BoSoxFan

Some of you may already know this but I thought I would pass it on FWIW.

I got overconfident while touching up rock chips on the hood of one of my other cars using the applicator brush and dropped a big blob of paint. Then I compounded my error by impulsively grabbing a towel and trying to wipe it off. Now, instead of a 1/8" blob, I had a 1.5" x 0.5" smear. BTW, this car is non-metallic bright red -- not as bad as black for showing imperfections but bad enough. A couple of days later, while still researching and pondering what to do, I gave a friend a ride to a body shop to pick up his car. I asked one of the techs if I was going to have to rub it out. He said to use paint thinner explaining that the touchup paint would not penetrate the clear coat as long as it was not left on too long. The paint thinner would remove the paint from the clear coat (wihtout affecting the clear coat itself) but not from the chip repair. He then said to rewax that area since the paint thinner would remove the wax. It worked like a charm. I can barely see the original chip anymore.

This makes me wonder if the best approach for minor chip repair is to use the touchup paint, let it set for a few hours, and then use paint thinner followed up by re-waxing to complete the repair. For big chips or deep scratches, you might still want to use Langka.

In addition to using a Q-tip or toothpick to get better control of the paint, he said that they sometimes use a razor to cut a wedge out of thin cardboard making a very fine point that can be used to touch up pin-***** chips and fine scratches.

TX Charlie

Has anyone out there tried using paint thinner to clean up blobs when repairing small chips instead of using langka? I just found a 1-mm chip on my hood and am trying to figure out the best way to fix it. I've never used langka, but have heard it is pretty good.

lexusk8

This may sound more risky, but I prefer wetsanding the blobbed areas (with 2000 grit paper). You would clean the painted area(s) well, soak a piece of 2000 grit paper in a soap+water solution, then wetsand the area(s) by hand in a back-and-forth linear motion. It's certainly a skillful practice (not easy the first time), but IMO wetsanding brings the blobbed areas back to the same level as the factory paint, and shines the surfaces too

ima55r2

Wet sanding can even things out but practice on a chip that's not so visible. Sand lightly if you have a clear coat because it is really thin. I screwed up on my brillant silver and there was the ring of a black edge around the chip where the clear wore down.

Its better to use a toothpick to fill the chip a little at a time. Let it completely dry before filling more and you wont have to sand at all.

Keep the mineral spirits handy in case some paint goes ouside the chip or you blob too much and wipe it off. The paint seems to shrink a little as it drys but putting on too much paint will leave a little round bubble if you're not careful.

A clay bar works too for removing paint smears and leveling it out some.

TX Charlie

Thanks for the wet sanding suggestion. I'm actually pretty nervous about doing that on the hood of my MB (it's pewter). Have either of you (or anybody else out there) used langka? Do you know how it compares to the wet sanding process?

mleskovar

Langka works great. The more you work with it the better it/you get. No miracle cure, but a good tool to use. It smooths the blobs as advertised when used properly...timing is important, but not critical. Using your fingers with the Langka when it gets close to 'perfect' really helps. Patience helps. The important fact is that Langka does not react with cured paint....so your clear coat is not affected. There is a time window that Langka works within that keeps it safe to use on your paint. If you wait too long Langka does not work.

JeT

I actually add a little thinner to the paint before touching up as I find the touch up paint to be a little thick. if you touch up the area and it leaves a raised blob you should leave it for a week as that is how long it takes the paint to fully dry...you will find that the blob will sink below the edges of the chip. The you add another layer and let it dry and do this process again if need be. Then you can wet sand it down.