Marine Blue

I spent a bunch of hours earlier this week touching up paint chips on the GT as I prepare for the upcoming conours. I decided to take pictures of one particular scratch which was rather nasty and needed a great deal of work to get it looking just ok IMHO.

This scratch was on the front bumper and penetrated all layers of paint into the plastic. Deeper than anything else I've ever touched up and difficult to really do a good job on for my skills.

Here are a few shots of the scratch before I started

Marine Blue

I started the process with a proper cleaning of scratch using a toothpic to remove any wax, polish and dirt. I then used a cloth and alcohol to remove any residual dirt/oil.

Here's a pic of the scratch after cleaning.

Marine Blue

The next step is to touch up the scratch. I use a method I learned from someone years ago when I was prepping a Mercedes for show. Here are the steps:

1. Buy Matching touch up paint from Porsche Dealer
2. Buy wooden toothpics or alternatively get some cardboard matchsticks and cut the opposite end of the ignition tip at a 45 degree angle.
3. Shake the paint vigorously to make sure the metallic paint is evenly blended.
4. Using the included brush, apply a few globs of paint onto a small plastic surface. I had some spare wheel lock covers that I used for this.
5. After you have made a larger blob dab the end of the toothpic into the paint and practice a few dabs on a nearby safe surface to get a feel for how the paint is releasing. You do not want to get very much paint on the tip of the toothpic as this will defeate the purpose of using it.
6. Now that you have a feel for how to apply the paint start applying it to the surface of the scratch. Note that you do not want to fill the scratch completely, you want to layer. This particular scratch required 5 layers to fill completely. I did to layers within a 30 minute span and then waited a day before adding 3 more layers.

At the end of this you will see that the area that is touched up is relatively smooth and maybe a few metallic flakes are showing so it looks flat.

I tried to capture this the best I could but it's hard to see:

Marine Blue

After the paint has dried for two to three hours you are ready for the next step. I started using Langka many years ago to remove excessive touch up paint and smooth out the blobs. Yeah it really does work if you learn how to use it. It smooths the touched up area without affecting the surroundings.

I applied the Langka with a soft 100% cotton cloth and I used my fingertip to apply the pressure. This allows you to feel the bump and keep working on it until it's smooth.

At this point you'll realize if you need to add more paint or not since the Langka also adds some shine to the touch up paint. The other really cool thing is that when you applied your touch up paint you didn't see any metallics, that's because they all floated to the bottom of the scratch! So when you start using the Langka you'll see the metallics popping out. Actually this is the tricky part. To get the metallic to match you may need to add more paint and re use Langka to get just the right amount.

I followed the Langka with Meguiars #9 by hand using a Microfiber. It will help reduce the metallic flake and blend in the touched up area with the rest of the paint. To complete the job just add your favorite wax to the area (or the entire car)

I did a bunch of other small chips which are very difficult to detect but this scratch is still visible from 2 Ft away.

Here are some pics of the touched up area after polishing and after waxing.

voskian

Nice fix , Afshin. I'm in trouble now and had better start cleaning/detailing mine also as the Boston PCA concours is coming up on the 6th.



Bob Voskian
1989 928 S4 silver/black ( and not as clean as Marine Blue's Beverly Hills GT)

Dwayne

Great tip, Afshin! I've been experimenting with chips in the paint on my DD but haven't tried the process you described. What is Langka and where does one get it?? THANKS!

perrys4

Photoshop would have been a whole lot easier, lol.

Nice, I have a few that need attention. What is this Langka you speak of?

Marine Blue

So I looked up Langka's website and realized that the company has grown a bit! Seriously, when I bought the produt they only offered one basic kit to repair paint chips. I see now that they offer a whole host of products.

It appears that the original product is called the Blob Eliminator. Here's a link : http://www.langka.com/the-blob-eliminator-p-31.html

Trust me, unless you're doing multiple cars the 2 Oz quantity will be plenty and last a few years.

I'll post a few more pics of the other chips I've repaired, some are not visible by camera and some I can't find unless I'm polishing and really paying attention to them.

pscottjr

Afshin, with your process I guess you don't add any clearcoat at the final application? I have been curious about the need to use clearcoat if you polish and wax afterwards.

I think Bill Ball has some information on his web page on using the Langka's product. He used it on his exterior mirrors on some rock chips.

I had also heard that that Blob Eliminator is just Acrylic Lacquer Thinner????

Thanks for your post.

smudaaar

wow I bet you could paint a whole car with some toothpicks, langka, and alcohol!

my problem is I always drink the alcohol and then....forget what I was going to do!

Nice Job!!!

Marine Blue

The first time I tried Langka I tried it with the clear coat but I quickly realized I could get better results with just the touch up paint. I have to imagine that the touch up paint is designed to be used without a clearcoat anyways. The problem with using a clearcoat was the metallic flake issue. If you apply a clearcoat to the initial coating you will not be able to remove the top layer of paint to expose the flakes so it doesn't look right. Clearcoat is also a great deal harder than the touch up paint and it's harder to correct the blob. I never had a problem with touch up paint flaking off over time, if anything it tended to blend better over time/exposure to wax and polishes.

Think that using Langka on a non metallic paint should result in a near perfect repair.

As far as what is in it, I really don't know. I know it doesn't harm the surrounding paint, I know it has the capability to polish the paint (mild abrasives) and it has a nasty strong smell.


Trust me, between the fumes from the paint and the Langka I was feeling pretty happy after spending a few hours in the garage.

pscottjr

Afshin, I have not tried any touchups on my car yet. The reason I ask about the clearcoat was that I understand the it will darken the under coat some what. I have a lighter color car than you do and I and wondering if as a final application a clearcoat would help match the original color better???

I really don't know. I am going to wait until it cools down here in San Antonio before I do any tests. It is just to damn hot.

Thanks for your response.

LostInSpace

Those are great results!

Thanks for the detailed write up too, I've got various scratches and chips on the wheel arches that are in need of repair, you've just made the job a whole lot easier!

Marine Blue

I've never tried this process on a lighter colored metallic although I may try it on my wifes Honda. The other car I used this method on was a Pearl Black Mercedes and the results were as good.

The only way to know for sure how well it will work is to try it. The good thing is that if you're not happy and you haven't waited a day or two you can remove all of the touch up paint and start over.

Either way a decent touch up job is better than a glaring chip filled with white wax.

Dwayne

EXCELLENT....Thanks, Afshin!