I found this video on fixing chips in the finish of guitars and wondered if it could be applied with modifications to chips in the auto paint chips. Clear coat would be a problem I think.
Any ideas?

 

Pretty interesting video, but there are a couple of inherent issues - metallic and pearlcoat colours. Where solid colours can be made almost invisible, pearls and metallics will never look 100% without being sprayed. And as you know, that involves a much more elaborate process.
A similar and simpler process than in the video can be used. That would be to have the factory colour available and touch up the chip. Don't try to make do with a colour that's "close". Water sand with 2000 grit on a block very lightly to remove any high spots or overlap from the area that you applied the touch up colour to on the original finish. For a clearcoat replacement, use clear nail polish over the repaired area. Let this dry completely, watersand smooth again, then buff and polish. Solid colour repairs will be almost invisible and the pearl and metallic colours will still look better than the chipped finish.

 

Here is my story, and as pal harvy would say here's the rest of the story.

I spoke to my painter about removing scratches and chips,,after 5 min. of telling me how he was going to do it. I told him i would bring my other car to try it first.
my wife's Mustang is dark gray,
so i get there and he mixed about 1oz of the Mustang color and 1oz of clear, mixed it for a few seconds, then took a small paint stick brush (about the size of a match stick) and put a drop in the 4 chips i had it was left with a bubble on it , and on a scratch about 5" long he took a small syringe and filled it about 1/2 full, then filled the scratch, it too was over filled, then he looked at me asd said see you in two to three days days.

I got back to his shop on day 3
he took our a new razor blade and some very thin masking tape, taped the outer edge just like in the video, he then started to scrap away the hump on the chip spot,,, I stopped him and ask you were going to do that to my crossfire, he laughed and said yep, well he got it down level with the rest of the paint, used 1600 (I THINK)wet sand paper,, put some polishing compound on it and buffed it out by hand , then some polish (by hand again, then used a elect polisher,, did the same on the others and the scratch,, when he finished i could not find where any of the chips or the scratch was, took my crossfire to him a few days later he fixed 7 chips some on the hood ,a few on the finder, and he let me do two of them you can see where i did them but you can not find where the ones he fixed were.he told me you have to use clear and the car color and you don't have to clear it when done. he charged me $5.00 per chip and $7.00 for the scratch, for both cars i paid $50.00 because he said the mustang was my test car.,
this scared the s*** out of me,, thinking my paint was ruined,, but it worked. jim

 

John My wife;s Mustang is metallic gunmetal gray,, and you can not see or find where the chips were. jim

 

Well that's good. The metallic in the colour usually settles in the paint making it look darkerJohn My wife;s Mustang is metallic gunmetal gray,, and you can not see or find where the chips were. jimrayed when not. It also tends to streak when brushed, making it a little more visible. And you didn't mention him putting a clear over it. If the colour is single stage, no problem. If it's two-stage base clear, then the clear acts as a protectant for the colour. Most of today's base coats are water borne, making a clear over top essential to preserve the colour. The purpose of the razor blade is to eliminate the hih spots. Block sanding accomplishes the same thing. But I don't do this for a living or anything and you got good results. Can't argue with that.

 

John as I said " he mixed about 1oz of the Mustang color and 1oz of clear, mixed it for a few seconds, then took a small paint stick brush (about the size of a match stick) and put a drop in the 4 chips" he pot a drop in the chip,,,he did not brush any of them,, not even the scratch
he mixed the metallic and the clear,,( I just called him and he said by mixing the color and the clear you don't have to put clear over it again,, mine has been repaired for two years now and still i can't find them,,, i did find a new one.. I too am not a painter.

 

Did he clean the chips? With any polish in the chip I think the paint would not adhere at all. I tried this on my Old Crossfire once without using the tape and the paint pulled out of the chips.

 

he said he had used a little of acetone on a q-tip. jim