From highway driving my 76 has a few flecks in the paint that I'd love to touch up. What's a good way of doing this? It's factory yellow right now and I'd like to make sure whatever touchups I do are not noticeable(Or at least not very). I have full access to all tools and an enclosed paint booth. (I'm in the military and our auto shops are awesome.)

-Rick

 

It's not tough to do. I did some spots on my 98 Jimmy that turned out great. Only problem was the original paint had faded, and the factory touch-up stuff was a tad darker. In the light reflection, you could see no distortion at all.

Make sure the 'hole' is clean. With the applicator brush (built into the top), apply a drop. Allow it to find it's own way to the 'edge' of the 'hole'. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HELP IT DO THIS!!! Once it gets to the edge of the 'hole', it will migrate up the 'wall' of the hole. Let it dry several days, re-clean, and repeat.

If the first application does not migrate over the entire ding surface, put a MICROSCOPIC 'drop' of paint thinner onto the surface for the second application. That will help the paint 'migrate'.

If the paint gets up over the 'edge', don't attempt to wipe AT ALL. You'll want to, BUT DON'T!!! Let it dry several days, then put the rubbing compound to the finish.

The only hard part is matchin' the color...

If you got a non-factory color, you'll have to do spot matchin' under the nose or rocker panel, or in the biggest paint gouge already there.

 

Does it need to stay stationary as it dries? I ask this, because this is actually my daily driver. (What's the point of having a fast, fun car, if you only take the cover off to wash it and take it to shows?)

 

Ive used the same technic as cwb, but i filled in the chip till its slightly over the painted surface then wet-sand it down even with 1500-2000 grit sand paper then buff it out. the results where very good except for the color match.

 

Thanks for mentioning that part - that's how it was done on the show - so the show host said... Since his color was a perfect match, ya' had to take his word for it.

I don't think it has to stay idle there, Phill, while it dries, since it is such a tiny spot. Besides, once it's dry to the touch - a couple of hours, the only thing it's doing then is giving off some vapors (these vapors MUST escape before a second 'spotting', or you could possibly get 'bubbling'; that's why the paint can always says "re-coat within one hour, or AFTER 72 hours"). Once the paint 'skins over', it has to completely cure.