Not a detailer and this is my first time trying it, comments welcome but please don't roast me
Had 5 rather noticeable rock chips on the front right fender, was able to get it 90-95% fixed going the DYI way. All of the materials I was able to source on Amazon. Over all took 2-3 days, mainly because of waiting to dry, and each "step" took about 5-10 minutes.
1. Cleaned the fender, wiped with rubbing alcohol, and wet sanded around the rock chip with 3000 grit sandpaper.
2. Purchased paint matched base coat + clear coat pen. Dabbed 2-3 tiny layers of base coat, waiting about 20 minutes in between. Then dabbed 2-3 layers of clear coat until a "dome" formed. Let sit overnight.
3. Wet sand again with 2000 grit until the "dome/pimple" is flush with the immediate area. Then wet sand with 3000 grit sandpaper to smooth out.
4. Took a 3" polishing pad mounted onto a cordless drill with 2-3 drops of "cutting polish" compound and hit it for 20-30 seconds each time (repeated 1-2 times until the sanding marks disappeared)
5. The sanding marks will be replaced by swirls from the cutting pad. I then took a 3" finishing pad with 2-3 drops of "final polish" compound and polished the area 20-30 seconds at a time, repeated a couple of times until swirls were gone.
Final pic below - overall I was fairly pleased with the result and went from a rock chip visible from 6ft away to barely visible from 2-3 inches away.
One final note - Clearcoat - was not able to notice any noticeable amount of clear coat "removed"... Meaning that, consistent amounts of "orange peeling" were still present after the task was finished.
Had 5 rather noticeable rock chips on the front right fender, was able to get it 90-95% fixed going the DYI way. All of the materials I was able to source on Amazon. Over all took 2-3 days, mainly because of waiting to dry, and each "step" took about 5-10 minutes.
1. Cleaned the fender, wiped with rubbing alcohol, and wet sanded around the rock chip with 3000 grit sandpaper.
2. Purchased paint matched base coat + clear coat pen. Dabbed 2-3 tiny layers of base coat, waiting about 20 minutes in between. Then dabbed 2-3 layers of clear coat until a "dome" formed. Let sit overnight.
3. Wet sand again with 2000 grit until the "dome/pimple" is flush with the immediate area. Then wet sand with 3000 grit sandpaper to smooth out.
4. Took a 3" polishing pad mounted onto a cordless drill with 2-3 drops of "cutting polish" compound and hit it for 20-30 seconds each time (repeated 1-2 times until the sanding marks disappeared)
5. The sanding marks will be replaced by swirls from the cutting pad. I then took a 3" finishing pad with 2-3 drops of "final polish" compound and polished the area 20-30 seconds at a time, repeated a couple of times until swirls were gone.
Final pic below - overall I was fairly pleased with the result and went from a rock chip visible from 6ft away to barely visible from 2-3 inches away.
One final note - Clearcoat - was not able to notice any noticeable amount of clear coat "removed"... Meaning that, consistent amounts of "orange peeling" were still present after the task was finished.