Paint Chip Hack: Can You Fill a Car Paint Chip with Paint, Sand & Buff? 

This method works a lot better if you just sand the edges of the chip to be a smooth transition. Like a smooth hill instead of jagged cliff. That extra step really helps blend the new paint with the old.

I had a bunch of chips on the front of the hood on a pickup truck I bought. 220,000 MI driving through Florida put a lot of bug scratches in that front of the hood. I washed it with hot water and ammonia so we had a clean base instead of a bunch of crud sanded into it. I put some spot putty on to fill the scratches instead of using paint. I sanded everything smooth very lightly and did like you did on the scratch but I was sanding down the putty. I mixed up some primer and put that on with the brush over the parts that were puttied.I taped and curled up masking paper back and I give it a couple light coats of white paint also. I let that dry for about a day I was afraid of the shrinkage on that spot putty. Then I went ahead and wet sanded it. I kind of sanded through the paint so I had had to clean it and spray it again. Look good when I was done hit it again with a spray and then was a coat of cheap clear I had laying around. I buffed it out it looked decent but I had to buff because I had overspray back towards the masking paper. That was in 2008 and that truck and I still have the truck now. It still looks real good. I thought that clear coat with a yellow but it never did.

Looks darn good. I think most people would be happy with this kind of repair. I know I would.

Yeah, you're correct. The new touch-up paint will usually be softer than the original, and exact color matching is a challenge, especially with metallic paints where the size of the metallic flakes vary and also affect the appearance. Filling as accurately as possible and as level as possible with the original paint saves a lot of sanding. And that also reduces the sanding pressure required and consequently reduces occurrence of deeper sanding scratches within the repair area, as well as reducing "melting" of metallic flakes (in metallic paints) due to excess sanding friction which can cast the repair paint color with a grayish hue. I found that wet sanding by hand with 600 grit followed by 2000 grit is the perfect combination. Then follow by hand-buffing with Meguiar' Swirl Remover 2.0, which works surprisingly fast even by hand because this product is just so effective. Overall this method works best from my personal experience, and the results are better than repainting an entire panel, since that usually results in the entire panel color not quite matching neighboring panels. That's visibly far worse than a small paint chip touch-up repair, and is also far more time-consuming and expensive.

Breaking down the hard edge of the chip with some 1500 before starting works, takes away the outline when finished. I've also seen people use a rubber blade to actually fill the chip in one go, think the panel would need laying down for this. 👍

I used this approach a couple weeks ago and it worked great.

I just wanna say THANK YOU! Your videos have been a holy grail of learning and information ... the way your videos are detailed to the point and imformative have made it so much easier to understand and repeat the processes shown ... i have been restoring a 01 ram 1500 ( canadian rust bucket) for 4 years and im finally on the last legs to having it completed 98% done by myself / with friends and these videos have helped me so much along the way 👌🙏

You're right Jerry..it looks better than a big chip. Have a great weekend..

Change comes from trying new things, thank you Jerry!

Always enjoy the education! Thumbs up!

I've always wondered about this process. You saved me alot of time. Thanks

After sanding you should've put some clear coat in it to level it out. But for demonstration purposes this was great. If you do this to your own vehicle. Try to use the same type of paint that is on the vehicle. Single stage, base clear, tricoat, whatever is on the vehicle. The more time you put into it, the better it can look. And it's definitely better than painting the entire panel. Especially if it's a classic car. Repairing original paint is always better than a respray. Paint is only original once

Great job! Thanks for your practical paint repair tips for Common Folks- You earned my subscription-

That came out a lot better than I thought it would, and definitely a lot faster and cheaper then the correct way of doing it. Another fantastic video, Sir. Thank you for making them.

Thank you Jerry . Love your videos. Beautiful job .

Finally. someone doing a video with paint, not a kit. Kits don't work with custom colors. And extra points for using safety goggles!

Good stuff Bud!! I've done that a few times, it works good but it's a process that can't be rushed!!☻

The Immediate answer is literally yes you can!! Literally the exact way to fix a chip.

Good experiment. That could be an acceptable fix for a daily driver.👍

Nice tip that I'm going to try.

Did this several times back in the single stage acrylic enamel days. Had to dab it in over several days. Repair was undetectable.

