Touch up paint

[TW44LR]

What brand touch up paint do you guys use? I have a couple of spots on my rig that are starting to rust so I want to clean them up and paint over them, I’m not doing full panels or anything so I figured just a rattle can solution would be good enough. Any brand/places to go or not go to? I heard the dealer can but I also think they only do the pens and that wouldn’t work for me.


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[Humble Leader]

I've only ever used the touchup paint pen on my 4r. When I had a beater in university I tried to used a rattle can on the rear fender of my vehicle because what the heck who cares if I screwed it up. so I thought I'd give it a try and learn something

Man was it hard to use a rattle can, it was my first time and it looked so bad. but I learned. I've seen some people on the forum get some very good results with a rattle can but I think for the average unskilled rattle can painter it will be noticeable. it all depends on what you consider 'good enough'

When I went to the dealer for touchup pen replacements I asked for the little nail polish bottles and I was told they no longer make those, all they have are the pens now so you probably won't get a rattle can from them

have you tried getting a quote from a toyota approved body shop?

 

[Brian.]

What brand touch up paint do you guys use? I have a couple of spots on my rig that are starting to rust so I want to clean them up and paint over them, I’m not doing full panels or anything so I figured just a rattle can solution would be good enough. Any brand/places to go or not go to? I heard the dealer can but I also think they only do the pens and that wouldn’t work for me.


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First, painting is a *LOT* more detail oriented than it appears... if you've watched youtube videos of it where it looks easy/simple, consider those people are Trying to get views and even if they're also trying to be honest, they tend to have Decades of experience and intuitively do things that aren't explained. They simply know how to lay paint. I've helped a pro before, it was easily 90% prep and 10% spraying. The prep is tedious, dusty and muscle-numbing.

That said, find a LOCAL paint shop. Might cost a few bucks more for the stuff you need but you can get Actual advice and help. Skip the whole auto-parts stores/online shopping thing as you will end up with inferior products that make it even harder to get a reasonable finish. If you can't find the supplier, simply call the bodyshops in the area and ask who the local paint supplier is. There is *always* someone local. My local place sells PPG paints.

Good luck. Even with a little experience and using good tools, my results are barely acceptable from 10 feet. Expensive to hire it out, but if it absolutely needs to look good, that's my only option.

 

[repo]

Yeah painting is 90% prep work on cars, house, anything. Toucing up a wall in your house usually requires painting the whole wall or having very good knowledge of feathering it in. It's not only the color matching, but also stuff underneath, age of surrounding paint, etc. affecting the sheen and texture. Which is why I plan on just doing the whole thing with Raptor liner or similar if I ever have time to bother with that kind of prep work, and the texture hopefully would hide my paint skills. Touch up small spots with a pen so it doesn't get worse.

 

[3bears]

I beleive it is automotivetouchup.com who sells rattle cans. At least that is one that I remember people saying in other threads, but I have no experience with them. Like mentioned above, some local places can even make a rattle can paint color.
but like others have mentioned, the prep work is the main thing and the most time consuming.
YOU can get good resutls from a rattle can....with practice and prep work.
some paint colors are 2 part, the color itself and a clear coat over it.
some people paint the flares etc with a bed liner material.....hides blemishes, less sanding etc, as your often putting on a dull color with texture. Thats what I did to my dodge pickup, its black, and hit the fender flates and rockers with black bed liner, it hides lots of problems.
My current 2001, I will prob paint the flares black, as they need paint bad, and will be installing an ARB bumper in front ( its black) and for now just paint the rear bumper black. I will not be using bed liner stuff, just black rattle can spray paint. It also needs a front fender, I would not try to do that with a rattle can, might take it to a shop for that.....just the fender. Thats if I keep this rig, im actually in the hunt for a 99 or 2000....this 2001 has some big issues......anyway.......
if I let it stay real dirty, no one would see a bad paint job

 

[FD7683]

On my Civic, I used a touch up marker bought from the dealer and it didn't even match up the 15 year old paint that well. I think Duplicolor has some color matching touchup paint if you are lucky to find one with your color code. The real solution (sadly) is to sand it all down, primer, base, then clear coat it and to fether it to the old clear coat, wet sand and buff.

