Body/Paint guys- Touch Up Paint
 

To the body/paint guys:

How do you prep/apply/finish a touch up paint application from a door ding/etc? Do you use base/clear stuff or one step? Pen or brush?

I've always wondered if there's a way to get good results at home. The T/A has some dings I'd like to try and fix.

I'm no pro. But I use the brush for chips and pen for scratches. I'm also going to use duplicolor in a can for the area just outside my door jams..

BC/CC only way I have ever done and seen a perfect match. BC/CC, wetsand, Buff & polish, and enjoy.

I've tried the single stage w/ no luck.

Yeah, just thought I'd throw that out there but I was pretty positive that it's only for cheap jobs that need to just throw down color.

single stage has worked for me when shooting whole car. I shot my 92 RS in single stage Nason paint (that purple orchid color) came out nice, just a bit of sanding and buffig and such to get it nice.

this is a spot on my Z i did a while back. had clear peeling so I sanded it down, prepd,resprayed with bc/cc w/ oe paint code. Buffed it out and couldn't be more pleased.

Damn that's a nice job! I'm still debating on if I'm clearing my engine bay but for the door jam I will be using a clear coat.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...4/IMAG0108.jpg

just for touch up you can use a fine brush and you can use either really... usually if its a color like blue red yellow etc base clear will match better but if its black.. you can use a single stage black and you will not see a difference... single stage colors tend to be alot thicker before they are reduced so they are ideal for touching up... its just touching up a metallic color that was originally base clear with a single stage will show the difference..

Touch it up with whatever the original finish was...so in your case base/clear. If it's an actual door ding that requires bodywork then you will need to blend your color into the surrounding area and clear the entire panel for it to look right and hold up. If we're talking rock chips then you can dab some color into it and then clear on top. Add enough clear for it to sit just above the rest of your paint surface. Once it's fully cured wet sand down to 2500 without going too crazy on it and polish with a machine.

What are some good polishes?

I've stuck mostly with 3M and Presta brands the last 4 or 5 years. I've been wanting to try Menzerna on Rich189's suggestion for a while now though.
Most of the time I use 3-4 different stages of polish to get my final finish....that's after 4 different grits of fine sanding.

3m +1