Hi, I have a very tiny (may be a needle tip) rock chip on driver's door that has been bothering me...searched and found dr. Color Chip repair kit...is this any good? They claim no blobs and do have all Porsche paints there including GT Silver...any thoughts on this or any others? How about OEM touch up paint? Thanks.

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

 

I'll be watching this thread. I have a few myself, chips that is. I was looking at dr color chip as well, but haven't pulled the trigger. I ordered the touch up kit from Suncoast, but it doesn't really fill in the space left from the chip

 

I also plan to order dr. Color chip. Few people have told me it works well. But I have white which is likely easier than metallic colors.

 

Fester, my Dad just hired a guy last weekend to do a chip repair on his classic Corvette. The guy was the Son of the Owner of Dr. Color Chip. He showed up in a Dr. Colorchip business truck guarantying he could repair it to "90%." My Dad was incredibly disappointed. He said it would be generous to say he improved it by 15%. Bottom line he could have done a better job himself.

 

No need to completely fill in the chip. Use 3M hand glaze to fill it. Glaze is special type of wax which is designed to smooth irregular surfaces. When the touchup paint has dried for a day or so, apply the glaze like wax. Let dry to haze and wipe off. Rewax the area around the chip with your favorite wax as a top coat. The downside to this method is that if you strip the wax, you strip the glaze too. Just reapply the glaze and then rewax.

 

When in this process do I put the touch up paint?

 

First step is to clean the chip and the area around the chip with a car shampoo which won't strip the wax or if you want to strip the wax off use Dawn.

Once it is dry, gently probe around the chip with a toothpick and ensure there is no loose paint on the edges of the chip. If the paint is loose gently remove it with the toothpick.

If the chip is down to bare metal, apply a primer coat with a toothpick or fine artists brush. You want to use as little paint as possible. Only enough to cover the metal. Let dry for an hour. You may need to apply an additional coat or two to hide the bare metal. I can't stress enough to use as little paint as possible. Use the tip of the toothpick or brush to dab a very small amount of paint into the middle of the chip. Let capillilary action draw the paint to the edges of the chip.

If you are working on a verticle surface you may need to dab higher and center to get the coverage needed. Just enough paint to have it flow naturally.

If you screw up and overflow the chip, I find a diluted nail polish remover will clean up the area. Obviously rewash the area and let it dry before retrying.

If there is no bare metal or you are done applying a primer color. Just use the touchup paint with the dab method described above in applying a primer coat. Wait an hour between additional coats if required. Again the goal is to use as little paint as possible and not overflow the chip. Let capillilary action draw the paint to the chip edge.

Once the primer color is covered, let the touchup paint dry for a day or so.

Apply glaze which will fill in the rest of the chip and create a smooth surface to apply wax. Then rewax the area.

Yes, this can be time consuming with primer and touchup paint multiple coats. Fight the urge to be quick.

The glaze is going to visually hide the chip edges and it will be opaque when dry. It will simulate a clear coat. Once the regular wax topcoat is applied, that will create depth around the repair to further visually hide it.

I actually find this method easier to use with metallic paints as the sparkly bits trick the eye into not seeing edges and tend not require as much paint.

 

I just looked at the Dr. Color Chip site. They show Carrera White for the 2013 911 which is the 2012 White. The 2013 is just "White" and is very slightly different. I'd call them if ordering white to be sure. I have bought from them before and they are quite responsive.

Note that the kits have a shelf life of about 1 year so don't over order.

John in Vancouver

 

Got it, thanks

 

Experimenters please post pics!

 

I used this system with my last car (Guards Red ZO6) and it worked well.

 

I'm leaning towards placing an order with them - will also consult with the service mgr...

 

Thanks for the details. Very helpful...rep points for you

 

Keep in mind that Dr. Color Chip does not smooth out the chip, it just colors it. If you want to bring the paint up to level around other paint, you will have to use several layers of touch up paint and then level it with wet and dry abrasive cloth. Check out Micro Mesh: . Note it goes up to 12,000 grit. And the rubber block they provide has just the right softness. Use wet or dry, but wet is probably better for a car finish.

ChuckJ

 

What has worked for me in the past is the standard touch up paint from the manufacturer, using a TINY pointed artists paint brush.

I barely dip the tip of the brush into the paint bottle and barely touch the affected chip. The paint is drawn to the chip through gravity and viscosity.

After drying for a day I simply follow LotF's steps to polish etc.

If you don't have a brush, a very fine wooden toothpick will also to the trick.

Remember - a tiny amount of paint will suffice.