Touch-up paint

[REVHARD25]

The paint on my 08 tacoma rugged trail is so weak!! The front bumper has chips all over it from the freeway. The other day i was loading up the back and hit the tailgate with a piece of pipe. The paint just chipped right off. Its about the size of a finger nail. What is the best way to apply the touch-up paint that i just bought from toyota? It says to use the pen, brush, or roll it.

[Ridgerunner]

+1 from my xperience, I find Toy2's method a good 1. I will 'overfill' the chip to slightly above level, let it cure for 2 days (no hurry) and then a good microcrystalline scratch remover like GS-27 or Maguires has one (dont use rubbing compound EVER) just use a shoprag and swirl it over the nub until it hones down to level. Then a nice coat of sealant and it's done

[REVHARD25]

great!! thank you both for your help

[Janster]

I've been using Langka paint chip repairer.
http://www.langka.com/

Works pretty good. With some practice, you can really make the scratches disappear. The deeper ones are much harder to hide. I've used it on our corvette multiple times and you can't even tell where I used it on some of the scuffs/scratches. The vette has non-metallic paint.

On my truck - the metallic paint is impossible to hide repair spots. I use the OEM touch-up paint and I'm guessing the metallic aspect of it is just impossible. But - atleast the scratches are covered....and with the Langka kit, you can smooth out the paint blobs and keep it flat.

[Addicted]

Originally Posted by Ridgerunner

+1 from my xperience, I find Toy2's method a good 1. I will 'overfill' the chip to slightly above level, let it cure for 2 days (no hurry) and then a good microcrystalline scratch remover like GS-27 or Maguires has one (dont use rubbing compound EVER) just use a shoprag and swirl it over the nub until it hones down to level. Then a nice coat of sealant and it's done

Where do you get the "nice coat of sealant"? Thanks.

[Addicted]

Anyone?

[tacomaman06]

Originally Posted by Addicted

Anyone?

just a real good polish and wax after the small part of paint has dried really good is all he's saying. and another note for paint chips...........when you do a touch up, do a coat,let dry, do another coat let dry, and so on, and this way it'll fill in and get even with the other paint so there isnt any dips in the paint itself. just food for thought!!

[Addicted]

K, cool. I got a couple 4 inch scratches on 2 of my doors I would like to see go away.

[tacomaman06]

Originally Posted by Addicted

K, cool. I got a couple 4 inch scratches on 2 of my doors I would like to see go away.

if they are relatively deep.....use the touch up paint a few times to try and gewt it even, then polish/wax and it'll probably do the trick. if its just surface scratches, you can try to just buff them out first.

[Addicted]

THey are deep. Took the black paint off down to the metal. Not wide, but about 4inches long.

[tacomaman06]

Originally Posted by Addicted

THey are deep. Took the black paint off down to the metal. Not wide, but about 4inches long.

ok, well, a few coats of touch up paint then polish/wax should take care of it.

[Banchi94]

I have something similar on my tailgate. Some of the "kids" at Discount Tire gouged out some paint while lowering the spare tire. I've done some research on this and everyone is pretty right on.

You do want to clean out the scratch with a degreaser. Then touch up the paint with whatever you have - I got mine from the dealer. Dab at it (or brush it) until you get the paint at the same level as the factory paint. After waiting a day to dry, the paint will recess a bit and will be lower than the factory paint. That's ok. Just get some clear coat (Duplicolor) from Wal-Mart and dab/brush the touched up area. Get it to the same thickness as the factory. Let that dry at least 3 days. Then use something like Meguire's Scratch-X to rub the touched up area. This will help blend it in with the factory paint. The kicker is that you want to wait another 30 days for the paint to completely dry before you polish and wax it.

For more info, here's a link: http://www.paintscratch.com/brush.htm

[Addicted]

Thanks! That is great information.

[Ridgerunner]

Sorry I have been delayed here-follow the good advice Tacomaman06 gave-he is dead-on about the several light coats. Then smooth it level like I said-as for sealant-I recommend a 'poly' glaze like Klasse which is my only choice the main idea is to re-apply protection in that area