How to Repair Chipped Car Paint in 4 Unproblematic Steps

Repair your automobile'southward paint fleck now earlier it mushrooms into a much bigger expense.

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Time

A full day

Complexity

Beginner

Cost

Less than $20

Introduction

Here's how to take care of chips and dings in your automobile or truck before it'southward as well late. Quick activity volition mean paint chips merely require a simple fix, simply let it go and they'll turn to rust before your eyes.

Tools Required

Project step-past-pace (7)

Step 1

Prepare Pocket-sized Chips

This is a typical rock chip that you can fix with this procedure. In fact, even if the car pigment chip is near one-fourth the size of a dime, y'all can still repair it.

Fix small car paint chips

Footstep ii

Too Far Gone

This is a motorcar pigment chip that should have been repaired long ago.

  • The metal inside the chip has rusted and started to elevator the paint at the edges. The fix we show here is for fresh chips that haven't started to rust still.
  • If you see a rust spot, or have a dent forth with your fleck, you lot'll need to do a more challenging fix than nosotros show here.

rusted metal

Step 3

Clean the Paint Chips

  • Clean the paint flake with soap and water and then dry it with a soft cotton fabric.
  • Rub a dab of automotive polishing compound over the paint chip to gently soften any ragged edges.
    • Pro tip: Merely a dozen swirls or so will exercise the job. As well much rubbing could harm the clearcoat over the paint and brand a cloudy mess.

Clean the car paint chips

Footstep 4

Make clean the Finish

Clean the finish with denatured alcohol.

  • The alcohol volition remove whatever wax or remaining crud.
    • Pro tip: Don't flood the surface with alcohol. Just a few wipes with a soft, clammy cloth will do.

Clean car paint with alcohol

Step 5

Utilize the Primer

Apply a spot of primer with the butt end of a paper match.

  • Make full the surface area within the car pigment chip, just touching the edges of the surrounding paint.
  • Let the primer dry for at to the lowest degree a half hour.

Apply primer to car paint diagram

Step 6

Get Your Bear upon-Up Paint and Primer

If you don't know the color number for your car, you lot'll accept to find information technology on your vehicle identification plate.

  • Once you find the number, purchase a minor bottle of bear on-up paint. If you tin't discover the correct color online, cheque with the dealer. Dealers frequently carry colors for the cars they sell.
    • Pro tip: If you can only find spray pigment with the right color number, you can use it past spraying a bit of pigment into the cap and applying it with a fine artist's brush.
  • Also buy a small can of auto primer.

Pace 7

Paint the Chip

Put a minor amount of paint over the primer coat.

  • Ever test the color on a piece of paper to make sure it matches. The examination will also give yous a experience for how much paint to load onto the applicator brush.
  • Apply a second coat near i hour later. Allow the pigment cure for several days and rub information technology out over again gently with polishing chemical compound to plumage the edges of the repair.
    • Pro tip: Don't exercise this repair in the directly sun or if the temperature is beneath 50 degrees F.

Paint the chip on car