Touch up paint

[sn0wrunner]

Over the weekend I hit a few trails in Buena Vista, Colorado. When I was on Chinaman Gulch trail my passenger front fender scraped a rock and left some pretty deep scratches. I went to the dealer and ordered up the correct paint. Can ayone confirm that 1A5 and 1A6 are the correct paint codes? Has anyone else done touch up work? Any suggestions? What did you use? did you use primer? I've also considered just taking the fenders off and rhino lining over the holes they leave like Kregg did.

In this pic you can notice how there is a large gap between the door and the fender. The door actually wouldnt open, so i had to remove the fender and pound it back out.

 

[2000runr]

ive done some touch ups on body panels and fenders like yours. the toyota paint is very runny compared to the touch up on my other vehicles. ive used a qtip to help control that versus the brush that comes in the toyota paint. just remember, touch up paint is just that, for touch ups, not large areas. it may be worth just ordering a new color keyed fender flare if you want it to look mint, like i did with my torn up color keyed mud flaps.

 

[jrs2]

That fender is beyond touch up paint. You could also get a rattle can in your color from an auto paint shop or paintscratch.com, lightly wet sand the fender flare and spray a couple of coats. You can get pretty good results if you take your time, prep well and practice a little on some sheet metal before. I've even fixed areas like on your door with spray paint and fade out spray to blend it in with the surrounding paint.

Rattle can paint won't last as long as factory paint or a professional paint job but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and will look a lot better than touching up with a brush. The only thing touch up paint is good for is preventing rust. It always looks like crap.

 

[az4runner02]

Dam I bet your were pissed off when you first saw it. I have had a few close calls myself but was lucky!! Must be a brutal trail!!

 

[fightman80]

That fender is beyond touch up paint. You could also get a rattle can in your color from an auto paint shop or paintscratch.com, lightly wet sand the fender flare and spray a couple of coats. You can get pretty good results if you take your time, prep well and practice a little on some sheet metal before. I've even fixed areas like on your door with spray paint and fade out spray to blend it in with the surrounding paint.

Rattle can paint won't last as long as factory paint or a professional paint job but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and will look a lot better than touching up with a brush. The only thing touch up paint is good for is preventing rust. It always looks like crap.

I agree!

 

[LINY4Runner]

That fender is beyond touch up paint. You could also get a rattle can in your color from an auto paint shop or paintscratch.com, lightly wet sand the fender flare and spray a couple of coats. You can get pretty good results if you take your time, prep well and practice a little on some sheet metal before. I've even fixed areas like on your door with spray paint and fade out spray to blend it in with the surrounding paint.

Rattle can paint won't last as long as factory paint or a professional paint job but it's a hell of a lot cheaper and will look a lot better than touching up with a brush. The only thing touch up paint is good for is preventing rust. It always looks like crap.

x3

or check local junkyards for a fender flare the same color?

 

[96743runner]

So 1A5 is desert dune...

I think I gotta get some touch up paint too. There were so many times when I parked my runner at the store or at my school and inconsiderate a**holes dinged and scraped my doors and took chips of paint off. At least using touch up paint will prevent it from rusting. :bash:

 

[Elton H]

id say leave it i rubbed mine against a tree although i should touch up the little spots so it dont keep chipping off

 

[sn0wrunner]

The dealer told me that the fender color, 1A6 is no longer being made by toyota. So guess I wont be touching it up after all.

Anyways, I did touch up the door and some other areas.


Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So i found that touch up paint kinda sucks. lol. I think I'll start saving up for a whole new paint job.

 

[glenyoshida]

Since the scratches in the flares go deep they will show unless you sand and level them. If you can see a difference in level before you paint you will see if after too. Last time I got a rattle can filled with the factory paint codes it was about $30 for the main color and then another $25ish for the clear and the blender.

Metallic looks great but is virtually impossible to get a match because the flakes create grain and float in the paint, even if you did manage to get the same size flakes. It's best to paint the entire panel for the best match.

I think your touch up turned out well. At least the rust is at bay and it's way less noticeable. Unless someone is looking close they probably won't even notice.

Was it a pain to take of the fender and pound it back out?

 

[sn0wrunner]

Was it a pain to take of the fender and pound it back out?

No it wasn't too bad. It didn't even need to be pounded out that much. I only moved it 1/2" max.

 

[longhaul747]

This last weekend I detailed my 4Runner and fixed some of the minor scratches on it. I used a very fine tipped black marks-a-lot pen to fill in the scratches and after letting the ink cure for about 30 minutes I buffed out the remainder. The scratches are now almost completely invisable even from up close. Not sure it will last forever but it sure looks nice at the moment. Touch up paint would have just made a mess in my case. I guess I got off easy since my 4Runner is black in color. I first tried a sharpee pen but its more brownish black then true black. The marks-a-lot pen worked great and is a true black. Also was told by detail guy that black shoe polish can work great filling in scratches as well on black cars. It won't last forever but long enough and its easy to reapply.

Also ever since I bought it I had a white paint scrape on my right mirror. I tried all sorts of tricks to remove it including waxes and rubbing compounds with no luck. Thought about getting it touched up at a body shop but did not feel like spending the money. Then by accident I got some windex on it when cleaning the windshield. When I wiped it away some of that white paint came off. I then soaked it in windex for about a minute and all of that white paint scrape disapeared in an instant. Only a few tiny little scratches remained and those came out with rubbing compound....Amazing!!

 

[glenyoshida]

Hi Jeff,

I got around to putting a second coat of clear coat on my driver's door. The place I got my paint from is

Paintworld.com

They have a slick site you put in your year, make, model and it verifies the color code and name of the paint. If nothing else it might be a good way to verify your codes. I don't think they are the cheapest but I did run out of clear coat after making a mistake and the DuPont Acrylic Clear Coat A-7480S from paint world was far superior than the Duplicolor that I picked up at Checker Auto Parts. The Duplicolor pitted and left an orange peel texture in the paint where the Dupont was much smoother. For a regular sized 12oz can of paint and clear with shipping was about $48. They have etching primer also that was $17 but with the difference in how the clear coat works it makes me think it might be worth it to get good primer to avoid rust down the road.

Total for primer, paint, and clear with shipping is $65.45

I know you are already done but I thought you might want this info for the next touch up paint job and for others out there. I'll try to post up pics of my first attempt at the door repair after I buff out the clear.

 

[sn0wrunner]

Sweet! Thanks for the site glen!

 

[jrs2]

Duplicolor paint is crap, especially the clear. Use that on a surface that gets a lot of sun and within a year you'll wish you had paid extra for quality.

 

[glenyoshida]

Duplicolor paint is crap, especially the clear. Use that on a surface that gets a lot of sun and within a year you'll wish you had paid extra for quality.

Well that's not good news seeing as my 4runner sits out all the time. Guess I'll be repainting again in a year or few.