Tips for Repairing Your Car's Paint Job

We all get them from time to time. Those little nicks and dings in your cars paint job. These come from a number of sources. The piece of gravel kicked up by the car ahead of you. The torrent of grit you encounter after the road crew trucks have gone through clearing and plowing and spreading salt and cinders. Accumulate enough of these pock marks in your paint job and they can take hundreds of dollars away from the resale value of your vehicle.This article will show how to fix a pock mark and you can use the knowledge on the rest of them as they show up.

First you will need the tools to get the job done. A sanding block. Looks a lot like a black board eraser but you can clip various grades of sand paper into the slots for different degrees of sanding. You will need some regular sandpaper. The best grit of paper to get is a few sheets of 150 grain, some 220 and some 400 grit. You will also need some wet/dry sandpaper. This type of paper will not fall apart if it gets wet. The wet dry should be limited to like 400 to 800 grit only as it is used for the finishing touch. In the world of sandpaper the lower the number the coarser the grit. Also ask about some tape suitable for masking off the area to be painted. There is a type you can get that adheres well and will hold up the masking material, in this case, newspapers does very well, but will not leave any residue on the car once it is pulled off.

Consult your vin number for the correct paint to use or the clerk at the paint store can help you. Also, if your car has the clear spray look you will need a can of that too. The last item you need to pick up is a tube of glazing compound. This is almost the same stuff as body putty but has a much finer consistency and sands off much easier as well. And you don't have to mix it up. Just squeeze out and smear it on and let it dry. The purpose of this glaze is to fill minute scratches that you can not see with your eye, but which will show up and show through paint.

Use the 150 grit and the sanding block to rapidly remove the paint from around and over the pock mark. Go all the way down to the metal. The paint should be removed to roughly three times the size of the original pock mark. Switch to the 220 and then the 400 grit as you go. This serves to do three things. The 150 gets rid of the surface paint and primer and any rust that may have invaded. The 220 and the 400 serve to feather the edges of the repair area so you can see the layers more distinctly as you remove them. When finished you will see that on the outer edges will be unmarked paint, then sanded paint and then primer and finally bare metal as you get to the center of the repair area.

Use a spray bottle filled with water to spritz the repair area wet and do the same to the wet/dry paper and sand it all down to an ultra smooth feel. Use the spray bottle to rinse the area clean and once it is all dry apply the glaze, let it dry and then use the wet/dry paper and water to sand it all down again. You will see that only trace amounts of the glaze will remain. Those spots are the scratches that will now will not be seen.

Mask off the area you are going to spray with newspaper and having removed any dust you can now apply primer to the repair area. Now primer is coarse so it is best to let it dry then wet sand the area again. Do this a couple of times then rinse the area clean and let dry completely.

You may have to re-mask the area now that you are ready for paint. Just take your time. Three very light coats of paint are far better than one medium to heavy coat. Again, you may want to lightly wet sand after each coat. this helps following paint coats to adhere and prevent flaking.

If you have been careful the repair area will hardly be noticeable and you have the majority of your supplies left to take care of other blemishes in the future.