How to Repair Chipped Car Paint in 4 Simple Steps

Repair your car's paint bit now before it mushrooms into a much bigger expense.

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Time

A full twenty-four hour period

Complication

Beginner

Price

Less than $xx

Introduction

Here's how to accept care of chips and dings in your machine or truck before it'due south too late. Quick action volition mean paint chips only require a simple fix, simply allow it become and they'll turn to rust earlier your eyes.

Tools Required

Projection footstep-past-step (7)

Step one

Fix Modest Chips

This is a typical rock chip that you tin fix with this procedure. In fact, even if the car pigment fleck is about one-fourth the size of a dime, you lot can still repair it.

Fix small car paint chips

Stride ii

Likewise Far Gone

This is a automobile paint flake that should accept been repaired long agone.

  • The metal within the flake has rusted and started to lift the paint at the edges. The fix we evidence here is for fresh chips that oasis't started to rust notwithstanding.
  • If you see a rust spot, or have a dent along with your scrap, you lot'll demand to do a more challenging fix than we show here.

rusted metal

Stride 3

Clean the Paint Chips

  • Clean the paint flake with soap and water and and so dry out it with a soft cotton fabric.
  • Rub a dab of automotive polishing compound over the paint chip to gently soften any ragged edges.
    • Pro tip: Just a dozen swirls or and so volition exercise the job. Also much rubbing could damage the clearcoat over the pigment and make a cloudy mess.

Clean the car paint chips

Stride 4

Clean the Finish

Make clean the finish with denatured alcohol.

  • The alcohol will remove whatsoever wax or remaining grime.
    • Pro tip: Don't inundation the surface with alcohol. Just a few wipes with a soft, damp cloth will practice.

Clean car paint with alcohol

Stride 5

Apply the Primer

Use a spot of primer with the barrel end of a newspaper match.

  • Fill the expanse within the car paint chip, but touching the edges of the surrounding paint.
  • Let the primer dry for at least a one-half hour.

Apply primer to car paint diagram

Step 6

Get Your Bear on-Upwardly Paint and Primer

If you lot don't know the color number for your car, you'll have to find information technology on your vehicle identification plate.

  • Once you detect the number, buy a small canteen of touch-up paint. If yous tin't find the correct color online, check with the dealer. Dealers often carry colors for the cars they sell.
    • Pro tip: If you can just detect spray paint with the right color number, y'all can use information technology by spraying a scrap of pigment into the cap and applying it with a fine artist's brush.
  • Also purchase a small can of automobile primer.

Step 7

Paint the Chip

Put a minor amount of pigment over the primer coat.

  • Always test the color on a piece of paper to make certain information technology matches. The examination volition as well give you a feel for how much paint to load onto the applicator brush.
  • Apply a second coat nigh one hour later. Let the paint cure for several days and rub it out again gently with polishing compound to feather the edges of the repair.
    • Pro tip: Don't do this repair in the direct sun or if the temperature is below 50 degrees F.

Paint the chip on car

Originally Published: October 15, 2022