Inspired by the recent posts here on rock chip repair I decided to give it a try this weekend. I used the process described on http://www.carcareonline.com/paint_chips.html and here on this board as a guide.

For my first attempt I chose a 2-3 mm chip in an out of the way location (bottom edge of passenger side front door), so if it didn't go well, at least it wouldn't be too obvious. The chip had bare metal showing so I knew I needed to start with some primer.

I started by washing the area with regular car wash. I chose not to rough up the chip by sanding with 600 grit sandpaper as recommended by the carcareonline people. I just didn't feel good about it, so I skipped it. After the wash, I wiped down the area with rubbing alchohol and a Griots disposable wipe down towel.

I used a Griots touch-up paint applicator to apply two coats of primer, allowing two hours to dry between coats. Having never used the tooth pick method, I can't really compare the two, but I suspect that the tooth pick may work better on smaller chips. The Griots applicators worked well for me, but they still hold a fair amount of paint at the tip. I had to be very careful to not put too much on at once. It worked ok for a chip 2-3 mm in diameter, but I'm not sure I could have used the paint applicator if the chip was any smaller.

Lesson learned: Less is more when it comes to paint. Use as little paint as you possibly can. You're better off putting in less paint than you think you should. Don't expect full coverage in a single coat.

Lesson learned: Paint looks different when it dries. When the paint dried, it seemed to "settle in" to the chip. Once it dried, it was easier to see that the area inside the chip was still lower than the surounding paint. I couldn't really tell when it was wet. Again, I just tried to put as little paint as I could into the chip on each coat.

After the primer, I put on 4 coats of color. Again using the Griots paint applicator (separate applicator for each coat), with 2 hours drying time between coats.

I finished with 2 coats of clear coat.

At this point, the repair area is slightly above the surrounding paint. To be honest, as it is, you can barely see it. Given that the chip was in an out of the way location to begin with, I think most people (except for maybe Rip and Alee) would never find it. I'm tempted to leave it alone, but I want to know if I can make it invisible, so when I tackle some chips that are in more obvious locations, I'll know I can make it look as good as new (or damn close).

So now I'm going to wait a week to let the paint dry. Then I'll try wet sanding using the pencil eraser method to complete the repair.

Frankly I'm amazed at how well this went. I didn't expect it to blend in so nicely.

Stay tuned for part two next weekend.