 

[fourfive]

You can get oem base coat paint in a rattle can from some Napas or online suppliers like 66autocolor or automotivetouchup. Duplicolor also has a variety of oem colors in a spray can. Getting a good color match that way is usually hit or miss but gets you close. The best option would be to have a trusted body shop mix the paint & have them match it to your existing paint. They won't be able to put it into a rattle can but you can get a preval sprayer from amazon to make your own spray can.

If you're planning to do a rattle can clear for any exterior auto body part, I'd recommend a 2K clear for durability and chemical resistance but know that catalyzed paints have more involved safety considerations especially regarding respirators. Also, the shelf life of 2K paint is usually 1-2 days once activated. If you're not experienced with automotive painting, like myself, be sure to set your expectations low & practice spraying base, 2K clear, sanding the imperfections in the clear & buffing on scrap panels as much as you can to get a realistic idea of your outcome.

Preval sprayer paint sprayer
Preval 2 Pack - Power Paint Sprayers - Amazon.com

2K clear in a spray can
Amazon.com: USC Spray Max 2k High Gloss Clearcoat Aerosol (2 PACK): Automotive

 

[TW44LR]

I've only ever used the touchup paint pen on my 4r. When I had a beater in university I tried to used a rattle can on the rear fender of my vehicle because what the heck who cares if I screwed it up. so I thought I'd give it a try and learn something

Man was it hard to use a rattle can, it was my first time and it looked so bad. but I learned. I've seen some people on the forum get some very good results with a rattle can but I think for the average unskilled rattle can painter it will be noticeable. it all depends on what you consider 'good enough'

When I went to the dealer for touchup pen replacements I asked for the little nail polish bottles and I was told they no longer make those, all they have are the pens now so you probably won't get a rattle can from them

have you tried getting a quote from a toyota approved body shop?

I’m not looking for perfection because it is a 21 yr old car and has plenty of other imperfections but I don’t want rust for obvious reasons and want it at least partially close to matching. I recently painted my fj80 wheels I got and those came out “good enough” for me even though it was still a lot of work and they’re far from perfect. So I’m not a complete noob, I haven’t yet gone to a body shop let alone a Toyota certified one so I think that’s my next step.

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[TW44LR]

First, painting is a *LOT* more detail oriented than it appears... if you've watched youtube videos of it where it looks easy/simple, consider those people are Trying to get views and even if they're also trying to be honest, they tend to have Decades of experience and intuitively do things that aren't explained. They simply know how to lay paint. I've helped a pro before, it was easily 90% prep and 10% spraying. The prep is tedious, dusty and muscle-numbing.

That said, find a LOCAL paint shop. Might cost a few bucks more for the stuff you need but you can get Actual advice and help. Skip the whole auto-parts stores/online shopping thing as you will end up with inferior products that make it even harder to get a reasonable finish. If you can't find the supplier, simply call the bodyshops in the area and ask who the local paint supplier is. There is *always* someone local. My local place sells PPG paints.

Good luck. Even with a little experience and using good tools, my results are barely acceptable from 10 feet. Expensive to hire it out, but if it absolutely needs to look good, that's my only option.

Thanks for the reply, yep it’s all in the prep. How much of your vehicle did you do? I really only have a few spots that are super noticeable so I figured I might be able to blend them or not notice them too much lol


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[TW44LR]

Yeah painting is 90% prep work on cars, house, anything. Toucing up a wall in your house usually requires painting the whole wall or having very good knowledge of feathering it in. It's not only the color matching, but also stuff underneath, age of surrounding paint, etc. affecting the sheen and texture. Which is why I plan on just doing the whole thing with Raptor liner or similar if I ever have time to bother with that kind of prep work, and the texture hopefully would hide my paint skills. Touch up small spots with a pen so it doesn't get worse.

I would do the raptor liner but I have other spots I need to do that would look out of place unless I was painting the whole thing in raptor liner which isn’t feasible anytime soon.


