DIY paint and road rash touch up (56K WARNING)

[LeetViet]

I bought my Yaris used from a friend, and it came with road rash. I did my research, and set out to repair it myself. This is my first time attempting anything like this. Criticism, and helpful tips welcome!


Pictures taken with a Nexus 5 (with HDR+), and resized to 1024px width.


http://i.imgur.com/fuulvHt.jpg
Materials used:
- Nu Finish Scratch Doctor
- Rust Remover Gel
- Dr. ColorChip kit
- 800 grit sandpaper (up to you)
- Random plastic card
- Squirt bottle filled with distilled water and a couple squirts of dish detergent
- Microfibre cloth
- Paper towels




http://i.imgur.com/8VdkKq6.jpg
The damage. Not the worst but there were rust spots developing I wanted to address.




http://i.imgur.com/WokWpar.jpg
Right side damage close-up.




http://i.imgur.com/njMVoHj.jpg
Center damage close-up.




http://i.imgur.com/W3R5GI2.jpg
Left side damage close-up.




http://i.imgur.com/gXotl3Z.jpg
I started by applying Nu Finish Scratch Doctor over the scratches. I let it sit for a couple minutes to haze.




http://i.imgur.com/FiRKZx4.jpg
I then start rubbing aggressively with a paper towel on the scratches. It's not much, but you can see the lighter surface scratches coming out of the clear coat.




http://i.imgur.com/ZY5kykV.jpg
Sprayed, and wiped down with a microfibre cloth. Compared to how it started out, there is a small noticeable difference.




http://i.imgur.com/zMwKPn9.jpg
On to wet sanding. I sprayed the area, and wrapped the sand paper around the plastic card. My scratches were side to side, so I wanted to minimize the amount of clear coat and paint I would sand off. I sanded with the edge of the card in a side-to-side motion.




http://i.imgur.com/wKFMA21.jpg
After wet sanding everything, I sprayed the area, and wiped it down with a microfibre cloth.




http://i.imgur.com/sSAfuHv.jpg
Right side damage close-up after wet sanding.




http://i.imgur.com/hrCAYJq.jpg
Because of the rust, I couldn't just touch up paint over it. I needed something to inhibit the rust. People online recommended a gel-based rust remover (instead of the usual spray paint). Instructions were to apply generously, and brush vigorously. I layered on a couple coats of the gel.




http://i.imgur.com/ggD53OR.jpg
I started sanding the rust away. The bottle said sanding not required, but I did it anyway.




http://i.imgur.com/pZGd8K5.jpg
Now for the messy part, the touch up paint! The instructions are pretty simple: dab with the paint brush, then smear with your thumb.




http://i.imgur.com/Z0BS0Qs.jpg
I tried to level up the deeper scratches, with multiple layers of touch up paint. Here's how she looks after three coats of touch up paint.




http://i.imgur.com/CtZgjiP.jpg
It was getting dark, but here is the right side damage close-up complete.




Tomorrow, I plan to wet sand the area, then polish. Thanks for reading! I hope this was helpful!

[KCALB SIRAY]

That red looks a little darker than the color of your car. Is it a color code match or you just wanted something close? If not and you want a better color match, go pick up Duplicolor's Perfect Match paint at your local autoparts store.

[LeetViet]

It does appear a little darker. I had Dr. ColorChip match it. Maybe it's because I layered it on?

[CTScott]

It does look off by quite a bit. It would be a shame to do all that work and have it so far off. I haven't tried duplicolor, but I have had great luck with automotivetouchup.com. Their paint matches perfectly and it very reasonable. 3R3 would be the color code for your car. I do see that drcolorchip shows that as a color option, but some companies do a better job with matching OEM than others do.

[KCALB SIRAY]

Using Duplicolor was easy and dare I say "perfect" lol. I 've used automotivetouchup as well on a different car and no issues either, both being of a flake paint.