Touch Up Paint Big Mistake...

Hi Guys- So I’m looking for advice after botching a touch up paint job to the grill trim of my truck... had a pair of rock chips on the grill trim, used the Toyota touch up paint pen to fill them in (a few layers, sanding down w/ 3000 grit in between coats to even out).

The problems came when I tried to finish with some Duplicolor Perfect Match Clear Coat. Didn’t think the touch up paint had a clear coat since it was still slightly off color. Applied one quick spraying w/ the Duplicolor to test with no issues. Then framed the area with blue painters tape to apply the next few coats per their instructions (three light coats one final heavy coat waiting 10/15m between). When peeling off the painters tape the factory paint underneath had started to bubble and lift. Pics below of the damage...



Any idea why this happened? Wrong paint? Wrong tape? Wrong technique?

Should I try to go about fixing this with more touch up & avoid the Duplicolor Clear? Take it to a pro? Get a replacement grill trim from Toyota?

TIA

 

I like your shoes.

 

As for what happened, from what I can see, it looks like the thinners in the touch up spray were too hot (strong) for the paint below and dissolved some of it. As for the fix, you'll need to sand everything down and feathering everything out, then start over again. That said, using rattle can paint is never going to give you a durable finish. On the front end of a vehicle where stones hit all the time, that's never a good thing. I'd suggest that your best bet is to buy a used grill. You can easily find them in Craigslist, FB Marketplace of right here in the Classifieds.

 

Another option that may be feasible is to remove the grill and have it Rhino Liner sprayed. You can get different textures and colors (to a point) and it will take a beating. Just a thought.

 

Yikes. I got a rock chip in a similar area on my truck driving on the highway... I was hoping for some more advice here from people experienced in fixing paint chips.

Were you happy w/ the result before applying the clear coat? I was thinking about applying the Toyota touch up paint to fix mine as well..

 

I know you’re looking to fix it instead of replace but just in case you weren’t aware or if you can’t fix it to your liking, those grille surrounds are not crazy expensive OEM.

 

Small correction: I ordered one of these grille surrounds for about $145 by accident when I was trying to get my TRD Pro grille. I searched TRD Pro grille on an OEM parts dist website and their pictures and descriptions are so bad that it really made it seem like it was the actual grille. I ordered the grey option because the silver wasn't available (because they don't make the TRD Pro in silver) and I figured it didn't matter because either the grille was just going to show up without the surround since I though that's what I was ordering, or I would just pop the grille out of the surround and put it into my silver one. Anyway, the thing shows up and it's only the grille surround in grey but not the actual TRD Pro grille.

When I made the post above I assumed that because you could get the TRD Pro grille surround for only $145 that you'd be able to get the one for your TRD Off Road for about the same considering it is literally the exact same part. Wrong. Toyota is price gouging and charging $350 - $650 for the same part for the Off Road models. I would say just send them a TRD Pro VIN number like I did and you're all set but that won't work because the TRD Pro is not offered in silver.

Sorry for getting your hopes up here. I still think maybe it's possible with enough digging to find the same part in silver for a good price or if you talk to an OEM wholesale distributor. Sometimes they don't mind giving you a really good deal. For example, I happened to work like two minutes from the distribution center of the place that I ordered the grille surround from and when I took it back in in person, the guy just gave me an open box OEM TRD Pro grille for no extra cost. That saved me like $300.

 

Touch up Paint alone will not fix that damage. You've dug into and even raised a bit of the base material. The best you can hope for with conventional touch up paint - either the brush bottle or rattle can - is to somewhat minimize the damage.

 

I don't want to hijack this person's thread, but any recommendations?

 

The "fix" depends on how picky the owner is. If you're anal like me, it's got to go to a collision shop and the whole bumper cover needs to be re-painted. (They will sand and fill defects like the one shown first.) If somebody is not very picky, they can try to fill the area with several coats from a brush touch up bottle. This won't look nearly as good though.

 

The rattle can clear coat is basically a disaster... will end up lifting paint worst case, cracking paint best case.

Called it a day after a second attempt & just threw on some three-stripe vinyl decals from tacovinyl. Will worry about sourcing a silver surround from a salvage yard/forum/craigslist or repainting later.

 

And to answer your first question: the result before clear coat was mediocre at best. Definitely less noticeable (esp if you’re not looking for it) but not even close wrt getting back to stock.

 

I would Line-X those body pieces. You can have a shop match the paint then you won't have to bother with rock chips anymore. Or wax those body parts for that matter. Win! Win!

 

This is just a thought. I had a Rhino Liner sprayed years ago and was told you can get various colors and textures. That may be an option looking into. It’s definitely pretty tough stuff.

 

Do a web search for Dr. Color Chip. I've never done it, but have watched some You Tube videos where multiple professional detailers and DIY'ers have used it. It looks pretty good.