Just an update: I took my car to the dealer this morning and had their stone chip guy take a look at it. He said he could fix the road rash on the hood as well as touch up other spots (like the edge of the door) that needed some love.

It took him just a bit longer than an hour and $125 and the hood looks good as new! Sure you can still see the chips if you get up close to the hood and stare, but for my purposes it's an excellent fix. He also touched up a bunch of other niggling issues. No muss no fuss.

 

I had the same problem on a leased car. The finance people wanted to charge $450 per area (bumper, hood etc). Took it to a high end body shop and they did a touch up. Didn't even charge me. They could have done a better job if I paid. Looks acceptable even on a GT silver. They do a much better job on flat colors obviously.

 

Last Fall Fred Baker Porsche in Bedford had a grey 911 on the floor that looked new while in fact it was four or five yrs old... I commented on how great the paint was on the car and how well it was maintained..

In fact they had removed the front bumper and sprayed it in the shop they use.. It looked brand new... I was considering a clear bra but after seeing how great the car looked after being painted after several years I think I'll just have the front bumper painted and touched up to give it the new look...
See who Baker uses for body and paint work... They said it was relatively easy to remove the front bumper to paint.

 

Yeah, then the newly sprayed bumper is even more susceptible to new chips because the paint isn't baked on like the factory. Unless you find someone that somehow can do it exactly like they do at that factory (unlikely and very expensive if you can find one), then don't respray. To each his/her own I guess.

 

If you are going to put clear bra on a previously chipped surface, I would recommend the Dr. Colorchip approach. We have used this several times on cars that came in chipped, and it works very well. The durability may be an issue if you are using it by itself, but once you cover it with clear bra, not only is it permanent, you can't tell it was ever chipped either. This assumes that the chips weren't excessively deep, of course.

 

I think that is a GREAT idea. I had a clear bra installed by one of the best installers around. He does all the clear bras for Bevery Hills Porsche and for a dealerships here in the VA, NC area. I sat there for 5 hours and watched my clear bra install . . . . at a price of $1200 for a full front end wrap, door sills, door handles, new rear fender pieces and around the wheel wells.

I will say that I think he did a great job. He completely wrapped everything in the front. Took the headlights out, etc to get around the edges. I will also say . . . . except for the largest piece on the front nose, I would have NO PROBLEM installing a kit myself. I think I could do the front nose, but it would take me 3 times longer than it took him.

In summary, I think doing it yourself is a GREAT way to go. The only thing I would worry about is whether the pieces are big enough to wrap? I wouldn't want a lint around the hood, nose, fenders, etc.

Good luck and post pics when you are done.

 

Have a look at this website.. These guys seem to do some awesome work to customize the look of your bike / car .

http://www.westcoasthydrographix.com/

 

I used Dr.Colorchip in the past and it works great on very, very small stone chips. I didn't use it for a while (6-8months) and I noticed that the color changed from sitting too long. Dr.Colorchip was nice enough to send me a replacement but still didn't match like the original purchase.

So I purchased the OEM touch up paint, applied it with a smallest brush I could find. You want to let it sit overnight and then re apply to fill/build the area with paint. After it hardened, a few days later I used some rubbing alcohol applied it on a fine cotton cloth wrapped over a credit card. Gently rubbed the area, the extra paint came off, the area was even and it looked perfect. You can go over it with some mild polish by hand and a coat of wax.