Euro accident fix question

[sodaz]

Hi guys, I just had a minor accident in my precious Euro. :( I hit the rear of a truck at very low speed (got distracted by my friend) and it peeled some paint off my front bumper and grill. There's very minor denting on the bottom of the grill but it's not noticeable.

My car's a few years old now and I'll be happy just fixing the paint to match the car. What would be the best way to go about doing this? :confused: Would touch up paint look natural?

You can see the black colour under the silver paint so it's quite deep. The damage actually resembles black bird poo.

Please help...

[snYpz]

why dont you just touch up and see if it looks as good as you want it too. If it doesnt, then get the bar and grille re-painted lol ;)

[Brian.Ferreri]

Hey,

I was just about to post a similar question. Mine is a black '07, so i think its the nighthawk? I havent had an accident but i did have a stone flick up and hit the front of the bonet just above the headlight. Not much of a dint, but a decent chip off the paint. all the way down to the bare metal. and showing rust already!! It has been less than a week. So my question is, do I sand back a larger area and touch up, or apply converter and paint over the top? My other car is an 80's Alfa so the thought of rust scares the hell out of me!

[HunterZero]

Honda Euro paint is clear coat, so while touch-up paint can make the scratch/chip a lot less noticeable, it won't be invisible. It won't ever look anywhere near as glossy/perfect as the original paint.

Touch-up paint will prevent rust on exposed metal if you get to it quickly, and can help stop painted plastic peeling.

Best you can do is to mask around the area, add touch up paint to the area so it bulges a little over the paint surface (may take two or three applications as the paint shrinks as it dries), wetsand to knock the top off, then finish with finer polishes to remove sanding marks.

If the metal is already showing rust, you will need to get rid of that before applying the touch up paint. If you don't, the rust will likely continue, and will start to bubble.

You can try a more 'complex' spot repair, which involves sanding around the area, feathering the clear coat and colour (and possibly filling the chip, if it's below the surface), and masking/spraying just that section, but you will still see rings in the clear coat where the repair was. If the area of repair is flat like the bonnet, this probably won't be an acceptable repair, as it will be too obvious. You need edges of panels to hide the edges of the respray.

Only way to make the damage disappear is to respray that entire panel.

- HZ

[aaronng]

if you get any stone chips, ALWAYS touch up immediately. Otherwise it will rust. That is the purpose of touch up paint. Touch up paint is not for fixing scratches.

[tony1234]

Hi guys, I just had a minor accident in my precious Euro. :( I hit the rear of a truck at very low speed (got distracted by my friend) and it peeled some paint off my front bumper and grill. There's very minor denting on the bottom of the grill but it's not noticeable.

My car's a few years old now and I'll be happy just fixing the paint to match the car. What would be the best way to go about doing this? :confused: Would touch up paint look natural?

You can see the black colour under the silver paint so it's quite deep. The damage actually resembles black bird poo.

Please help...
Try these guys.http://www.touchupguys.com.au/owner/product.php
I reckon approx.$200.Post pics.

[HunterZero]

I'm not a fan of the idea of using mobile paint repairers for cars that have higher quality 2-stage clear coated paint. I'd much rather send the car to a repairer that has a proper paint booth and proper paint matching facilities, especially if the chip is through to bare metal. It needs to be re-primed properly.

- HZ

[aaronng]

The good mobile repairers do prime properly. Their colour matching is pretty good too. But the downside is that they can apply the paint too thick and you can get orange peel because they are rushing to lay down each layer before any dust gets on the paint.

[Phased]

Honda Euro paint is clear coat...

You can try a more 'complex' spot repair, which involves sanding around the area, feathering the clear coat and colour (and possibly filling the chip, if it's below the surface), and masking/spraying just that section, but you will still see rings in the clear coat where the repair was. If the area of repair is flat like the bonnet, this probably won't be an acceptable repair, as it will be too obvious. You need edges of panels to hide the edges of the respray.

Only way to make the damage disappear is to respray that entire panel.

- HZ

In all reality, All this is something that's not worth mentioning unless it's someone who is experienced in the field.

Also NOT ALL Accord Euro paint "is clear coat", I believe the Red is a Group II Solid Urethane and not a metallic.

Chances are if you attempt a job like this and are not experienced it won't turn out very good, and won't be worth your time (compared to money saved).


The mobile repairers use Fast Hardeners and Accelerated Thinners which make the paint dry very quickly. Due to the fast drying nature, although it may get less effected by dust, unless applied very heavy (defeats the quick drying and raises the risks of runs) it will have an average finish. The paint is then wet-sanded to blend the edges and to improve the finish (remove orange peel) and subsequently buffed. Quite an art to get it looking good.

I've seen some VERY GOOD work from mobile repairers. So don't jump the gun and assume they're all bad.

[HunterZero]

In all reality, All this is something that's not worth mentioning unless it's someone who is experienced in the field. Chances are if you attempt a job like this and are not experienced it won't turn out very good, and won't be worth your time (compared to money saved).


Quite true, but I was mainly just trying to illustrate that if more complicated methods won't give a 100% result, a simple brush touch with touchup paint isn't really going to cut it. I think it's worth mentioning so people know what they are getting involved with in self-repair.



Also NOT ALL Accord Euro paint "is clear coat", I believe the Red is a Group II Solid Urethane and not a metallic.

Are you sure about that? Milano Red paint code is R-81, which is "Milano Red Tricoat/Clearcoat". It is not metallic/pearl, it's a solid colour.

I would expect a Jazz or City in a solid colour not to have clearcoat, but on a a $35k plus car?



The mobile repairers use Fast Hardeners and Accelerated Thinners which make the paint dry very quickly. Due to the fast drying nature, although it may get less effected by dust, unless applied very heavy (defeats the quick drying and raises the risks of runs) it will have an average finish. The paint is then wet-sanded to blend the edges and to improve the finish (remove orange peel) and subsequently buffed. Quite an art to get it looking good.

I've seen some VERY GOOD work from mobile repairers. So don't jump the gun and assume they're all bad.

I'm not saying they're all bad, I am saying that you get a better chance of getting a better result from a job done in a proper paint booth. The work I've seen done from mobile repairers just isn't up to my standards enough of the time. The area repaired on its own might be OK on a car with lower quality paint, or it might look 'better than it was', if the rest of the paint was in poor condition. It's 'good enough' for most people. It's acceptable for solid colour.

But the problem I had is in most cases it just doesn't match the rest of the car in terms of peel and shine on higher quality paint finishes.

- HZ

[Phased]

If it's a solid colour it's not necessary to have a clearcoat(however they may clearcoat it anyway)unless it's a tri-coat system which would be odd as I'm pretty sure it's the same code used for the milano red integras, I could be wrong. It would make sense to clear coat a red as it's well known how the pigments in red paints are prone to "premature" aging/fading.

I consider myself quite picky when it comes to paint and some of the work I've seen was very good. It has all been on single stage paints though. Honestly I would be a bit hesitant to use such a service for metallic paint unless I saw their work before.

[sodaz]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I've taken it to a smash repairer and a full front bumper respray will cost me $350-$400. I might just wait for a few weeks and get it all fixed properly.