Bxstr

Hi Everyone,
Had a small chip on the roof of my GT3 and also one on the door. I believe both have been there since I got the car two years ago. The doors are aluminum, but the roof is not and I don't want rust to set in. Learned this method from Larry at Ammonyc years ago (probably 5+ years ago) with the paint pen. Put the paint inside of the pen and was able to very deliberately add paint to fill in the chip. This eliminates needing the Seal Act solution from Dr Colorchip which in my experience almost always causes more paint to come out of the chip than you'd want in order to level it. Remember that touchup is not about making the repair invisible but about protecting the metal underneath. The paint on the tape were just to get the paint actually started and coming through the pen itself.

Joe

blepski

What type of paint was used in the pen? Factory touch up or paint from elsewhere?

Is this the pen that was used?

Bxstr

I used Dr Colorchip.

This was the paint pen I used, but that one would do the same thing.

CTDan

I’m curious why you didn’t use the tools that come with the Dr Colorchip kit?
I have never used either of these, but ordered the kit from Dr CC… Does the pen work better?

Bxstr

The pen is more precise. The tools that Dr Colorchip provides work well enough and their Sealact blending solution is good enough but what you'll find is you typically pull out a bit more paint than you want or not enough. The pen allows you to fill the chip or scratch the perfect amount without the need for the blending solution. The pens are relatively inexpensive and provide a better repair in my experience. Dr Colorchip basically recommends you overfill the chip and then level it out later, I prefer to put the correct amount of paint in right away.

CTDan

I’ll order the pen and give both a shot.

Thanks for the quick response.

Kuhl997.2!

There really is a better way to address paint chips than using pens, brushes or toothpicks. Place a drop of touch up paint just above the chip then use a squeegee to flow the paint over the chip then use a little polish or some rubbing alcohol to remove the excess.

NI3

Makes sense.

TrackJunke

It would seem that perfectly leveling the touch up is what helps with the shine and visual appearance to make it less noticeable. You can do this with wet sanding then compound/polish. However, I have been experimenting with the festool denib (used in pain industry to remove dust nibs) tool which will actually shave off small amounts of paint/clear without removing the surrounding clear. It’s probably not as good as wet sanding but I do not want to keep removing clear coat to just touch up stone chips.

dwhitlow

Resurrecting this old thread, but curious if ‪Bxstr then used the SealAct to actually level the Dr. Colorchip paint after applying with the touchup pen? Seems like if that yielded good results, it would be the way to go with less smear to clean up and a more level result.

Anybody else try this method with similar or better results?

Bxstr

You can use SealAct after, just have to go super light with it, otherwise you’ll pull the paint out. My goal though has always been to use just enough paint to not have to level it with SealAct.

The main objective of using the pen is to avoid putting the giant blob of paint and needing to level it and instead building up layers of paint in the chip. It takes a while, but has been worth it to me.

Sylverlee

I’ve been using this pen for a while on the hood.. but I could never get the paint to flow on the doors etc, less flat surfaces. Has anyone had success with that? Technique?

Bxstr

You can try to dab the pen onto a flat surface first, like a piece of cardboard. Then apply it to the door. However, I've typically used a toothpick or touch up brushes, with the white tip removed.


You also can use a syringe with a very fine needle, note that you may need something even smaller than what I show below.


I've used all of these methods, depending on what I'm working on.

Sylverlee

I use the micro brushes on larger chips but it’s harder to not create a blob

Bxstr

You can also tape around the chip, then use the micro brush, but again without the white tip. Then use Dr Colorchip seal act to remove the paint, but do it very lightly otherwise you'll pull the paint out of the chip. I've found the tape around the tip helps to keep things contained within the chip.