounce of nail polish... it gets expensive REALLY fast!

And our local paint place will do touch up paint too

 

On metalic paints, it's tough to get the flake to lay down the same as when it was sprayed on, so you are always going to have a slightly noticeable repair, but it will be better than just leaving the chip (and having the possibility of rust).

I layer on 3-4 coats of base color, followed by a coat or 2 of clear (purchased at the MINI dealer for $20 or so). If you have body work done at any point of your car's life, you can ask 'em for the leftover paint, if they have any.

Depending on the nature of the dammage, I either wetsand the paint blob (a bit complicated and easy to do more dammage than what you started with) or use Langka (www.langka.com) to remove the paint blob and flatten it down to the level of the paintwork. It takes a bit of practice, but it's fairly safe for a novice to do.

Langka also has some great accessory products... Their microbrushes are great for applying a small dab of paint accurately into a stone chip. The prep-pen is basically a bundle of fiberglass (don't touch w/ your fingers) that you can use to scrub rust and wax out of a chip before repairing... very handy! http://www.langka.com/repair-accesso...8d1f08d466572c

 

i tried this new trick on my civic the other week... wrap a old t-shirt
over a small block of wood, use ScratchX and polish off the excess
touchup.

it's a lot milder on the surrounding paint and i was able to get the
touchup to the height of the surrounding paint. highly recommended
over wetsanding.

(i use to wetsand too, using 1500 and 2000grit blocks...problem is that
the area you wetsand will loose orange peel so it reflects light
unnaturally vs the surrounding paint).

 

Here are 2 different types of touch-up depending on what you need to do...

http://www.touchup123.com/default.aspx

http://www.langka.com/index.cfm?page...cts.cfm&cat=78

Vette owners have had good luck with these...

 

A review of touchup 123 for those interested.
http://www.newbeetle.org/forums/show...hlight=touchup

 

Does anyone know offhand where to find the paint codes for our MINI's?

 

On the passenger side of the strut tower, when you open your bonnet. It will read the color name(This alone a body shop can get the proper color w/research) or in that same black square is a 3 digit number. This is the actual paint code.


I will take a picture and post. Or if someone else beats me to it.


www.lambspeed.com

 

Don, have a look under the bonnet passenger side, by the strut tower the paint name and code is on the sticker

 

Thanks, guys! I'm gonna try this stuff (TouchUp123). I'm sick of looking at my poor salt and pepper bonnet. :impatient

 

Does anyone have a stock color recommendation for the white of (some of) our roofs? On my classic someone recommended a certain white (bluish), available at any auto parts store, that matched pretty well. I got a new stone chip on the roof and I'm ready to make it a little less noticable.

 

Looks like great stuff... Please post more "before and afters" as people test this out. Usually I avoid touch-up paint, since it can make things worse if improperly applied, but this csounds like a nice system.

 

Registration required now... google still has it cached:

http://72.14.221.104/search?q=cache:...hp/t-9763.html

How did this stuff work out for those who tried it?