Over the years, your car is going to pick up a few scratches and dings. At first, small scratches might not seem worth fixing. However, if you leave them alone for too long, they can grow and become problematic. The biggest concern is if rust starts to form on your car body. This level of corrosion will need to be professionally fixed. However, this is why it is so important to patch and repair small paint chips as soon as you notice then. In the long run, it could end up saving you a lot of time, inconvenience, and money. This article explains how to patch and seal small paint chips.
Using Patch or Just Paint
If your paint chip is really small, you can just repair it with auto body touch-up paint. However, if the chip is a little bigger (say about the size of a fingernail), you should fill it in with auto body filler, which is the best way to make your patch job look professional. Auto body filler is easy to work with and available at most home improvement stores. Whether you are just going to patch with paint or use auto body filler, you first need to do a little bit of preparation work. That is, you need autobody sandpaper to rough up the surface. This sandpaper is extremely smooth, but it will lightly rough up the paint surface so the patch or touch-up paint will stick better. When using sandpaper, you don't want to rub off the existing paint—you just want to remove the shiny finish. You just want to use a small corner of the sandpaper to sand the chipped area.
If you are going to apply auto body filler, you should use a plastic putty knife or just your finger. You will need to apply an excess amount of putty and then let it dry. Once it is dry, you can go over it with sandpaper to smooth it out and help it blend in with the car surface.
Similarly, you will need to lightly sand the touch-up paint after it dries. Then, once it is perfectly flat, you want to apply a small amount of clear coat. You can find clear coat wherever you get your auto body paint. This is important because it seals the new paint while also helping the sheen to match the existing paint.
Fixing small paint chips is cheap and easy work as long as you do it before rust starts the form. It is better to be safe than sorry and to fix your paint chips as soon as you notice them. For professional assistance, contact an auto body repair shop in your area.
Share17 January 2017
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