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[TW44LR]

On my Civic, I used a touch up marker bought from the dealer and it didn't even match up the 15 year old paint that well. I think Duplicolor has some color matching touchup paint if you are lucky to find one with your color code. The real solution (sadly) is to sand it all down, primer, base, then clear coat it and to fether it to the old clear coat, wet sand and buff.

Figured I was probably going to have to do something along these lines which sucks but it’s better than having a complete rust bucket


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[TW44LR]

You can get oem base coat paint in a rattle can from some Napas or online suppliers like 66autocolor or automotivetouchup. Duplicolor also has a variety of oem colors in a spray can. Getting a good color match that way is usually hit or miss but gets you close. The best option would be to have a trusted body shop mix the paint & have them match it to your existing paint. They won't be able to put it into a rattle can but you can get a preval sprayer from amazon to make your own spray can.

If you're planning to do a rattle can clear for any exterior auto body part, I'd recommend a 2K clear for durability and chemical resistance but know that catalyzed paints have more involved safety considerations especially regarding respirators. Also, the shelf life of 2K paint is usually 1-2 days once activated. If you're not experienced with automotive painting, like myself, be sure to set your expectations low & practice spraying base, 2K clear, sanding the imperfections in the clear & buffing on scrap panels as much as you can to get a realistic idea of your outcome.

Preval sprayer paint sprayer
Preval 2 Pack - Power Paint Sprayers - Amazon.com

2K clear in a spray can
Amazon.com: USC Spray Max 2k High Gloss Clearcoat Aerosol (2 PACK): Automotive

Sounds like body shop is the way to go for the paint and get an actual sprayer or maybe have them quote for the work. I’ll look into that 2K clear and the sprayer, thanks!


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[Brian.]

Thanks for the reply, yep it’s all in the prep. How much of your vehicle did you do? I really only have a few spots that are super noticeable so I figured I might be able to blend them or not notice them too much lol


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Was a 1966 Beetle, not a 4r, but I dealt with rust spots on both doors, 3 fenders, the hood and the trunk. No spot was bigger than 2" or so and the rest of the paint is in good shape (early 2000's resto, but was a flip car so not the greatest of care and attention). Blending is a real pain in the ass, even with color-matched paint (as in, took the car to the paint dealer, they "shot" it with their equipment and the computer spit out the mix formula).

Good enough for now given it's driven more than the 4r and picks up more rock chips all the time.

 

[3bears]

Preval sprayer paint sprayer
Preval 2 Pack - Power Paint Sprayers - Amazon.com

2K clear in a spray can
Amazon.com: USC Spray Max 2k High Gloss Clearcoat Aerosol (2 PACK): Automotive

darn, they wont ship any of those to alaska....will have to hunt down something like those....thanks for posting them so I have an idea what to look for

 

[fourfive]

The cost of doing body work yourself starts to add up quickly because of consumables like:
1. Good quality sand paper & needing lots of it in various grits.
2. Soft & hard sanding blocks of different shapes & sizes.
3. Masking tape/paper which is important b/c 2K overspray is extremely difficulty to remove.

There's also the likelihood of having to redo your work if there was a bad paint reaction or run. The other problem is if there's multiple layers of cheap aerosol paint on various body panels, it tends to gum up sandpaper & seems to be more difficult to remove but this is really only problematic if you're trying to redo a poor quality paint job. The time and cost of doing body work is worth it if it's something you're trying to learn but if it's to save money I think it'll be more cost effective to take it to a pro.

Doing a spot repair or blending into existing catalyzed oem paint is definitely an art form & takes a lot of practice to hide blend lines. The paint in a spot repair can also shrink over time if it's not properly sealed making the repair look really obvious. It's also important to be careful sanding the transition of the repair & the original paint because oem clear is thin & can easily be compromised if you sand too much (I've done this twice. The feeling sucks. Especially the humbling feeling of having to take it back to my body shop guy to fix what I messed up). This isn't to discourage anyone from trying but things I learned through trial & error that youtube doesn't really cover.