Touching up small rock chips is hard no matter what you use or who your are.

For the average person, using the factory touch up paint, you will increase the likelihood of your success, (success defined as filling in the chip area and making the paint look better than it did before), by NOT using the built in brush that comes with the touch up paint.

Most of the ones I have seen are HUGE. They glob on just a ton of paint, in the rock chip and around the rock chip. You end up with the rock chips filled in but only to be replaced with huge globs of touch-up paint.

If the touch-up paint doesn't match closely, then it may look worse than when you started.

The secret to doing it yourself is to go to an "Artists Supply" store and spending $3.00 on a "Fine" tipped paint brush and a small bottle of mineral spirits to clean your brush with when your finished.

Do the best you can to clean the rock chip area, wipe with wax and grease remover if you have some, isopropyl alcohol if that’s all you have, Dawn dish soap, etc. You want the paint to be able to "bite" into the rock chip area as best as it can.

Wiping the area with a rust neutralizer is a good idea too.

You can buy a rust neutralizer at any PBE store, (Paint, Body and Equipment) in small sizes for less than $10.00

I bought some of this just a few months ago when my wife and I prepped the sheet metal on her 1959 Cadillac. There were a few different brands, can't remember the names by I tried them all and they all seem to work pretty good.

You don’t want the sheet metal to rust under the touch-up paint. If you plan to keep your car for a long time, it will come back to haunt you.

If you can, scuff the rock chip with something abrasive, something to "rough" the surface up. Again the idea is to get the touch-up paint to bite, adhere or stick to the surface.

Then, after the area is clean, roughed up and dry… apply "THIN" applications of your touch-up paint.

Allow each coat to dry or at least "flash", (surface dry) before applying another application of touch-up paint.

Avoid getting it on the surrounding edges. You want to bring the level of the rock chip area "up" until it is level with the surrounding areas.

You do not want to end up with a big glob of paint protruding up on the hood of your car, let along a dozen of them or more.

If you just want to protect your finish, leave the level even or just a little below and call it good.

If you want to take to a higher level of quality, Meguiar's sells these little "Sanding Blocks". They are pure blocks of grit, available in a variety of levels of abrasiveness, starting at #1000 grit and going to #3000 grit.

You more or less use these to "block sand" the high points off of the filled in area.

After that, you could Machine buff.

I use the Meguiar's W-8006 yellow colored, polishing pad with some Meguiar's #2 Fine-cut Cleaner, followed by the Meguiar's W-9006 tan colored finishing pad with some #9 Swirl Remover and then go to wax.

To be fair, Mothers offers some type of Rock Chip Repair Kit. I haven't used it but the Press Release makes it sound pretty good.

Also, a lot of detailers and Paintless Dent Repair business offer this service, I think… You might find it to be worth your time to just pay someone else to do it for you.

I have always owned old Chevy trucks and 1959 Cadillac's. These are mostly all grill in the front, so chip problem hasn't been too much of an issue for me.

With only a few exceptions, I haven't done too much chip repair in my life. I have been asked a lot, but because it is so hard and time consuming, it's hard to charge for it. Plus… it's not even fun to do, so I opt out.

Hope this helps…

Mike Phillips

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"Find a product you like and use it often"

Jack Anderson
Paint Instructor for PPG paints