Paint repair

[robkay]

Originally Posted by Yari213

It's definitely not bird poop. It's paint that's been chipped past the primer. I was hoping I wouldn't have to re-do the whole door. I might just leave it if it's going to cost a lot.

If you just leave it it's going to cost a lot more in the long run. Once the rust starts it is a bad, bad situation because it never stops.

If you want excellent results and cannot DIY, then you need to take it to a pro. Check a variety of places and get some ideas and prices, then make your best decision.

Your other option is to fix it yourself. The results may not be professional looking but, I'll tell you, in the long run it will be better than letting the rust take hold because it will eventually eat a hole in the door.

I had a spot like that on my previous car. Fortunately, it was in a spot that was not very visible, so beautiful results were not critical to me. What I did was use some liquid rust remover to remove the surface rust the best I could. That's about all you can expect from a liquid. I then noticed some deeper pits that the remover would not take out. So, I took a Dremel tool and very carefully ground the rust out of the pits. I then used some Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty (this comes in a tube) to level the chip the best I could. I cut a strip of plastic out of a gallon milk container to make a flexible spatula to apply the spot putty. Wipe excess off immediately! Next, (when hardened of course) I used a Mothers California Gold Paint Chip Repair Kit to level and feather the edges of the repair. (These are hard to find, but they work nicely once you get the hang of it. That's if you can find one. I believe it's the same thing as Langka Blob Eliminator. See http://www.langka.com/) Now, the Mothers kit is intended for leveling paint chip touchup blobs, but I tried it on the spot putty spot and it did work. I then primed the spot and, of course, painted it. Then later waxed it.

Another tool that is very handy for chip repair is a Prepen. You can get them on Amazon. Also, some 3M Fine Cut Rubbing Compound is handy to have on hand. There are some decent videos on Youtube on chip repair and using glazing and spot putty. Here's one pretty good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv5gT...eature=related (No, I'm not associated with the appliedcolors people. It's just a good video I found on technique.)

You may not feel competent to do the job, but you will likely be your harshest critic. You can do this. The best you can do will be better than leaving it. Do what you can now, and if you aren't happy you can always have it redone by a pro at a later time when you have the funds.