rklages

I recently got a chip in the grill paint on my 06 (the dark gray stuff that is painted over the chrome and barely sticks to it) There is no mark on the chrome, just a chunk of the paint missing. Does anyone know if you can get touchup paint for the grill area.

Also has anyone stripped the grill paint and just have all chrome - if so I would like to see it as if it looks good, it would be easy enough to get the paint off as it barely sticks as it is.

Rob

CVsIS250

That's a good question. If it isn't the chrome then you could prob get away with getting some dark paint from the auto store to touch it up. You wouldn't be able to see it from far away.

CV

LexGX

iTrader: (1)

how does touch up paint really work? do you just apply the paint and its done or does it have the paint coat and then a clear coat? I'm curious.....i have lots of scratches on my car and it doesn't look too pretty. I was hoping that touch up paint would work.

rklages

The grill isn't cleared over, the rest of the car is. To do it right on chips on your car, you should use color matched touch up paint in the chips, one or 2 coats, then use clear coat touch up paint to fill the chip to be a little higher than the original paint. Let it dry a couple days, then water sand with 1000 or 1500 grit until it is flush with the old paint, buff with some rubbing compound until all the scratches from the sand paper are gone and you should not be able to tell there ever was a chip.

There are also guys around if you have a lot of chips that will airbrush them all in and you can hardly tell where they where.

Rob

CVsIS250

Yes...it comes in a little tube from Lexus. If you are going to do it the simple way, you just dab a tiny tiny tiny tiny amount onto the scratch and you are done. If you really want to go the extra mile and care about surface feel and close up look, you could follow rklages advice. I've always owned white or Blizzard Pearl cars and have noticed that you can't see the spot even if you do it the ol' fashioned way of just putting some paint on the areas.

CV

rklages

I know you can get the paint for the body color from Lexus, the issues is the paint on the grill - it is sort of a graphite color no matter what color the car is - does anyone know where I can get that for touchup?

V8_Fan

The RIGHT way to do touch-up paint is to apply it just like how the original is applied. I have the pearl, which is a 3-layer paint. Over the primer goes the basecoat, then a midcoat, then the clear coat. If you have a standard metallic, it's just a 2-coat (base+clear). I applied 2 coats each of base, mid, and clear, then buff out the clear w/ rubbing compound & a rag. The pearl's midcoat is what gives it that extra dimensionality and depth. It's like that faux painting you see in houses. The more layers you apply, the darker the basecoat becomes. There are small specs of metallic in the midcoat while the base appears to contain none. In fact, when you apply the base, it doesn't even resemble the color of the OEM paint until you apply the midcoat (base for my sand dollar pearl looks beige).

The dealer OEM touch-up paint is a joke. I got some for my LX, but ended up getting the 3-layer touch-up paints from paintscratch.com. These (along w/ the dealer touch-up) are acrylic enamels, so they are kind of slow in curing (it says you can't wax until 30 days). The midcoat seems to dissolve into the basecoat...tricky to apply, you need to dab it. Still, for chips on the hood, it is a perfect match (although I applied it too thick..no way to get it just right w/o spraying). Not cheap for touch-up paint, but much better than what the dealer sells. BTW, the pro paint shops and automakers use a urethane, epoxy type paint.

LexGX

iTrader: (1)

my gx is the gold color. What do you suggest doing? i guess i'll upload some pictures later to let you guys have an idea on what i'm trying to do. I just got a quote from a nearby bodyshop on how much for them for repaint some of the parts and labor. it was a total of 900 something dollars. Its kinda serious...but i want to see what yall's opinons are.

V8_Fan

It's all relative w/ auto painting. What type/brand of paint do they use? Name-brand like DuPont urethane? How many basecoats/clearcoats? Do they guarantee their work indefinitely? I've heard that gold metallic is very difficult, if not impossible, to exactly match as compared to silver.

To give you an idea, when I recently had front & rear steel aftermarket bumpers painted for my LX plus a few extra parts (fog light inserts that go into the bumper, metal plate to cover the winch hole). This is with the pearl tri-coat. Total painting cost for the two bumpers (they charged me what it would cost to paint LX OEM bumpers since all prices are tabulated) was $725, plus an additional 3 hrs (@ $45/hr) for the three extra pieces for a total of $860. Of that, about $300 of it was paint, the rest labor @ $45/hr. This is for surface prep & painting only (no installation). It would have cost less both in paint & labor for a 2-coat. Their labor rate is $45/hr for installation. This was a honda body shop that did the body work on my honda a while back, so I know they did quality work. Without seeing any pics of what work needs to be performed, my guess is if you have lots of chips, they'd strip the clearcoat off half the hood, repaint the chipped area, then spray clear and blend it in. Typically, they have to remove the clearcoat off a much larger area to blend it in nicely. They typically use two coats of basecoat. If you use too many coats, it tends to become more brittle and chip/crack more easiliy, especially on plastic parts.

