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On a business trip and see two nasty rock chips that weren't there before. Been holding off since my car is 072. I may just touch up with white, meaning, wrong color is better than no paint? I have experience ordering tricoat online for another car, and it simply just doesn't match with the base and mid coats. Maybe just easier said than done....with the BMW metallic at least the color matches perfectly, it's the touch up that one can see (imagine filling a crater with a tiny blob, so it goes from concave to convex). I watched a pro do touch ups taking 90 minutes before, and said, say what? I coulda done that very carefully in 5-10 min...
edit: this is cheap enough to buy locally, probably try to get it. Just need two drops, seriously, to cover up bare metal, not worried about the actual chip, fact of life esp. on a 11 y.o. car, but imho this lacks the base coat, for which I am not sure of
There were two bottles. One is marked 072 and the other is marked 072-BC. I think the 072 is the top coat. I just used the base 072-BC as the chips were small. Several of them were to bare metal but did not have any corrosion yet..
I just tried some touch up on my car yesterday. I ordered a primer paint pen, a color coat pen and a clear coat pen from automotive touchup.com. I chose the area beneath the grille, as it was the move chiped up part of my car. I also thought if things didn't go right that it was the area least seen from anyone. I cleaned up a small area as instructed and started. I ordered the pens thinking they would be the best choice. The pens did not have a felt tip, rather a plastic tip shaped light a regular screwdriver. I directions was rather vague and I applied too many coats of the primer. You were to apply a layer, wait 5-10 minutes, and apply again. Some of the chips didn't fill and other smaller ones overfilled. This was compounded by the paint drying so quickly that the pen tip was not smooth and made application difficult. After the required wait of 30 minutes you were to sand with 600 grit wet sandpaper. This did not go well as the areas around the chip also were sanded.
After allowing the primer to dry for an hour, I attempted to apply the color coat. This became a mess, not being able to apply smoothly. The pen tip was activated by pressing the tip down when in a vertical position, allowing the paint to flow down to the tip (you had to do this on another flat surface) and this gave a blob of paint or not enough. This paint dried even faster than the primer and the pen tip quickly had dried particles which made a smooth surface application impossible. After allowing another hour to dry I tried to sand the spots. The paint was not dry enough and I then quit to let it set overnight. I don't think I will be able to sand the surfaces well enough to make a decently smooth clear coat on top. I'll give it a try at sanding and then compounding the finish to hopefully polish out any sanding done to the areas around the chiped areas.
I consider this experiment a failure, but am thankful that I did not try it on any other part of the car. Maybe others are more skilled in chip repair and will be successful. I don't recommend the paint kit I purchased.
On the way home, I stopped at a HUGE Lexus dealer, thinking I was gonna just grab two sticks of 072 paint. Come to find, 3 dealerships do not stock it. the one near my house will not order without me stopping in and paying in advance LOL he said you've never been here for service, and we have tons of people order them and never pick them up. CRY ME A RIVER BABY!! They are the worst, I need to delink from them on Lexus Drivers. On those push pins, the list was like 97 cents and they sell them for $2.40! Nein danke! (beware I'm sure they're not the only dealership who upcharges over list, go near the airport)
Anyway, the one near work, a big dealer, said we'll order and mail it to you so you don't have to come in, $10.42 times 2 (list I think), we'll cover you on the 49 cents lol
Guess it's just one of those things that they don't really stock, or moonlight is an old color.....no biggie....but it will likely take a full week....
It's not just you. My dealer had to order for me too. I think they don't stock it as it's an old color and not much demand any more. When you get yours post up how the match is.
Not that it matters, or that I would take my car to the dealer, but I delinked from the one near my house, and linked to the one who will mail me the paint. I think the one near my house is a monopoly, they have a very good location--it's huge, and there is no parking anywhere, there are so many cars. Ferrari dealer is right up the road (they are pretty rare meaning they'll set up shop, where you can smell the benjamins!). And for the plastic push pins, they wanted 2.5x list LOL I think the dealer who is getting the paint charged me list, $10 is not bad imho, when compared to $40 plus shipping from the online places...
edit ps interesting, both Toyota and Lexus have it, it's $1.05 more for Lexus, or about 11%....
I have become pretty good at chip repair over the years but it takes a careful hand and a lot of time to get good results. I also avoid touch-up pens because they are too hard in use to apply correct amount. Little pots of paint work better that you apply with very tiny brush. Make sure you have some paint or lacquer thinner on hand to keep brush super clean. Key is to clean chip/scratch that cannot be rubbed out with rubbing alcohol and then apply very small amounts of paint to build up 3-4 layers. When built up the paint plus clear coat should be just a tiny bit higher than surface paint so it can be wet sanded smooth with surface and then compounded/polished shiny. It is highly detailed multi-day work that cannot be rushed. Takes a lot of patience. Must wait minimum of 1-2 hrs between layer coats. Then at least 12-24 hours so the paint can harden before lightly wet sanding with 1200-2000 grit wet sand paper. In my experience any wait times shorter than listed will produce poor results. Repairs will always be visible from certain angles and up close but a good repair will protect the surface and totally blend from a few feet away.
