Paint correction and CQuartz or Xpel clear bra???

[RYU]

I ordered the biggest Dr.Colorchip kit they had for my Berlina Black. This kit came with a squeegie for road rashed areas. I'll attempt to throw up a video on youtube of my efforts.

I was planning to do a front end and mirror respray anyway so this is a no brainer to try. I will also perform some amateur paint correction after. Yikes!

 

[docjohn]

I ordered the biggest Dr.Colorchip kit they had for my Berlina Black. This kit came with a squeegie for road rashed areas. I'll attempt to throw up a video on youtube of my efforts.

I was planning to do a front end and mirror respray anyway so this is a no brainer to try. I will also perform some amateur paint correction after. Yikes!

let us know with pics how it goes...my original berlina paint has a nice patina:wink:

 

[Blackhorse06]

let us know with pics how it goes...my original berlina paint has a nice patina:wink:

Also very interested to see this. I am in the same boat thinking about a front end respray.

 

[TomCat]

I ordered the biggest Dr.Colorchip kit they had for my Berlina Black. This kit came with a squeegie for road rashed areas. I'll attempt to throw up a video on youtube of my efforts.

I was planning to do a front end and mirror respray anyway so this is a no brainer to try. I will also perform some amateur paint correction after. Yikes!

I am interested in how Dr. Colorchip differs from traditional touch-up paint? My touch-ups (paint) almost look worse than the dings...is colorchip a different material than paint?

 

[stuntman]

I am interested in how Dr. Colorchip differs from traditional touch-up paint? My touch-ups (paint) almost look worse than the dings...is colorchip a different material than paint?

I agree touch-up paint often looks like crap. Dr colorchip is paint but is revolutionary.

It is paint, looks perfect, hardens like paint, but there's something in the formula that is broken down by their (I forget the name they call it) solvent.

You use liberal amount of paint over the chip, let it dry for 10 mins or so, then use their "solvent" on a rag and gently wipe away the excess paint. The goal is to wipe away the DC paint on top of the original paint while leaving the DC paint inside the chip itself to fix the problem. If you wipe too hard or too much, you can pull up the DC paint from inside the chip and then you just repeat and try it again.

For large, deep chips, you repeat the process to add layers to build it up to virtually eliminate the chip.

The "solvent" does NOT hurt or damage the existing paint and only affects the DC paint. Once the DC paint fully cures over a few days, it's difficult to remove with their solvent. I put a PPF clear bra on my cars a day after Dr colorchip and there was no issue.

It's amazing, game-changing stuff. I'm not sure why it's not more well known and popular.

 

[RYU]

I am interested in how Dr. Colorchip differs from traditional touch-up paint? My touch-ups (paint) almost look worse than the dings...is colorchip a different material than paint?

Where you able to watch the youtube videos I posted?

 

[Old Guy]

The Dr. C demo videos that I have seen all seemed to be on cars with non metallic finishes. The videos showed what appear to be pretty impressive results although they are promotional videos, so I take the source with a suitable amount of caution. I am curious as to whether anybody has tried Dr. C on a metallic finish and what the results were like. I have done the traditional trick of using the OEM touch up paint to overfill the chip followed by Langka blob eliminator to level the surface. I find that in the process of leveling the blob. more of the metallic component gets exposed / removed leaving the chip distinctly darker than the surrounding paint. Does the Dr. C wipe on / wipe off process also suffer from this darkening of the repair area when using metallic paints?

 

[stuntman]

I've used Dr. Colorchip on Metallic Blue, Metallic White, Metallic Silver, and Metallic Black. All have AMAZING results. This stuff makes traditional touchup paint obsolete.

 

[RYU]

The Dr. C demo videos that I have seen all seemed to be on cars with non metallic finishes. The videos showed what appear to be pretty impressive results although they are promotional videos, so I take the source with a suitable amount of caution. I am curious as to whether anybody has tried Dr. C on a metallic finish and what the results were like. I have done the traditional trick of using the OEM touch up paint to overfill the chip followed by Langka blob eliminator to level the surface. I find that in the process of leveling the blob. more of the metallic component gets exposed / removed leaving the chip distinctly darker than the surrounding paint. Does the Dr. C wipe on / wipe off process also suffer from this darkening of the repair area when using metallic paints?

The video I posted from Obsessed Garage was specifically posted to provide an unbiased opinion.


