How to use the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair Systems

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

How to use the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair Systems


Dr. ColorChip how-to videos here,

Dr. ColorChip How-To Videos with Dan McCool and Mike Phillips




Begin Article


Have you ever been driving down the road, having a great day and then all of a sudden here that dreaded sound....

Ting.....

There's nothing more annoying than a rock chip in the paint on your brand new car except for having to deal with the rock chip once you discover it.


The folks at Dr. Color Chip have created a kit that makes fixing rock chips fast and easy, so easy anyone can do it. It's really as simple as 1, 2, 3 just follow the directions that come with the kit and before you know it the unsightly rock chips will have disappeared and you can get on with your life.




Question

Do I do the rock chip repair first or do the paint correction, polishing and waxing first?



Answer

Probably the most common question I get about doing rock chip repair goes like this,

My car has rock chips and there's also swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation in the paint. Should I polish the paint before using the Dr. ColorChip Rock Chip Repair Kit or after I fix the rock chips?


The answer is, for most people you'll be better off to polish the paint first.



By polishing the paint first you'll already be starting with a clean, polished finish and you might even locate rock chips you were not previously aware off. You will also have cleaned via abrading all of the paint including the paint surrounding the chips or scratches and the surface that is chipped or scratched. Then wiping the chips or scratches with IPA will remove any trace compound, polish or wax residues.

Also, by compounding, polishing and waxing first you won't risk removing any of the touch-up paint via the compounding and polishing process.




More info

To learn more about polishing your car's paint before using the Dr. ColorChip Rock Chip Repair Kit, see how we polished the paint on Mitch's Mustang Mach 1 before fixing the rock chips.

From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.

How to use the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair Systems

See the detailed pictures below to see exactly how to use the Dr. ColorChip Rock Chip Repair Kit as we walk through the steps to Mitch's 2003 Mustang Mach 1 in Azure Blue.

There were about a dozen rock chips randomly located over the front clip of Mitch's Mustang from large to very small...

This was the largest rock chip and because it was so large and deep we used a modified technique to fill this chip in that I'll share below.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued.....


Three simple steps!
Here is a list of the steps you want to follow in this order, below this list I'll go over each step with pictures.


Step 1 - Use IPA or Isopropyl Alcohol with a clean, microfiber towels and gently clean the rock chipped area as best you can. Feel free to improvise for example use a Q-tip swab to really get into the chip and wipe it clean. It's important to have a clean surface for the touch-up paint to adhere.



Step 2 - Shake up the bottle of touch-up paint to ensure a uniform paint mixture. Then after selecting the appropriate brush, dip the end of the brush into the touch-up paint and dab the paint into the rock chip. After dabbing the paint into the rock chip, use the side of your thumb to lightly wipe over the chipped area and thus level the surface by smearing any excess paint onto the paint surrounding the rock chip.



Step 3 - Use the SealAct blending solution with the included flat surface microfiber towel to wipe off the excess touch-up paint.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Step 1 - Use IPA or Isopropyl Alcohol with a clean, microfiber towels and gently clean the rock chipped area as best you can. Feel free to improvise for example use a Q-tip swab to really get into the chip and wipe it clean. It's important to have a clean surface for the touch-up paint to adhere.



Get a clean, dry microfiber towel or something like a Q-tip swab. In this example I using a clean, microfiber towel.

Wrap the microfiber towel around your index finger...

Dampen the microfiber towel with some Isopropyl Alcohol...

Place the tip of your finger against a chipped area and gently twist your finger tips against the chipped area. Don't get too aggressive or you might mar the paint.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued...


Step 2 - Shake up the bottle of touch-up paint to ensure a uniform paint mixture. Then after selecting the appropriate brush, dip the end of the brush into the touch-up paint and dab the paint into the rock chip. After dabbing the paint into the rock chip, use the side of your thumb to lightly wipe over the chipped area and thus level the surface by smearing any excess paint onto the paint surrounding the rock chip.

Tip...
To avoid accidentally spilling the entire bottle of touch-up paint while applying it to the rock chips, it's a good idea to pour off a small amount into either the cap or another small container of some type like a clean lid off another small bottle.
​

Me? I'm just going to be careful... (famous last words)



Select the right brush by selecting the right size tip
The kit comes with 3 fine tipped brushes of various sizes,

• Medium
• Small
• Fine

Choose the appropriate size brush for your rock chips.