I have become pretty good at chip repair over the years but it takes a careful hand and a lot of time to get good results. I also avoid touch-up pens because they are too hard in use to apply correct amount. Little pots of paint work better that you apply with very tiny brush. Make sure you have some paint or lacquer thinner on hand to keep brush super clean. Key is to clean chip/scratch that cannot be rubbed out with rubbing alcohol and then apply very small amounts of paint to build up 3-4 layers. When built up the paint plus clear coat should be just a tiny bit higher than surface paint so it can be wet sanded smooth with surface and then compounded/polished shiny. It is highly detailed multi-day work that cannot be rushed. Takes a lot of patience. Must wait minimum of 1-2 hrs between layer coats. Then at least 12-24 hours so the paint can harden before lightly wet sanding with 1200-2000 grit wet sand paper. In my experience any wait times shorter than listed will produce poor results. Repairs will always be visible from certain angles and up close but a good repair will protect the surface and totally blend from a few feet away.
Tx the suggests. I have the touch up pen which is supposed to be good for small rock chips. Haven't tried yet. Your approach sounds better because you control the exact amount. I built enough model cars in my (long ago) youth to understand that it's not easy to do paint right. Sounds like you've got the right approach. Cypress Pearl seems to hide damage well. Maybe the lighter color helps. I didn't see the chips when I bought the car. Even now, have to look closely. Still plan to fix.
Great tips....long story short is when I got the BMW my then g/f told me I should get the "protection package," it was $490 and covered dings, tears, chips, etc. She said if I don't get it, she'll get it for me, right in front of the finance mgr. What could I do. I did get two PDRs out of it (they shoulda been at the time $120 ea), and a touch up. If you want to call the guy a pro, who did the touch up, he mixed the paint himself, and carefully touched up the car, taking 2 hours as I watched. I honestly felt that while he did it the best humanly possible, at the same time, it took too long and sure many would not know the chips are there, but I do....it's just like the chip being a crater and concave, then the fill is convex, with paint matching perfectly. the owner will always know where they are imho. Anyhow, my method today is to put blue tape all around the crater, and then dab it. The worst that happens is the dab is the same size as the chip. To be honest, though, I've never had luck with pearl paints, my wife's and my Maxima are. Hopefully my luck will change on the LS. The chips are tiny, so I'm not "that" worried, just think they should be touched up....
'Repairs will always be visible from certain angles and up close but a good repair will protect the surface and totally blend from a few feet away"
Metallic colors are the worst to gather a match.
The "pens" are a true pita. The paint vials are, as Jabberwok states the way to go when used judiciously.
The fact that perfection is nearly impossible.... Yep.
A re spray is the only procedure that really does the job when done by a pro.
I did the touch ups and it came back to me how it's actually a bit difficult....some come out really well due to luck, timing, and the stars aligning? Like a couple on the trunk lid's edge. The tint coat is water thin, but does match perfectly....
edit resize pic/ btw it seems to come from Sherwin Williams Duplicolor in IL, maybe that's why the dealers don't stock it....the package mentioned 49 CFR § 173.4 where I guess the max size of the paint can only be 1 oz., and these are 1/2 each...not bad for $22 incl. sales tax/no shipping
edit 2 ps did you guys see how photobucket now wants $399/yr. if you want to use them for 3rd parties i.e. like forums, nein danke so I've been trying to find the right size here
p.s. I think one factor on how it turns out is the size and nature of the chip.....again, color matches perfectly, but on the large ones that started this search for the 072 paint, they are craters, and so they are craters that have been "colored in," still concave.
These were tiny ones at the trunk's edge on the 1/4, that came out very well, due to the small size imho
Now if this were a new car, I'd actually be bummed about chips on the hood (they are bound to happen), but with it being an '06, I just want to cover them and not have the metal bare...
06-11-17, 07:28 AM
ah those tricoat touch up blues
I have experience ordering tricoat online for another car, and it simply just doesn't match with the base and mid coats. Maybe just easier said than done....with the BMW metallic at least the color matches perfectly, it's the touch up that one can see (imagine filling a crater with a tiny blob, so it goes from concave to convex). I watched a pro do touch ups taking 90 minutes before, and said, say what? I coulda done that very carefully in 5-10 min...