Dr. Colorchip doesn't seem to support the use of metallic finishes. I recall the owner saying that on a video. It just doesn't work very well on metallics from what I see online. Billy would know...

 

[RYU]

speak of the Devil...

 

[stuntman]

They don't support metallic finishes???

I'm not sure about that but then again when I went to their headquarters here in FL to pick up some more paint for one of my cars, they did supply me with a little stick, note and directions on stirring up the metallic (or Pearlescent) particles that settle on the bottom of the bottle and then shake the bottle vigorously to evenly dissipate the metal flake particles in the paint. I've always made sure the metal flake was properly mixed by shaking the bottle a lot and storing it upsidown so they don't settle at the bottom of the bottle. I would have thought this is common sense but it seems like that's becoming a rare trait to have these days....

I've never had a problem with metal flake DC paint, because I always properly shake the paint first.

 

[RYU]

I looked back at the old videos I saw and I remembered incorrectly. He talks about metallic finishes here around the 2:30 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZVs6-8Eef8

 

[RYU]

Did the Dr Colorchip treatment on my Berlina today. In a nutshell I have mixed feelings. Maybe I just expected too much from the product. It's definitely the easiest to apply "touch up" paint i've ever tried but it requires a certain technique that took me a while to figure out and still have yet to master. I will reapply another coat some other time but it's tricky to get the balance right between not putting too much but also putting enough so the touch up paint lays flat in the chip/crater. If you put too much paint you spent a lot of time removing the excess and you introduce A LOT of hairline scratches in the paint. Granted... you see every single scratch on Black paint.

Conclusion:
- From 10ft away it's perfect
- From 2-4ft it's acceptable but you can definitely notice the divots or imperfections
- Be prepared to go over treated areas with a polisher or DA buffer after (I'm not sure if the DA will remove the paint so i'm letting cure for a few days). Though perhaps I wasn't patient enough... after nearly soaking their provided white cloth with Sealact it still required some mild pressure to remove the surrounding paint. It was like Daniel-son wax on wax off but unfortunately i'm not 15yo... I got tired after a while.

Would I use it again? Yes.. definitely willing to give it another go. Perhaps this time I can lay the paint flat. The way it sits now I'm not going to clear bra over it.

See before and after pics below.

 

[BB_NSX]

that looks pretty good from what I can tell. I just purchased some too, willing to give it shot until I decide what to do next

 

[docjohn]

those fine surface scratches are upsetting..the product seems to "dull" the white undercoat on the black so I can see your 10 ft aspect....like you with a black car I would need to paint correct after using the product over large areas.

 

[stuntman]

Did you use the squeegee? Glob it on, squeegee it, let it dry for 5-10 mins, then use the supplied microfiber towel and out the solution on it. LIGHTLY rub the area to slowly wipe away the DCC paint (in a circular motion) until the excess paint is removed and the pain in the chip remains. Once more paint gets on the towel, the easier it will pull up the DCC paint. The key is to not use pressure and gently wipe away the excess paint.

What process did you do? Did u use the supplied new microfiber towel?

 

[RYU]

Used mostly the thickest of the 3 applicator brushes supplied. I tried the different methods on the video with the latex gloves, dab a drop in front, etc... I'll try the squeegee on the next round but after the 3rd panel I just didnt' want to lay on that much paint with the squeegee - will try it though.

I believe my biggest issue is knowing when the paint is dry enough to not make it take forever for the Sealact remover to work but also not remove it when still putty like or half dry.

Yes, I have used their microfiber (I have better ones also) and I also clayed the car before this process to reduce re-rubbing of contaminants/dust. I'm decent at detailing (no expert here) so i'm not worried about the swirlmarks caused by the Sealact step. In some areas I basically drenched the white cloth with Sealact but I couldn't master the removal process. I think it's a combination of 3 things... 1. knowing when the paint is dry enough but not too dry, 2. laying on the paint as thin and as flat as possible, 3. knowing just the right amount of pressure to use with the white cloth.

All in all, it's not as idiot-proof as I thought. Though........ I'm a bigger idiot than most sometimes

 

[stuntman]

Squeegee it on. It'll help the paint lay flat. It doesn't matter if you get DCC paint on your OEM paint. I put a drop or two on the squeegee and then wipe it over the chip.

Let it dry. Depends on how cold your garage is, but on an 80* day, 10 minutes is enough for it to harden. If you wait 20 minutes, there wont be an issue. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to remove -which may be better and easier for you to not pull all the paint out of the chip if you haven't been waiting long enough. 2 days later and the paint is very difficult to remove with the removal fluid.

