Options for a couple of paint chips?
 

After thoroughly enjoying my 5500 miles road trip from Chicago to the West coast and back, I'm now left with a couple of less pleasing memories: Paint chips on the hood. Short of taking this for a full repaint, what are the best options available to make the chips less glaring?

Hi,

The best way to do the chips is either get a Paint Pen (available in Factory matched colors) or get some touch-up paint from a dealer and a few toothpicks. Dip the toothpick into the paint (not too much, this is important) and touch it to the chip. The paint will flow from the toothpick to fill the chip.

If done carefully (try your technique first on a single chip), the paint will fill the chip evenly to match the surrounding paint and won't even need sanding. If you do screw up, just wipe it off with a paper towel and try again. You may find, especially on a slanted surface, that you need to build the paint up with several attempts 3-4 hrs. apart. Once you get the hang of it, it's really very simple. Good Luck!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Of course, be sure to remove any wax, etc. from the area first for best adhesion of your repair...

I vote against a repaint. The next buyer will not know if the hood was seriously damaged. And even a good paint match will be detectable to the knowing eye - especially as time passes.

I have the paint pen Jim mentioned at the ready.

if you have it repainted, you'd better do the nose as well, and have the hood / nose blended into the fenders. when done this way, a color mismatch is not detectable.

if you use touch-up paint, try a product called Langka. you basically apply the touch-up, let it dry for a day, and use the Langka to remove the paint blob. it works pretty well.