Sachin Misra

Hey gang,

I have some small paint chips on my 96 guards red 993. Some on the hood, some on the front bumper and 1 on the driver side door. all of them are relatively small (less than 1/16" in dia).

My mechanic (old german porsche racer) was telling me that it would actually detract value from the car if paint was put on the car. He said most porsche lovers would rather see chips than non-factory paint. Is this true?

If so, do I just leave it alone? You can see white stuff under the paint on all of the chips (primer??) Besides driving me nutty everytime I see it, are there really any issues with the chips? I don't drive it in rain or snow.

jacksonking

I dab my paint chips with Porsche brand touch up paint and then smooth them with Langka (www.langka.com) It leaves the touch up paint level with the original paint. I would never find an exposed paint chip preferable to a well repaired one. But there's no rule.

JPS

I agree with jacksonking.
They are a bitch to fix right. Carcareonline.com has a good article on how to do it right, if you have the patience...but I vote to touch them up well as opposed to leave them.

BTW...is that <a href="http://www.langka.com" target="_blank">www.langka.com</a> stuff any good?

Damian in NJ

See if there is a 'Chip's Away' franchise in your area, then check the skill level of the franchisee. I've had two of my Porsche's done and been quite happy with the results.

Vinny '98 3.8 C2S

STLPCA

[quote]Originally posted by JPS:
<strong>...is that <a href="http://www.langka.com" target="_blank">www.langka.com</a> stuff any good?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Yes. It actually works, but it's a slooooow process to do a bunch of chips. Make sure you let the paint dry. Several threads in the old (993/996 Board) archives. E.g.,

<a href="http://boards.rennlist.com/cgi-bin/993/993.pl?read=42541" target="_blank">Touch up paint and Langka - Robin's method</a>
<a href="http://boards.rennlist.com/cgi-bin/993/993.pl?read=47184" target="_blank">Chip repair and Langka - not good w/metallic paint</a>

Ray Calvo

Personally, if you are talking little dabs of touch-up paint (like 1/16" chips), I would feel go for it - even with metallic paint. Bur for such small chips use a toothpick, not the brush that comes with the touch up bottles.

From experience with silver on old '76 911 and present Audi, and green metallic on the 993, I agree paint matching is impossible on metallics.

Now, if you're talking about a complete repaint vs. touch-up, then I say do the touch up. A repaint automatically equals "collision" to a prospective buyer (it would with me!).

Doug

I just learned the hard way with metallic paint and Langka. It left a dark halo around the chip. I tried wet sanding it away and it justs gets bigger. It's now about 2 inches in diameter. Any suggestions?

Doug

WillyC4S

Doug,

I think you may have rubbed down below the clear coat and that's what's causing the halo. Don't know how to fix it, but that's most likely your issue being a metallic paint.

*****

Tim Ashfield

I agree with ***** you have probably gone through the clearcoat - now is the time for expert help.

Tim.

Doug

Thanks for the replies. Now I face the dilema of having having to paint the entire hood. I hear of people saying it's better to keep the original paint. Will re-painting the hood hurt my cars value? I can't get a picture out of my head of that body shop guy joy riding in my car!

Doug