Tip...
If you're new to doing touch-up paint repair I would recommend starting with the Fine tipped brush until you hone your skills. It takes a steady hand to place touch-up paint only in the rock chip. If needed, brace your arm on the body panel you're working on to help steady your hand.
​

Small rock chips = The Dab & Smear Technique
Here I'm dabbing touch-up paint into a small rock chip on the driver's side front fender...

After dabbing in the touch-up paint, I take the side of my thumb and briskly and also lightly, wipe my thumb across the paint which levels the chipped area but also creates an ugly smear ON the surrounding paint.

Don't fret... this is okay as this is how the system works. We'll come back and remove the excess touch-up paint off the paint surrounding the chip in the next step. What's important is to,

A: Get touch-up paint into the chipped area.
B: Use your thumb to smear and level the paint in the chipped area.
​

This is a close-up of the above rock chip after I smeared it with my thumb. You can see I smeared it in two directions. Don't do this. Only smear with your thumb once and in one direction. Smearing in two directions won't hurt anything, it just creates a larger smeared area that you'll have to come back and wipe off in the next step.

Dab...

And smear...

Dab...

And smear...

In the below pictures, this is what the smear should look like, this is normal.

Dab...

And smear...

Dab...

And smear...

In the below pictures, this is what the smear should look like, this is normal.

In this extreme close-up shot of the above picture, you can see where I pressed too hard when smearing and removed some of the touch-up paint out of the rock chip area and you can actually see the primer in the middle of the chipped area. No problemo, I just added another tiny dab of touch-up paint. The more you do this the better you get.

Extra Large Rock Chips
This extra large chip on the hood is going to require extra paint to fill it in. Instead of the smearing technique recommended by Dr. ColorChip, for this extra large chip we're going to fill the chipped area with paint but only enough to cover the chipped area NOT CREATE A BLOB. We're also not going to smear this chip as we're going to come back and add some more touch-up paint till the paint is level with the surrounding paint surface.

Dab the tip of the brush into the touch-up paint...

Next, dab the tip of the brush into the rock chipped area....

Continue adding small amounts of the touch-up paint till all the chipped area has a uniform layer of paint covering it but no so much that it's escaping the crater area or becomes a blob.

Here's a close-up of the above large rock chip that has the first application of touch-up paint. I'm using the reflection of the overhead florescent lights to show the touch-up paint fill level.

In this shot you can see there is fresh touch-up paint inside the chipped area but no touch-up paint has escaped the perimeter of the chipped area. This is what you want to do for large chips and scratches. Next you're going to want to let this first application of touch-up paint fully dry before applying any more touch-up paint. This will take a few days. As the touch-up paint is drying it will shrink back a little, this is normal.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


Step 3 - Use the SealAct blending solution with the included flat surface microfiber towel to wipe off the excess touch-up paint.


The SealAct is basically going to dissolve the paint so you really don't want to rub hard directly ONTO of the rock chip area.

Instead, focus on the task at hand and GENTLY rub the dampened microfiber towel over the surrounding paint and you'll see with just a little light rubbing the excess paint will disappear off your car's body panel and leach into the microfiber towel. Don't over-rub.

After removing the touch-up paint from the paint surrounding the rock chip give the area a final wipe using a clean, dry microfiber towel to remove any residue streaks for a uniform appearance.


Drying Time
Before doing this next step you want to wait for the touch-up paint to dry. The instructions say you can wait anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours.

Here's the deal... the longer you wait the better the paint inside the chipped area will have dried and hardened and this is what you want before you start disrupting it by wiping over it.

That said, the loner you wait the more the excess paint will have dried on the paint surrounding the rock chip making it a tick more difficult to remove.

My preference would be to wait for up to an hour to let the touch-up paint fully dry and then just take your time when wiping the surrounding paint as it will come off with a little wiping and a little patience.



Dampen the included flat surface microfiber towel with the SealAct.

Rub the rock chip area with most of the emphasis or pressure on the paint surrounding the rock chipped area.

Give the repaired area a soft wipe with a clean, dry microfiber towel...

Continue working around the car cleaning the excess touch-up paint off of all the repaired areas.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Continued....


Final Results
The results are the rock chips are filled in and with the naked eye standing back from your car you can no longer see the unsightly rock chips.

In the below pictures, I've used my camera to take closer shots to show that the repaired areas will not always be 100% invisible to the human eye but without my camera, just standing next to the car, you can not tell where the rock chips were unless you already know where to look.

Light reflection
When you view the touch-up paint in some of the below pictures, keep in mind they stand out in the picture because the overhead light is reflecting off the surface of the paint. That's how my camera picks up the repair.