Good video. I am in the process of attempting this on a motorcycle fender right now.

Never hurts to try something new! I'd be happy with that repair on all but my newest vehicle. Good content as usual.

I've tried this with a two stage mix from the paint shop, it's hard to get it right but better than a paint chip, couple of them were perfect, rest had outlines, even used a pin to dab the paint in the smaller ones, came out okay

I have this exact problem in white on a fully restored 67 Bonneville convertible. Thanks!

Great stuff!!!

very thoughtful

Looks quite good overall! Thank you!

Good job 👍

Good enough for my 07 Taurus !

👍🏻Looks good! For a Low cost alternative.

Great video, thanks for making it.

Scrape the touch up flat with a razor blade like you would a run then go through the same steps. Saves a lot of time and mitigates the risk of burning around the touch up. I've also had awesome luck mixing the paint slightly hot touching it up then using a plastic razor to scrape it flat while still wet.

Awesome job!

Sanding the edges lightly and using a couple coats of filler primer, then paint and then clear would probably give better results

looks really good!

USE A HEAT GUN BETWEEN COATs......it will dry faster so you can build it thicker.

Alot better then just dabbing the paint in. Might guve this a try on some paibt chips I got.

Only see it if your looking for it .awesome man

Great job Jerry once it is outside i'm sure it won't be noticeable!

It can be done perfectly, but depends on the colour. Metallixs and pearls are difficult. And you should do it 2 stage. The colour first, then the lacquer. Let the lacquer harden oroperly, build it up high. Then you need to blade it off flush before sanding it with 1200/1500 then 3000. Instead of lacquer, you can also use clear glue with activator. That speeds up the whole process. I have done this millions of times.

Amazing…. Works for me!

I did a similar repair on my car and got similar results with the exception of it being a little higher as opposed to lower for the repair. In typical base coat clear coat have to remember there is only a tiny amount of clear to work with and while it may look close if you measure the clear its really easy to burn thru. For a cheap repair i would be happy with your end result but if your picky respray is the only way to go. Great job!

I have gotten a syringe and used that to fill in the chips, works nice.

Looks much better

Looks alot better.

Dr. Color Chip. Their paint match is excellent. Great results in minutes.

Great video! I do something similar but use clear to build it up works pretty well. Keep up the good work!

Very helpful thank you

Dude! Money saver hack - Thank You!!

No free lunch , nice experiment !

Interesting video. 👍👍👍👍

I watched all of these types of videos it's never perfect

Thanks for that... very helpful

Wow excellent video

DAP Dynaflex 230. If you can't find it use any equivalent elastomeric latex. Dynaflex Ultra is newer and probably better as it's more flexible and UV resistant. Both are paintable within an hour, come in multiple colors (clear if unsure), and waterproof. However 230 due to being a bit less flexible is able to handle gaps up to 1 inch whereas Ultra covers up to 1/2". All these fancy fillers are using the chemical compound of this. As a matter of fact DAP makes custom colors of this very product under Dynaflex 920. For clear coat I would recommend Angelus Leathee

Stayin’ on top is usually a good thing.

I've been doing touch up and paint repair for 25 years, almost all customers are happy because they don't want to repaint a large portion of their car.

Nice result. With more drying time and less aggressive buffing could be phenomenal.

For what it is it came out alright. Looks better than a chip. If haters want perfection then spend the $$$ and get the respray done. Thanks for sharing your upload it's appreciated by those of us curious to try

Hi all, in my opinion this is the correct way of fixing a chip like this, not filling and respraying the panel, because to a good eye the respray you can pick up too, either slightly different shade, gloss, coverage etc. But you have to be really patient with this method, slowly building up the paint, you can cut down a sanding block and literally just sand the area which helps. I have used this method for years and do it right, right sanding through the grades, right polishing etc I have got them just about perfect, takes alot of time though, start to finish about 3 days, not continuous of course, just building up layers, waiting for paint to dry, sanding, polishing .

Look much better than the chip especially on white thank you for the video Jerry sty safe

Great repair.... keep up the good work

Thanks! Very helpful

Thats a great repair Jerry. Certainly looks way better. I have many chips on various vehicles. 🙄

I did a simler repair on chip a few years ago, turned out very good, only thing I did different I built up the chipped area up with a little primer 2 coats

Very useful. Thanks

Going to try this with stone chips on my single stage gloss black paint, see if its good enough save on a respray

Angelus leathee clear coat. Better than any of these companies

Make me think of the old saying, "You never know till you try."

