Paint Touch-up

The rain channels on the roof of W126 models is molded into the sheetmetal. A person that polished the car burned the paint at this place. It is not really an eyesore, since my car is dark blue, but you can see the bare metal in a 2 inch section of the roof right where the rain channel is. It has started to rust. What can be done to touch it up correctly?

[Lee Scheeler]

Since the metal is bare in that location it will never quite be "perfect". However there are a couple of ways to protect the metal and get some of the cosmetics back. Once you get the rust off the metal have a professional with an airbrush go after the area to build up the localized spot. Plan B, once rust is removed use the standard touch-up paint manually via a toothpick tip or something similarly delicate. Once you have the area covered and dried (at least a one day process) you can go back over it with 1000-2000 grit sandpaper wetsanding. That should give the smoothest possible appearance possible short of the airbrush. Plan C, just use the applicator that came with the touch-up paint. (easiest but most heavy handed approach) In any case you will want to remove any rust that has begun in those areas first. Then cover the metal up with some kind of painted protection. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Hope this helps...Lee

Thanks for the advise. I sanded the area with 1000 grit sandpaper wet to remove the rust. Bought a 1 oz. touch up paint bottle at Pep Boys that looked similar to my dark blue(it was for a GM vehicle)and applied it with the built in brush. It turned out pretty good.