Filling chips and getting a quality finish

[1987cp]

Just wondering what everyone's favorite tips are for filling in the little pits that result from chips and stuff. Just tossing on more paint results in an uneven surface. I hate the idea of having to hit each chip with a bristle disc to get down to bare metal and remove light surface rust and then apply glazing compound, sand, and completely refinish the immediate area.

I'm also wondering what you guys do for getting a high-quality finish overall. My old boss has a system for removing scratches with wet 2000-grit 3M Imperial Wetordry, then wet-sanding again with a 3000-grit Trizact pad on the DA sander, following iwth 3M Imperial Machine Glaze with the power buffer, and finishing up with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. It's a very good system, but aside from the expense of the compounds, I'm intimidated by the details of setting myself up with the pads and Hookit stuff for the DA. What other alternatives should I be considering?

[Blaze86Vic]

Testor model paint, mix your own paint to match. Touch it up, wetsand it with block and 1000 grit till it's level with the surrounding paint (try to sand as little of the surrounding as possible), then use 2000 grit to smooth it back out, use some kind of metal polish (Eagle 1 mag wheel polish worked great for me) and polish it back to a shine by hand with a micro fiber cloth (yes the cloth does make a difference.) Then if you want more finish it off with some kind of paint polishing compound by hand (again use micro fiber, and use a different cloth for each different compound.)

[86GmLsCoupe]

You can get color matched paint from Paintscratch.com and then they give you instructions about how to get a good touch-up. They sell it in bottles, pens, and cans. I got the BC/CC kit and the color matched well. You have to keep coating, then you colorsand (prob 2000 grit) and compound (3m is great) in. The paint they have doesn't build like crazy so you have much better control and get get great results with patience.

[1987cp]

You know, I'd about forgot about the touchup paints with the brush. Shouldn't the chipped are be prepped somehow to remove any existing surface rust? Testor paint is a neat idea too ... the matching process might be a pain, though, at least on many cars.

[86GmLsCoupe]

You know, I'd about forgot about the touchup paints with the brush. Shouldn't the chipped are be prepped somehow to remove any existing surface rust? Testor paint is a neat idea too ... the matching process might be a pain, though, at least on many cars.

With my touch-up, I actually had a chip from the repaint somehow so there was just Dupont Epoxy Primer underneath. I scuffed that slightly and used thier primer, the basecoat and then the clear. I still have to build the clear up on mine and do the colorsanding and buffing to really match it in. Been busy though, driver pwr window regulator, dead a/c, and rattly eahaust has been keeping me occupied.

[interceptor1985]

I completely misread the title I thought it said "Fueling tips and getting a quality finish" for a second....lol!

[1987cp]

I found a really nifty product at Meijer called a 3M Sanding Pen. I'm going to test it out when I fix a deep scratch on the roof of the Cavalier.