Using a razor blade works much better to cut it down to the surface. Do the sandpaper draw trick to the razor blade to give it a hook on the edge and just drag it across. Peels off runs very well and dead flat.

I've had similar results. We used to do it with gel coat on boats all the time, it was a lot easier because gel coat is a whole lot thicker than paint and gives you more to sand down before going through

That not bad for doing that way. The stuff I get good results from is Langka blob remover. You have to use the touch up paint in the bottle but works good no sanding needed. Doesn’t hurt the clear coat. Worked better on my Mustang than my Subaru the Subaru touch up paint dry too hard.

Thank you! You've given me the confidence to take on my 92 c1500 rockers and cab corners! Love your videos! What kind of body filler do you use? And where do I get it? Thanks!

have anyone tried using filler to build it up and finishing with spraycan? specially for metallic paints

Great video! Following your advice, building up the paint and letting it dry for a while might yield slightly better results, but for the cost of this touch up? Looks substantially better than before. Going to give this a try in the spring! I can’t possibly make my bumper and worse than it is! 🤣

In all fairness, white is the hardest color to match.

White paint is probably the easiest color to get a greater than 90% improvement for paint chip touch-ups.

I have used this method a few times with varying rates of success. To ensure I kept on top of the new paint when sanding, I used the Dolphin Glaze trick that is used for paint runs. Some colours work well, others don't. In some cases I am sure it would be quicker to repaint the panel, but this way costs nothing.

Try the factory touch up paint and the Langka kit.

Thank you!

A friend of mine said that a ziptie pointed end is perfect for touch ups. Try it! =) Also, a shark blade by Mirka might be useful for cutting the paint down flat. Particularly if you fix a base clear scratch, I'd guess you would sand the spot lightly to dull the clear, dab your touch up into the chip, fill with clear, cut down if possible with the shark blade or festool blade (carbide blade) and then lightly sand and polish. I bet you could do pretty well with that technique. Nice vid, appreciate it. A basic touch up is plenty for many cars.

Great video! It kind of looked like the new paint in the gouge continued to shrink after it was sanded flat.

Looks better than it did

I liked it. When it was high I was thinking that the glazing putty trick they do with runs may have helped. Good vid though.

I've filled in smaller chips on Mercedes black pearl metallic paint that was practically imperceptible. It takes time and patience. The key was to let the paint dry thoroughly before building up the next lacquer layer. When I was near level, I filled in the rest of the way with the OE clear coat paint. Hand/finger buffed to level- no sanding. In a shop it might take 3-7 days, so that may not be suitable for a production environment.

Thanks 😊

I usually apply clearcoat over it after it dries. Then sand and buff

Wouldn't it be better to feather out the edged before adding paint? Idk I'm not a painter

There's actually a decent tool for filling chips - called a Fine Line Painting Pen. It really helps to not over-fill the chip - less risk of cutting through the paint around the chip when you're blocking and buffing.

Very nice job! May I ask how you made the paint so thick? Thanks

I couldn't help but wonder why you did not tackle the chips on the edge of the door at the same time. Also, any follow up recommended regarding clear coat? Thanks.

Did you add additional hardener to paint after you got it or did you have to prep the paint yourself cause it didn't have hardener in it ?

Adding some layers of clearcoat would help build up thickness and help with the sanding and polish matching.

I tried something like this for days. Unfortunately the chip/scratch was on the plastic bumper. After several attempts I gave up. Fortunately, the scratch was on a part of the bumper that would look good with a small vinyl decal. Hid the scratch and personalized my car. Not the optimal solution but as a friend said. Hey it looks factory...😃

When you are doing this with white paint do need to use a particular colour sand paper or block? I am using black sand paper and seems to stain the area I am fixing

Nice Slayerish riff 🎸

heat gun the area first before painting it may help, curing the paint quickly to dry faster. tape around the area before sand will help from damaging paint in the area you are sanding

That's the same color too! Arctic white.

on little chips I found it better to use a dremel to even and polish out before using a bigger mop