Sprucing Up My Car

Posted on: 26 September 2019

Over time, just by driving your vehicle or even from collisions, your car is going to sustain some wear and damage. It is common for little stones and things to fly up and hit your vehicle while you are driving. It is also common for small amounts of paint damage to be done to your vehicle in an accident. For example, if someone hit their car door into your vehicle in a parking lot, hit your bumper in a parking lot, or you scrape your vehicle against the side of your narrow garage.

Lots of minor accidents can leave your vehicle with small paint damage at the top of the collision repair list. This can result in chips on the paint on your vehicle. If you want to keep your vehicle looking great, an auto shop can easily repair these small damages and perform collision repair including paint chip repair.

Here is what they will do to fix the paint damage to your vehicle caused by stones and rocks.  

Clean the Surface

Before they start the repairs, the auto body shop is going to start by cleaning your car. They need a nice, clean worksite before they start to fix up your vehicle. They will wash your car, and dry it off with a microfiber cloth in order not to leave behind small fibers on your vehicle. 

Find the Damage

Once your vehicle is clean, then the damage has to identify. One of the easiest ways to identify the damage is by taking a bright light and running the bright light over the surface of the car. Every time they spot some damage, they will put a piece of painter's tape right next to the damage. This will make it easier to find and fix the damage. 

Sanding the Damage

Once all the damaged areas are identified, they will then sand down the damaged area. They will use short strokes without a lot of pressure to slowly sand down the area. An effective sanding job will ensure that the new paint will look great when it is painted. They will sand until everything is smooth. 

Clean the Area

After they finish the sanding, then they will clean the sanded area. Generally, they will use some paint thinner to clean the area they just sanded. This will leave the area as clean as possible for the touch-up paint and will also ensure that any paint that wasn't sanded away is removed. 

Paint the Damaged Area

Next, they will paint the damaged area. Since this is a spot-touching type of paint job, they will use a fine-tip paintbrush to apply the paint. They will slowly paint in order to make the paint as smooth as possible. 

Apply the Clear Coat

Finally, once the paint has dried, they will then apply a clear coat in order to protect the new paint. 

Fixing up simple paint chip damage on your vehicle shouldn't take too long. An auto collision shop can easily fix paint chip damage caused by regular wear and tear, as well as minor paint damage caused by minor auto accidents. By fixing up the damage, your car will look great again and if the damaged was covered by your insurance, the repairs will be free!