recently, while washing my car, i noticed a paint chip near the edge of my front wheel . upon closer inspection, i can see the metal and what looks to be a little rust? i am not quite sure, however, it is not the usual silver/grey color i would expect. should i just touch up paint over it? or is there a way to get rid of the possible rust.

 

Honda uses steel with a galvanneal coating on all body panels. This is a galvanized (zinc) coating heated to diffuse the zinc/iron boundary. This coating is not as ductile as pure zinc, so when you get a paint chip, it often chips down to expose some of the iron in the steel below.

Besides being a protective coating, zinc acts as a sacrificial protection to the steel below. I won't go into details on how this works, but it means that besides a little noticeable rust at the chip, the rust won't spread beyond that point, and won't rust through.

If you clean the chip really well and carefully apply touch-up paint, you will be fine. You can put some wax over the area a few weeks later to repel any water.

Make sure you don't create a "crevice" with the metal below exposed to the outside - this could trap moisture and cause "galvanic corrosion".

 

thanks for the advice.