Standing by the car
When you stand by the car and look at the rock chip repairs with your eyes, you really don't see the repairs. Just keep that in mind when viewing the pictures. The Dr. ColorChip Repair Kit works great and I'd recommend it to anyone.

On Autogeek.net

Dr. ColorChip Road Rash Complete Paint Chip Repair Kit


:xyxthumbs:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

To learn how to machine polish your car's paint before using the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair System, check out the article below....


From working by hand to working by machine - You can do it.


Before

Machine polishing

Swirl Free!

2003 Mustang Mach 1 in Azure Blue waxed with Pinnacle Liquid Souveran Car Wax

Product used....

On Autogeek.net

Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover

Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish

Pinnacle Liquid Souveran Car Wax

Pinnacle Clay Lube

Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay

Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

Lake Country 5.5" Pads

Lake Country 5" Backing Plate

How to Properly Use the Porter Cable 7424XP Dual Action Polisher

Dr. ColorChip Rock Chip Repair System


:xyxthumbs:

 

[PreludeVTEC01]

Fantastic write-up! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Fantastic write-up! Thanks for sharing!!

Thank you...

I'm pretty confident that it took more time to take the pictures, upload them to the gallery and then create this how-to article than it took to clean the rock chips, apply the touch-up paint and wipe off the excess.


Years ago I watched a guy use this system to repair the rock chips on one of the Meguiar's company Tahoe's while I worked at Meguiars. He did everything just like I showed in the above how-to pictures. Took him less than 20 minutes tops.

I think he then turned in a bill for either $60.00 or $75.00 dollars and was promptly paid. I told myself,

"That's the way you do it"

(Dire Straights chorus from Money for Nothing)

To anyone reading this thread... it takes less skill to use the Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair System than it takes to detail a complete car, especially doing paint correction and interior detailing.

If you're looking to either add on another profit center to your existing detail business or you're looking to start a part time business.... I'd highly recommend getting into doing rock chip repair.



The key to success with a business like this is a couple of things,

One is under promise and over deliver.

DON'T promise your customer they'll never be able to see where the rock chips were... because it's not that type of perfectionist work. It's vitally important that you set your customer's expectations accordingly.

If a person never wants to see where the rock chips were... tell them to get a paint job.

Keep it real. After using this system the owner can stand back about 5' from the car and not see the previously unsightly rock chips and that's what it's all about.




Second is you would have to treat this as a real business, that means get out their and hustle.

You'll be mobile and calling on new and used car dealerships as well as residential areas.


One thing for sure, people with nice cars hate rock chips, most don't know what you know, (hey you're on the AGO forum, you already know more than most people), they just want the paint to go away.


I could see adding this to my detail boot camp classes in the future... it's faster and easier than headlight repair and makes just as dramatic appearance effect.


Now to go order some red paint for my own truck... I don't have any rock chips... I have Mike chips...

 

[FrankS]

Excellent write-up Mike and good timing as I was going to order some Dr. ColorChip soon for a couple of cars that need some touch up.

I have this situation on one of the cars, it's larger than a rock chip.

Do you think Dr. ColorChip would work on this? I don't need it to look perfect, would just like to somewhat match the repaired area to the surrounding paint.

 

[binly]

Do you follow up with SealAct on the large paint chips to smooth it out, or just leave them be?

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Do you think Dr. ColorChip would work on this? I don't need it to look perfect, would just like to somewhat match the repaired area to the surrounding paint.

Great question Frank...

The touch-up paint will definitely stick to the body panel so by this expectation the Dr. ColorChip system will work.

The key aspect about the Dr. ColorChip system has to do with fixing small chips or voids in the paint where after you apply the touch -up paint, you're going to smear the paint so it's flat with the rest of the surface.

This aspect avoids the cursed BLOB that everyone hates.

The other key aspect of the Dr. ColorChip system is using a FLAT cloth to wipe the SealAct over the surface. The chemical dissolves the excess paint and because the cloth is FLAT the fibers don't go down into the depressed area and pull out the touch-up paint in the chipped area.


That bold part is important. Anyone reading this make sure you understand what I'm saying to grasp the idea of how the system works.


It's really a well thought out system approach.


With the defect you're showing, because the damage is not a depressed area like a chip in the paint but missing paint off of a high, rounded corner. There's no way to rub the flat cloth over it and NOT also touch the touch-up paint at the same time like you could fixing a rock chip in the paint.


Kind of hard to describe using a keyboard, it would be much easier to explain live in front of people.