I put the removal fluid on a microfiber towel, about a half-dollar size amount, and wipe gently in a circular motion. As DCC paint accumulates on the towel, the paint (on the towel) on paint (on the car) interface will remove the DCC off the car much easier.

The brushes and finger paint process sucks. Just use the squeegee.


So,

1- allow it to dry for 20-30 minutes and see how how that compares. This isn't too short of a period of time, nor too long.
2- Use the squeegee and dont mind if you get paint on your existing paint. It'll come off really easy.
3- Wipe GENTLY. As paint accumulates on your rag (the more excess paint you have on your car from the squeegee, the more will end up on the towel, and the easier it will be to remove. Also the more DCC excess you have on your paint, you can use that as a gauge to how hard you're wiping. As that paint comes off, slow down, and be more careful with your wipes until you remove all of the excess DCC paint (on your OEM paint) so you leave the DCC paint thats in the chip.


*Using the Squeegee will help 'level' the chip, doing 2-3 layers will also level the chip.

 

[RYU]

Round II

* Squeegee is key - you should use it like [MENTION=16531]stuntman[/MENTION] suggest. Still some technique required. You want to lay on a film. You don't want to lay on heavy streaks like I did at first. The squeegee works really on road rash. I'm still trying to master filling the chips.
* Increased Drying time - in Round I, I followed one of the videos saying 1-5 mins. Follow at least 10 mins. In my garage (~60F ambient) I waited at least 15-20mins.
* After the DCC paint dries be generous on the Sealact. I also found it helpful to coat the entire area I want to Sealact as a primer coat to let it soak for maybe 2mins before going over it vigorously, but with little pressure. It helps the Sealact set and loosen the DCC.
* Be mindful to clean your white cloth after each section. I found this out the annoying way. I started seeing raised areas in the paint that would drag on my microfiber towel. It was flakes of dried DCC that I removed from a prior section. It's more annoying than damaging. Though i'm not sure what happens if these specs dry off. Catch them early.

I could do better so I might try a Round III. Certain panels might be good enough to Xpel over. Some panels I simply can't get good enough to make the cost of the Xpel worth it. I will definitely go over it with a DA and put a coat of Cquartz at the very least.

In the pics below I added the intermediate stage while waiting for the paint to dry.

Driver Mirror. I could have done a better job here. I think I want to wait for a warmer day.

 

[docjohn]

.better....who knew Billy was also a physician......:biggrin:

 

[stuntman]

[MENTION=20915]RYU[/MENTION] - are you calling the removal solution 'sealant'?

You do NOT want to put the removal solution on the car to 'let it soak'. In your cold 60*F garage, you would need to let the paint dry/cure a minimum of 10 minutes. Preferably 15-20. In a 80*F florida day, I can wait 5-10 minutes and its good to go.

Once letting the DCC dry/cure, you want to put the removal solution ON THE MICROFIBER TOWEL ONLY. You don't need a ton, just wet an area the size of a half-dollar, or 3-4" diameter maximum. I fold the towel into quarters so its thicker and I don't have pressure points when wiping away the DCC.

GENTLY wipe over the area and it will slowly pull up the DCC. As the excess DCC is wiping away, be careful since you dont want to pull the DCC out of the chip. Let it cure for a few hours and do another layer. The more you do it in deep chips, the more it will build up and it will be harder to see the chip.


To be very fine and accurate, I might wrap the microfiber towel around my finger (only 1 layer thick) and put the removal solution on the micro fiber towel. With my finger I GENTLY wipe off excess DCC on the factory paint around the outside of the chip. Then when I get close to the chip I need to be VERY CAREFUL and GENTLY wipe over the chip, barely touching the car. Do this correctly and you'll leave a lot of the DCC in the chip and it turns out great. Push/rub too hard and you'll pull up the DCC out of the chip and will have to try again.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I just did cquartz on a set of wheels I have. I need to detail my car but will probably do it on there as well. It's easy to apply and wasn't much. I guess I'll see how it holds up.

 

[RYU]

I didn't mention 'sealant' anywhere

 

[stuntman]

Sealact. Damn autocorrect. Well, do you?

 

[RYU]

Yes, the Sealact solution is the bigger bottle that has the white/pink'ish liquid that I apply onto the white cloth.

I'll try a Round III hopefully this week.