Bloody stone chips!

M6TT F · Post by **M6TT F** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:56 pm

Just found a hum dinger on the leading edge of the bonnet - got a tocuh up stick, but I never get a particularly good result with them.... any tips

Weedle · Post by **Weedle** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:07 pm

using the touch-up stick paint but with a fine sable painting brush ( artist like !! ) also - try http://www.clean-image.co.uk/articles/stone-chips.htm they have excellent DIY guides on car care and touching up etc !! HTH

andyg · Post by **andyg** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:39 pm

Stone chips really p1ss me off. I drive on the motorway to work so I pick up quite a few. I have got to the point of having a strategy for minimising chips. I tend to stick to the inside lane and get close-ish to a lorry, prob is lots of lorries will drift into the shoulder kicking up chips. Its either that or be in the middle lane with people constantly pulling infront close, or the outside lane where you have to be going around 90mph+ and if u get chips at that speed they are not nice.

Anyway I digress, I have used Chips Away for the chips and he did an ok job. He told me with met silver cars its impossible to get it closer than 70% to the original paintwork. May be different on your car.

The DIY guides are good but you wont be able to cover them up completely if they are bigger than a dot. I am prolly going to get a front bumper and bonnet re-spray then buy a carbra (material that fits over the front end to protect it.). Thats big money though.

owenjt · Post by **owenjt** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:40 pm

Not to hijack this thread but where can i get a spray can of silver GTi paint from? The lower front bumper on my GTi is starting to flake badly and i'm thinking of giving it a bit of a respray.

Also does anyone have any tips on doing this? I presume i will need to sand the areas down back to the plastic and then use primer and a couple of layers of the silver paint?

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:43 pm

You should be able to order it from VW, I'm fortunate enough to have a place in Bedford that can make me a can up in about 5 minutes.

Sand it down so it's smooth, good couple of coats of primer, sand that down with a really fine grit wet and dry so it's smooth (but don't be too rough), then spray it - again a couple of coats, let that dry then laquer it

andyg · Post by **andyg** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:45 pm

owenjt: You can get a can of spray from the dealers. Judging by your reply I would guess you have never done such body repairs before. If you are thinking of spraying such a vast area I would advise you not to perform the task yourself.

Without the proper equipment and the correct environment the result you get will be nowehere near factory fresh paint. A proffesional bodyshop sprays the parts of your car with a spray gun which is way better than a can, not only that the spraying is usually done in a warm/dry enviroment and its also done by proffesionals. I have done spray jobs on my previous cars and while they were better than rust they were pretty poor even though I followed the correct procedure.

owenjt · Post by **owenjt** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:01 pm

Nope never done it before! Trying to save myself some money by doing it myself. Not only is it flaking but it's scratched in a few places so needs some work.

Any idea how much it might cost to do it professionally?

andyg · Post by **andyg** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:13 pm

I got a quote for Â£250 from a reputable place, so I guess around that.

Also I believe the paint used on a bumper is different to normal paint, either the primer or the colour coat because its made to flex a little.

owenjt · Post by **owenjt** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:37 pm

Â£250! I know if i do it myself it won't look half as good as a professional but really can't afford that much. Might just give it a go, gotta look better than it is now!

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:58 pm

And if not, then save up and pay for it to be done properly.

owenjt · Post by **owenjt** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:22 pm

ModifiedMadness wrote:And if not, then save up and pay for it to be done properly.

Exactly! Although i also want to lower it and get the alloys refurbed so gonna have save quite a bit!

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:40 pm

They're things that could wait though, getting the car looking 100% should be the main thing

andyg · Post by **andyg** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:59 pm

My list of things to do is refurb alloys, repsray front and rear bumpers + bonnet and a couple of bits and pieces for the interior. Thats lots of cash and I don't even know if its worth doing, esp if I'm gonna get rid of the car.

I reckon you should save though, you could prolly get it done for Â£200.