So will this kit work for you?

Yes, the touch-up paint will match and cover the area missing paint. Will it work like it was intended to fix rock chips "in" the paint? Not exactly.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Do you follow up with SealAct on the large paint chips to smooth it out, or just leave them be?

Another great question....

In this example, Mitch took his car home and opened the hood and blocked it open using a bucket to get the area where that HUGE rock chip was to be level.

Once the chipped area was level Mitch added more touch up paint, a little at a time till the chipped are was level with the surrounding paint.

As long as he was careful there would be no reason to wipe the area but if needed he could.

 

[Project C]

this look promising rops:

 

[LS430FL]

Excellent write-up Mike and good timing as I was going to order some Dr. ColorChip soon for a couple of cars that need some touch up.

I have this situation on one of the cars, it's larger than a rock chip.

Do you think Dr. ColorChip would work on this? I don't need it to look perfect, would just like to somewhat match the repaired area to the surrounding paint.

I've seen the mobile chip repair guys fix damage like that using an airbrushing technique. It seemed to work very well.

 

[Steve Corbeil]

Do you think it could make a good job on dodge tricoat paint? (Red)

I have 2-3 stone chip on my hood that i want to get off

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hi Steve,

Since this is your first post to our forum....


Welcome to AutogeekOnline! :welcome:

Do you think it could make a good job on dodge tricoat paint? (Red)

I have 2-3 stone chip on my hood that i want to get off

Yes if your expectations are,

After applying the touch-up paint and you stand back about 5' and look at your car you don't see a white spot where the chip used to be and the car has a uniform red paint job.

If you expect to be able to look at the finish with a microscope and there's zero signs of any previous damage from a rock chip then "no". You would probably be happier to pay for a new paint job. The avoid getting any more rock chips are you'll be in a catch-22 situation.


This rock chip repair kit works really well. If I didn't believe that I wouldn't type it on a public forum. I have too many years in the car detailing industry to risk my reputation promoting a kit that doesn't work.


Here's what I've been saying and typing about rock chip repair for years now...


You can make rock chip repair as simple as possible or as complicated as possible but what I've learned over the years is for most people,

More and more work doesn't equal better and better results.


KISS = Keep it Simple Simon


From post #2 of this thread,

Three simple steps!
Here is a list of the steps you want to follow in this order, below this list I'll go over each step with pictures.


Step 1 - Use IPA or Isopropyl Alcohol with a clean, microfiber towels and gently clean the rock chipped area as best you can. Feel free to improvise for example use a Q-tip swab to really get into the chip and wipe it clean. It's important to have a clean surface for the touch-up paint to adhere.



Step 2 - Shake up the bottle of touch-up paint to ensure a uniform paint mixture. Then after selecting the appropriate brush, dip the end of the brush into the touch-up paint and dab the paint into the rock chip. After dabbing the paint into the rock chip, use the side of your thumb to lightly wipe over the chipped area and thus level the surface by smearing any excess paint onto the paint surrounding the rock chip.



Step 3 - Use the SealAct blending solution with the included flat surface microfiber towel to wipe off the excess touch-up paint.

Done.

Move on with whatever else you have to do in life.


Chances are if the car you're working on is a a DAILY DRIVER, that is you drive it to work every day, then chances are very good you're going to get more rock chips in the future.

If you want to make them go away visually, then you need a "system" that is fast and easy.

This system is fast and easy and Dr. ColorChip does a great job of providing touch-up paint that matches the color of your car's paint.

Like my buddy Matt Steele always says,

It can't get any easier than this!

 

[David Hayward]

I love the Dr color chip system. I've used it 4 times now and it makes chips a lot more bearable without dropping serious money on a respray. I've also used it on some very deep scratches and also like chips it doesn't make it perfect but it drastically reduces the appearance of it.

 

[Steve Corbeil]

Thanks for everything

Its my everyday drive, so i dont want a perfect-just-like-new but i dont like the white dots, so i think i will give drcolorchip a try

Thanks!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Thanks for everything

Its my everyday drive, so i don't want a perfect-just-like-new but i dont like the white dots, so i think i will give drcolorchip a try

Thanks!

Steve I know you'll like it.

The first time I watched this system used I was amazed. It was by a guy doing touch-up to a black Tahoe and it really did a good job.

I have a custom paint job on my truck, I don't know the color code and there's no way of finding it.

I'm going to see if Bill McLean at Dr. ColorChip can make me some touch-up paint so I can use this system on my own truck.