I have some scuffs on my honda bumper (idiot teenager ran into my garage, garage door split and rubbed up against the bumper) and the estimate to remove the bumper, strip all the clearcoat, repaint the entire bumper w/ urethane, and re-clearcoat was about $300.

EricinSA

Why do you think the OEM touch up paint is a joke? Is it that you believe the paint is poor quality or the color doesn't match exactly? I own a LX470 and I have a paint chip on my door handle and I'm looking to repair it.

sunflower

Couple years ago I surprised my daughter with a car. Because I was so swamped at work the seller was kind enough to bring the car to my office for me to inspect. 2-3 hours later, I remembered I left it unlocked in the front parking lot. I walked out to lock the door and some xxxxx had keyed the car!
I did a fast search and decided to try "Quixx" which was highly rated and the Walmart down the street had it in stock. The stuff worked pretty good on a silver car, I could see it, others had to look hard to see it. Anyway, here's a Consumer Reports rating on scratch removal products. Perhaps it may help.
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2...-removers.html

Silly as this may sound, I remember seeing this guy on TV years ago who was a high-end vehicle detail specialist in Hollywood, Ca. The guy said for deep scratches he uses crayons to fill the scratches then seals the scratch with a sealer/wax. He swore it worked and even did a demo to illustrate. I was impressed, that had to be 15 years ago!

Ancient

Still no color for the grille??? I have the Hyper Silver wheels and was hoping that someone found a close match???, but no replies to that question either in another post. LexGX Go to You Tube, search automotive paint touch up, there are many manufactures there with diffent products, like "Dupli-Color". By watching some of the videos, you can see the different methods of repair and the different products out there today. You can always try touch up nicks on the underside of the fenders, or running boards, until you get the hang of it. I use rubbing alcohol, with a Q-tip, to remove any wax/ oils first.

One note for everybody. When you touch up a nick or missing paint, there is always a little rise in the touch up paint, higher than the surface. Yes I have wet sandpaper and have sanded it down and buffed it out, but I have that experience. Most don't . People that use touch up paint only, will loose some of that area of paint, if they ever "clay bar" there car. Even when lubricated, the clay takes off any impurities, acid rain, and some of the paint touch up as well. It shears it off like using a razor blade across the paint.

Ancient

Info, Dupli-Color, the popular touch up paints you find in all of the automotive stores, makes the touch up for Lexus. Lexus has their label put on it and charges twice as much, or more, at the dealerships. Dupli-color is lacquer. I use automotive lacquer thinner to thin it. That was confirmed by email to them. After a few months, the paint gets thicker in the bottle.

I got paint from PaintScratch.com as well. They say there is more metalic in their touch up paints, which matches the factory color better. Bought a bottle, haven't fired up my air brush yet or did a brush touch up yet? Looking at the paint, on a piece of white paper, there appears to be more metalic. I always put a little on paper and let it dry, laying the paper next to the paint. I usually let it dry overnight, before applying the clear coat.

I have Titanium Silver 1D4, if you look at your paint in different light, sometimes the touch ups show and sometimes not. If your paint sets out in the sun all day, you probably have to polish the surrounding area, to remove any oxidation. Then use alcohol, to remove any wax or oil.

I usually cut up small pieces of blue masking tape. I go around the car and stick the tape by any nick/chip. This includes looking just under the roll of the body panels and bumpers. Back around cleaning and preping the area. The blue tape helps you find those areas quickly again, and not miss any. I start out under the body, where no one sees those chips, testing the product. I use a separate paint brush, although I have used the corner of the brush that comes in the bottle. Your brush will start to gum up and start to blob more paint on the nick, after about a half dozen, if it is hot or windy outside. I always use lacquer thinner to clean the brush and dry it off with a paper towel, every half dozen nicks or so.

Less is better. Better to go around and touch up the nick a second time, than to blob it on, all at once. If you dip too much out of the bottle you are using, just wipe some off the brush, with that paper towel. While you are cleaning your brush, close the bottle and shake, shake, shake. Metalic settles to the bottom of the bottle.

The same touch up paint looks different sprayed from and air brush vs brush touch up. It has to do with how the metalic specs in the paint lay down. Like I said, try under the bottom of bumpers or running boards, get some practice in.

Ancient

Am I hogging this post or what. Urethanes that the body shops use, lasts longer as stated earlier. Some automotive paint stores have a gun, that they place on the paint, to match paint, as it is on the car now. I have just been too lazy, to take my car in and have them shoot the wheels. Hypersilver on the wheels, has to be painted over a black primer. I have done enough custom painting in my life to get me in trouble. A legend in my own mind.

fishhuntnc

Touched up the metallic gray paint on my '05 grill today. In my opinion the following paint is a perfect match.

Dupli-Color BTY1619 (1G3) - Magnetic Gray Metallic (Toyota). Followed it with their Clear Coat - looks great. . My local Advance Auto Parts had both in stock.