jcm

I took a rock to the hood. It went down to the metal. It is still a small chip, but noticeable. Of course it hit where the clear bra ends. Anyway, is there any way to repair this, or is repainting the hood the only option? Touch paint does not help much. It is like a zit on a supermodel's face.

MJones

Look at it this way... the more you drive the more you'll get..
It's not the last
It's the patina of driving
Drive it----Enjoy it

SrfCity

True. There's a product that will actually fill in the chip so that it isn't noticeable. Personally I'd just touch it up with a tooth pick and then forget it. As long as your eye doesn't notice it too much you'll just forget about it in time.

steve775

The hood is aluminum anyway, so you really can put it off 'till later without fear of rust.

jfraser

JCM
Don't repaint the hood....I guarantee you that will be worse than you current chip....just think what they have to do to get it right...Match paint , spray nozzle size, & fleck size (if metallic)...spray perfectly, no runs, dust particles etc... check for no overspray or mask off lines etc, etc, etc if any of those aren't PERFECT, the result will be worse than the original chip

.....You only think of touching up as a cr@p result because you've only seen bad ones....here's an article that shows you how to do it properly.....I think you'll agree the result is exceptional......If you don't want to do it yourself find a good bodyshop to do it....They'll hate you (and suggest you respray the lid...as it's easier for them)...give them the attached method and insist it's done this way.....They're going to charge you more to do it, but the result will be A1

http://autopia.org/kb/index.php?page..._v2&id=27&c=16

JohnnyBahamas

There is a way to make the touch up paint as invisible as possible... and that's to have a real pro with a rotary buffer do a light cut over the hood after the touch up paint has been applied properly and completely dried. If done properly the physical mark and the paint patch will be gone though there is often a slight pigment variation when you look closely at the spot.

But I wouldn't recommend that for just one chip because the clear coat is only SO thick.

You're in the club now... I got my first chip in the hood coming home from the dealer! Didn't have 10 miles on her. A Satanic POS Dirt Hauling Tractor Trailer did it and I swear the driver had red skin and horns... bastard evil thing.

I'll patch them all and have the paint cut around 30K miles.

jcm

Anyone know someone in New Jersey area who is willing and capable?

Jerseybean

why dont you get paint protection on it. I just had someone in Lodi NJ do a custom job on mine. He does cars for a number of the high end dealers including Jack Daniels - I think he said that he just did a GT for them. PM if your interested.

AndrewSS

Hey, JCM, Carcareonline.com is based in Newjersey i think! They have good articles about carcare, one about fixing a chip with touch up paint... you may want to read it, and since they are based in NJ (i think) maybe they could do the touch up for you, i doubt it.... give them a call!

=)

OCBen

I followed this process and was amazed at the results! I couldn't believe how easy it was to do once the steps were broken down into simple, methodical steps that lead to a professional job. I'll never let a paint shop try to touch up paint again. They're only looking for the least amount of labor for the most amount of pay. Can't say I blame them. But at least I can look after my own interest by doing it myself and doing it right.....for the least amount of money but with the most amount of satisfaction.

JohnnyBahamas

That's a great article Ben, thanks for that link.

boolala

Some guys on the Mercedes forum love this:

http://www.langka.com/

OCBen

Umm...ahh....gee...what can I say...other than the credit for the link really goes to jfraser who went to the trouble of digging it up. I knew where to find it since I've consulted that article before. I only gave it my personal testimonial confirming the efficaciousness of the technique described therein.

Another great article on touching up paint chips that AndrewSS aluded to is the one written by Larry Reynolds of carcareonline.com.

Those lazy #@%#!!!! Anything that is advertised as being so easy even a child can do, has GOT to be the worst product out there!