Paint Chip
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Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Winter Springs, Fl.
Paint Chip
O.k...it had to happen. zdave noticed a small scrape on the lower portion of the driver's side door. And I am going to take care of it myself. Normally, I am not too good when it comes to things even remotely calling for mechanical inclination, but in the famed words of Jeremy Clarkson and the boys at Top Gear, "How hard can it be?"
I checked out the thread in the detailing forum about pain chips and looked at my handy-dandy 89 page pdf manual on how to wash and clean an S2000. I still have a few questions. The scrape, although small, appears to be through the clear coat and the paint down to the white primer coat. It is very narrow and straight about 4 inches from the bottom of the driver's side door. I have the Honda touch up paint. Curiously, Honda just sells a one tube kit, in a pen-like device with no separate clear coat. This is unlike VW/Audi which sells the touch up paint and a separate clear coat.
Now I am pretty clear on the proper technique for prepping the area to be fixed, and I have reviewed the thread as I said. But here is one question. I have heard that, besides washing the area to be painted, it is adviseable to clean it with a citrus-acid based cleaner or with alcohol before painting. Does anyone have any ideas on this or recommendations?
Second, I have a Silverstone so a total match will probably be virtually impossible to achieve. Many have suggested that in order to get the new paint to be the same level as the surrounding paint, the newly fixed area should be sanded and buffed. Many also advise getting 1200 grit sandpaper, cutting a small area and gluing it to the top of a new pencil eraser and then sanding the freshly painted area. The next step is buffing and a final wax and polish. I clay bar and wax, but have never polished...but this isn't the big concern I have.
This next step--sanding and buffing--is what gives me the hebe-jebes. I would apply masking tape over the surrounding area so I wouldn't be sanding a lot. But I don't have a buffer. Are there any good alternatives to using a mechanical buffer? Is sanding and buffing even that critical? What are your thoughts?
By the way, I love my S, but I wish Honda would have charged me $500.00 more for the car and put on a great quality paint. Not to wax philosophic at the Altar of Wolfsburg, but the paint job is simply not as good as what is on the typical German car.
I checked out the thread in the detailing forum about pain chips and looked at my handy-dandy 89 page pdf manual on how to wash and clean an S2000. I still have a few questions. The scrape, although small, appears to be through the clear coat and the paint down to the white primer coat. It is very narrow and straight about 4 inches from the bottom of the driver's side door. I have the Honda touch up paint. Curiously, Honda just sells a one tube kit, in a pen-like device with no separate clear coat. This is unlike VW/Audi which sells the touch up paint and a separate clear coat.
Now I am pretty clear on the proper technique for prepping the area to be fixed, and I have reviewed the thread as I said. But here is one question. I have heard that, besides washing the area to be painted, it is adviseable to clean it with a citrus-acid based cleaner or with alcohol before painting. Does anyone have any ideas on this or recommendations?
Second, I have a Silverstone so a total match will probably be virtually impossible to achieve. Many have suggested that in order to get the new paint to be the same level as the surrounding paint, the newly fixed area should be sanded and buffed. Many also advise getting 1200 grit sandpaper, cutting a small area and gluing it to the top of a new pencil eraser and then sanding the freshly painted area. The next step is buffing and a final wax and polish. I clay bar and wax, but have never polished...but this isn't the big concern I have.
This next step--sanding and buffing--is what gives me the hebe-jebes. I would apply masking tape over the surrounding area so I wouldn't be sanding a lot. But I don't have a buffer. Are there any good alternatives to using a mechanical buffer? Is sanding and buffing even that critical? What are your thoughts?
By the way, I love my S, but I wish Honda would have charged me $500.00 more for the car and put on a great quality paint. Not to wax philosophic at the Altar of Wolfsburg, but the paint job is simply not as good as what is on the typical German car.
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,526
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From: Hurricane City, FL
I agree, the softest paint I've ever had on a car, on BOTH my S's. Silverstone is IMPOSSIBLE to match, I have given up and now just apply any of my 7 or 8 varieties of "OEM" Silverstone touch-up to gouges that go into the primer or to the metal. I have tracking numbers on my new Porter Cable Buffer which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. You are welcome to come by and borrow it. If I were in your shoes, I would take a pic of your scratch and post in up in the detailing forum asking for advice. A lot of those guys have done pretty good jobs on paint repairs.
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