"Touching up small nicks and scratches is well within the skill of most do-it-yourself car enthusiasts."

You’d be hard pressed to find a car on the road that does not have paint chips and parking lot scratches.  While good detailing practices can’t prevent nicks and scratches, repairing them will restore your car’s “like new” appearance.  In this article, I discuss the methods I’ve used for years to repair chips and minor scratches.

PAINT CHIP & SCRATCH REPAIR

You'd be hard pressed to find a car on the road that does not have paint chips and parking lot scratches.  While good detailing practices can't prevent nicks and scratches, repairing them will restore your car's "like new" appearance.  In this section, I'll describe the methods I've used for years to repair chips and minor scratches.

Paint Chip & Scratch Reality

Touching up small nicks and scratches is well within the skill level of most do-it-yourself car enthusiasts.  Some nicks can be quickly repaired with a small dab of touch-up paint, while others will require more time, effort and skill.  It's important to know what you should and shouldn't tackle, based on your knowledge of paint and tools. By far the easiest colors to repair are black and white.  Black and white are very forgiving on shade variations.  Conversely, metallic paints (those with metal flakes) can be quite difficult to match perfectly.

This is a medium scratch.  You will be able to feel it with your fingernail, but it does not go through to the primer.  The best way to fix this kind of scratch is to round down the edges using a medium-grit rubbing compound, and bring back full gloss with a good polish.

Before you get started repairing nicks and scratches, you should know what to expect.  Small nicks are easy to repair by filling the nick with paint, leveling the filled area, and buffing the repair area to blend and restore luster.  Repairing small scratches, as from a key or shopping cart, is similar, but more time consuming.  Fixing a ding (a small dent which may or may not have taken a nick out of the paint) is not usually possible for the do-it-yourselfer.

Deep scratches and chips that go through the color coat into the primer or down to the metal can only be repaired using touch-up paint.

Here are some other things you should know:

• If you know your car's factory paint code, you can purchase an exact color match touch-up paint from your local dealer.  If you don't know the factory paint code, look in your owner's manual for the location of the code, or ask your dealer.  If you have a late model car, chances are you will find a color match at your local auto parts store.

• Use a small artist's paintbrush (#2 is ideal) or a round wooden toothpick to apply the touch-up paint, not the fat brush included with the bottle of touch-up paint.
• Always test the touch-up paint for color matching in an inconspicuous area.
• The area to be repaired must be perfectly clean and free of wax, rust and oils.
• Don't attempt a touch-up if the temperature is below 60 degrees (Fahrenheit).

Here's what you need to properly repair nicks and scratches:

• Color-matched touch-up paint  (Try Paint Scratch.)
• Automotive or metal primer (only required if you have exposed metal)
• Dawn dish-washing liquid
• Prep solvent (Prepsol) or denatured alcohol/li>
• Foam swabs (from electronics supply) or pop swabs containing alcohol
• Sanding block and 1500- or 2000-grit wet and dry sand paper  (A rectangular rubber school eraser makes a good sanding block for small touchups.)
• Fine cut rubbing compound
• Artist's paintbrush (#2) and round toothpicks (plastic)
• Cotton terry cloth towels
• New pencils with unused erasers
• Rubber cement
• Plastic cups
• Blue masking tape (easy-release type)
• Large-diameter paper hole punch (hand type)