Stone chip paint repair

[kaisersolsay]

Hi,

Have just bought a stone chip repair kit but papping myself about wet sanding!!

Can I be assured that it wont wreak my paint!

Anyone got before , during and after pics?

[kaisersolsay]

bump

[Savage]

You're a braver man than me if you do it. I couldn't bring myself to tackle that.
I have 'Chips Away' popping around this afternoon to look at mine (Other companies offering this service are of course available).

Do you mind me asking how much you paid for the kit?

Sav

[kaisersolsay]

Hi Savage, kit was £10. Did Chips Away pop round? How much did they quote ya?

[Savage]

Yep, he did. The main job i wanted doing was to sort the near side door handles. They looked like they'd been painted by a 4 year old. He said he could do them, but the prep work would be more than buying new primed ones which is what I did. £37 from Audi for two if you're interested and then he painted them for £20. Fitted them last night and they look excellent.

Anyway - back to the chips - apparently in America where the company originates, chips are scrapes (no idea if that's correct or not), but he says they don't rally like to tackle just stone chips without painting a copmplete section which is obviously expensive (e.g. the near side door section between the trim and the sill is £120). We have discussed other stuff for the future, but for now we're leaving it at just the handles.

However........ inspired by your bravery I ordered a touch up kit which arrived this morning. I don't know if I can bring myself to do it yet. I may practice on the wifes car first .

Have you tackled it yet?

Sav

[Blue_Thunder]

I've done some touch up jobs on mine and wet sanded. Came up fine, the hazing left by the sanding was easily rectified by a decent hand polishing session.

I used Megs 2000-3000 grit I believe. Then used some Megs 203s polish to tidy up afterwards.

The thing to make sure when you are sanding is to totally soak the wet'n'dry paper in a soapy solution. I used fairy liquid and left the paper to soak for at least 30 mins before I started sanding. Make sure you keep the paintwork wet. You shouldn't feel any resistance when sanding. Also make sure you only go in one direction. Takes bloody ages and doesn't feel like you are actually doing anything, but with a bit of patience you do get there in the end.

[kaisersolsay]

I tried a tiny bit of wet sanding on my front lower valance where it wouldn't really be noticed. The polish I used to tidy up though was only Autoglym Super Resign which isn't really the right stuff. I have ordered some Meg 203 to sort properly. Will let you know how I get on when I get the polish through the door.

[Blue_Thunder]

Yeah, Autoglym SRP isn't abrasive enough to sort out the scuffs, although it may appear like it has because it contains fillers.

Forgot to mention a rather important bit... you shouldn't need to apply any downwards pressure when doing the wet sanding. Just gentle forwards and back strokes. I got a megs flexible sanding block which you can flex so it's curved to minimise the area actually being hit by the paper.

Good luck!