What type of touch up paint to buy? | FerrariChat
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What type of touch up paint to buy?

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by nathandarby67, Jun 22, 2007.

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  1. nathandarby67

    nathandarby67 F1 Veteran
    Owner

    Feb 1, 2005
    8,349
    Mississippi
    Full Name:
    Nathan
    #1 nathandarby67, Jun 22, 2007
    I have an area about 2 inches by 3 inches on the rear bumper of my 1981 Mondial that needs touching up. It is on the horizontal surface just below the liscense plate. It looked like the paint was rubbed to hard at some point in the past, and the entire rear bumper also has some sort of sticky film on it. I have been giving the car a very thorough polishing this week with great results, except the paint was so thin on this one section of bumper when I polished there it went right through the paint within seconds. I am also having a very difficult time getting this sticky residue off the paint, and I have tried EVERYTHING on it. So anyhow, I am now left with a small area of grey primer showing, and I would like to repaint it. I guess it would be best to do the entire length of that flat surface of the bumper, since on the rest of it the paint is in similar condition.

    My question is which kind of paint to buy for this that 1) will be compatible with the factory paint on the car, and 2) will be easy to wet sand and polish to blend with the surrounding areas.

    Thanks!

    Nathan
     
  2. Mike C

    Mike C F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Aug 3, 2002
    6,081
    Southeast USA
    Full Name:
    Mike Charness
    #2 Mike C, Jun 22, 2007
    Since you're going to do the panel, you need to go to an automotive paint store and buy not touch-up paint, but automotive paint, custom mixed to match your paint code color. If the area is small enough, you can use a touch-up gun, or even a single-action airbrush though it will take longer. Most automotive paint shops will mix you as small as a pint, which should be more than enough, for around $40. Presuming you're matching the original 1981 paint, you want a single-stage (no clearcoat) if they'll make it for you. Otherwise you then need to put a catalyzed clearcoat on top of it since you're planning to wet-sand and polish it to match your other paint. You'll probably have to buy the clearcoat in a full quart size (WAY more than you need).

    You *can* buy custom touch-up paint in a spray can, but you won't be happy with the results when viewed side-by-side with the factory paint.

    Also, since you're doing a bumper, you may want to add some FLEX additive so that the paint doesn't crack if/when the bumper flexes... but it's usually not necessary with clearcoat (2-stage) paintjobs, but might be preferabl with your single-stage paint.
     

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