Touch it Up – Basic Paint Chip Repair
Ya gotta drive ’em! That’s the philosophy we’ve always had here at Goodguys. Of course, when you drive ’em, sometimes you encounter casualties – like rock chips. That’s the trade-off, but it shouldn’t be something that deters you from driving and enjoying your car. Paint chip repair can be an easy “in your garage” fix.
After several years on the road, the Goodguys G/RS ’69 Camaro had developed a few stone chips. We talked to Graham Carmichael and Kurt Hallock from PPG about repairing them. They offered to show us how during the Lone Star Nationals event. Borrowing supplies – and a temporary work station – from the 3M show rig, they demonstrated the process while repairing a couple of the car’s more significant chips.
We were fortunate enough to document the process, so we hope you’ll follow along with the accompanying photos to see how a couple of pros approach paint chip repair.
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- Here’s the culprit – a stone chip on the lower front fender of the Goodguys G/RS ’69 Camaro.
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- The first step was to thoroughly clean the area with wax and grease remover.
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- After masking off the bumper and spoiler, the chip was sanded with 220-grit paper. The sandpaper was backed with a soft 3M sanding block.
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- You can see how the area was feather edged, creating a gradual transition from the bare metal to the unaffected paint.
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- Finishing glaze (in this case, 3M Platinum Plus Finishing Glaze #31180) was used to fill the depression created during sanding.
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- Once the glaze had set up, the area was sanded again to create a level surface.
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- Graham ran his fingers across the repair to determine if it was level.
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- Minor additional sanding was needed to get the repaired area uniform with the surrounding surface.
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- When the sanding was complete, the area was wiped down again with wax and grease remover.
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- Before priming and painting, the area around the repair was masked thoroughly.
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- Next, they applied primer to the repair, using PPG SXA3 1K High Build Primer Surfacer.
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- Once the primer had dried, the area was sanded again using 1000-grit paper.
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- After another thorough cleaning with wax and grease remover, the area was painted using PPG Delfleet Essential single-stage urethane mixed to match the Camaro’s Goodguys Yellow color.
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- The same repair process was used on this chip near the Camaro’s headlight door.
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- Graham and Kurt finished by using PPG One Choice SXA840 Blending Solvent, which helps to melt in dry overspray, blending the repair into the existing finish.
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- With the paint dry and the masking removed, the repair was undetectable. We’re ready for a few thousand more road miles!
