Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

[David B.]

My '58 has a nasty paint drip on the front end, next to the driver's side headlights:



I never noticed it when I was inspecting the car before I bought it, not that the drip would have stopped me from buying. I was so excited, I might not have noticed a dead body in the trunk. Anyhow, I'm wondering if it's possible to fix this somehow (or at least make it less noticeable to the nut-busters at cruise night) without repainting the whole car.

It's an older Snowcrest White paint job. Thanks guys.

Dave

[Michael M.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

David, it is very easy to fix your problem. You have to know what finish is on the car. If the run is clear coat or single stage. Start sanding the raised area of clear or paint with water and 800 grit sandpaper, then go to 1200 grit sandpaper, and finish with 2000 grit sandpaper. All this time of sanding be careful not to break through the clear or paint. Then compound and polish. It looks like you have another run to the right of the large run.

[Chuck G.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

Sure.

You can judiciously and carefully wetsand the drip/run, then polish and buff the area.

Chuck

[David B.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

Thank you, Michael. I think that other drip you're seeing is just a reflection of the big one in the chrome headlight ring.

Is "single stage" just paint without clear coat?

Dave

[David B.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

Thanks, Chuck. Those words "judiciously and carefully" scare me.

Dave

[Steven B.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

[QUOTE=David Berry (53525);571647]Thank you, Michael. I think that other drip you're seeing is just a reflection of the big one in the chrome headlight ring.

Is "single stage" just paint without clear coat?

Dave, yes, single stage is non-clear coat.

[Chuck G.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

Well, I'm no paint "expert", but I sure have fooled with a lot of "runs, drips, and errors" over the years.

Here's what I would do..

I'd mask off the area around the drip with masking tape. I'd leave maybe an inch all the way around.

I'd then get soapy water with 800 grit wet paper as Michael suggested. Dish washing detergent works well.

I'd then GENTLY wet sand the drip. Before I got it near completely flat, I'd switch to maybe 1000 grit, then 1500 grit, then 2000 grit, again as Michael suggested.

The trick is to not break through the clear coat if it's a base coat/clear coat finish, or to not break through to the primer if it's single stage urethane, acrylic enamel, or even lacquer.

You don't want to wet sand the areas AROUND the drip too much, as you might break through, as the paint is "normal thickness" there.

You want to flatten the drip to the level of the surrounding paint.

Go slow and easy.

Chuck

[Dan P.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

If you just sand it . You will go through . I would take it to someone who has repaired runs before . Believe or not they take a razor blade and scrape backwards to flatten it out before sanding .Stec Tool makes a little block with a sharp file on it . Works pretty good.

[Greg L.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

I've used the razor blade method on solid colors and it worked very well even on my first try. Solids are easy to fix, metalics, not so much....

Here is a youtube video to show you how it's done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiuEZoJGR9w&feature=relmfu

[Ronald L.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

Dan,

That's exactly how I repair rubbed lacquer finished on wood, razor scrape down before buffing - great idea.

[Paul J.]

Re: Can You Repair A Paint Drip?

If you just sand it . You will go through . I would take it to someone who has repaired runs before . Believe or not they take a razor blade and scrape backwards to flatten it out before sanding .Stec Tool makes a little block with a sharp file on it . Works pretty good.

Finally! Someone mentions the best method.

Dave the paint appears to be single stage. You can confirm this by gently cutting into the big part of the drip. Just slice off the end and see if the part you cut off is white or clear. You can also slightly scrape the top of the run and see what color it is. If it's single stage, you can either sand as others have suggested, being sure to use a block, or you can use a razor blade held almost vertically and used as a scraper. The goal is to get close to the rest of the paint, but be careful when you get down to the surrounding paint because the paint around the drip is thinner than the other paint on the car. Once the drip is relatively flat, buff the rest of the drip and scratches out. You can also use a nib file to sand it down, but I've never done it this way.

Paul