wow glad this is a sticky .. i would not have caught it...thanks so much Kevin

 

I owned a black TL prior to this and had a bird dropping that ate through the clear coat and hit primer. I repaired used this same steps and cleared the whole panel and came out great.

Problem now.. I have a 04 IP coupe that i just got 3 days ago and first weekend out with it, it got keyed! On the rear drivers side quarter fender. About 18"s long. #^$@#&(*%@#!!

Im think im good enough to fix a black car, but this is ivory pearl. You have to get just the right amount of base, then pearl to make it un-noticable. Thats the toughest part... I think a toothpick doing very thin layers at time is the way to go, but how do i measure when to stop with the base and do final coats of pearl?? Im going to get an estimate tomorow about painting the whole rear drivers side panel. If i think the repaint price is decent i may just give it a go one attempting to fix it myself... if i dont do so well atleast it was practice before bringing my car into the paint shop....... Any tips on doing a two part paint like pearl???

 

^Ouch, that’s gotta hurt.
I would first try to touch it up myself, and then try a repaint if your results aren’t satisfactory.

If you do repaint make sure you find a good painter and see if they will do it on the side. The guy that does my friends and my previous car's paint work was telling me that DuPont has worked with the auto manufacturers since ‘97 to provide the specific base, color, and clear coats to use in order to get a perfect match. I have seen a lot of his working using this process and you cannot tell the new paint from the original. Good luck.

 

I found myself in a predicament as well and I will try and use your method.

Well I decided to take my side moldings off to give my DG coupe that clean look, and to my surprise I found many little nicks (I think in the clear coat) but enough that I hope I can get the marks and nicks off. My question is how do you know if the paint or clear coat is what needs filling? If so can I buy a small can of clear coat?

I guess I will start with buying the 7424 porter polisher along with the polishes, etc. I am kind of nervous but if I spend the money and get everything to do later I won't have to pay someone every time to do nick repairs.

Anyone have horror stories I need to look out for?

 

bump...no experts?

 

I am not an expert, but I know you can purchase the paint pen from your Dealer.You just need your Paint colour or code. The pen has clear on one end and the other end is the paint.
You could use this and follow instructions in this thread. Try your first repair on an inconspicuous spot on the car.

 

you will need to post pics to get some advice.

 

This has me worried lol. I have an 06 IP and now im not sure of how to do the layers of paint. I cant just use the same method as mentioned at the 1st post? Or do I have to go with all the different layers.

Thanks for the reply guys

 

All good Picus. Gonna try that. My only question is how the hell do u get the mirror finish? Looks fantastic. I'm in Australia n hv a white pearl coupe (ex Japan). I have spent a fortune on everything n can't get it to shine like that - any tips?

 

Sorry it has taken me a while to get back to this issue but here is a picture of the marks on my car. I wanted to know if this looks like the clear coat is gone or the paint. This happened when I took off my side moldings.

Any help is appreciated.

 

looks like glue.....

 

No it definately is not glue. It goes in a little but not sure if it is to paint level or if the clear coat is peeled off.

 

I hate you guys for being good at this sh*t lol!!!

 

I couldn't find the Megs Unigrit paper. But I did end up buying 3M WETORDRY 3001 grit sand paper. Will this also work?

 

I found Meg's Unigrit 2000 for $13 on Amazon for 25 sheets which is a steal. So I purchased that, but do I need 3000 as well? Or can this be done with just the 2000?

The 3000 is a fking arm and a leg on the internet. ~$7 for shipping pieces of sandpaper? Ridiculous