Which do you do 1st...touch up paint or polish?

[YankeeFan]

After a bad winter here in the Philly area I do have a number of areas that I need to use touch up paint. Just little chips that are unsightly because of the white coming thru on dark blue paint. I usually polish mid-April, once any chance of a spring snow has ended. But what is the sequence I should use? Do I apply the paint soon; let it cure so it’s ready to be polished? Or do I polish, seal and wax the whole car, just remove the sealant and wax from the areas that require paint, add the paint so it has longer time to cure? I just don't want to polish away any paint other than leveling it a little.

Thanks,
Howard

 

[jpegs13]

If you use Dr. Colorchip, you can polish almost right away. ( stuff is great)

 

[embolism]

Dr Colourchip recommends that you do all your compounding and buffing before you use it and 30 days of curing time otherwise.

Do you find that you can get away with less? I was planning to polish before the colourchip but may do it before if I don't have to wait 30 days...

 

[richy]

After experimenting for many ways over the years, I have found that I do my paint touch up after polishing. The key of course is to use the touch up very sparingly. Using Dr Chip will not hurt the polished area. The heat of polishing will remove the touch up.

 

[builthatch]

After experimenting for many ways over the years, I have found that I do my paint touch up after polishing. The key of course is to use the touch up very sparingly. Using Dr Chip will not hurt the polished area. The heat of polishing will remove the touch up.

this is what i do as well. this way you assure that any high spots around the chip get knocked down a hair. i mean, there are some pretty involved ways to handle chips and they can get pretty wild (ie blocking, spot sanding to level, etc), but as a general rule of thumb i polish first, prep the area, fill the chip as needed, make sure it is satisfactory after the solvents evaporate, and let it cure before sealing, usually a couple days. if you can't have the whole car wait on that, i guess i would polish, prep, fill and seal around that tiny area. i would suggest not sealing over fresh touch up paint unless it is a system and claims otherwise.

 

[YankeeFan]

okay........thanks guys......makes life easier to add paint after polishing......

Howard