Howdy guys. I have a 2000 Civic EX which I've been neglecting for far too long now, and our harsh Michigan winters are starting to take their toll on its body. It has its fair share of chips, dents, and dings. Most of them are small--maybe pencil eraser or tinier, but they're all in the beginning stages of rusting. I'm on a pretty tight budget while I put myself through college, so I need to be somewhat modest when it comes to what I spend (can't go get a full proper paint / body job).

Based on Google results, it seems like my best bet is to pick up some matching Taffeta White spray from paintscratch.com (which is apparently a perfect match), some primer, and some clear coat. Two cans of each come to about $100 for the entire touch-up job. Before I go for it, I have some questions I need cleared up:

1. What's the most sensible way for me to sand down the rusted spots? Drill with a sanding attachment? Simple sandpaper? Something else?
2. How do I sand down, prime, and paint JUST one specific little area? I mean, how can I be precise? I suppose I can tape and cover with newspaper, but as far as sanding one specific circle and then painting that exact circle and nothing else, what's the best strategy for avoiding the surrounding paint?
3. How can I make it blend in together so that the final product isn't spotty?
4. Is there anything that I can realistically do about all of my little dings? I have probably over a hundred very small dents strewn about my car. (Used to live up north, tons of falling acorns and older folks hitting my door with their door.) Can I just bondo the dents, sand, paint over them? I'm not looking for a ghetto paint job... so if that will look bad, please stop me while I'm ahead.

Thanks for any help! Really wish I hadn't let the damage get this bad.

 

1. Do NOT sand with a drill. Use sand paper and a block.
2. Masking and blending. It takes quite a bit of technique to blend new paint in with the old without a hard line. There is a way you can "roll back" your tap, to prevent a hard edge. Really good masking tape and real masking paper can go a long way in a repair job. Maybe look at some youtube videos for masking technique.
3. Blending may be the hardest part. When I do spot repairs, I like to re-clear the entire panel until I reach a natural seam. There is also a "blending liquid" that can be used to dilute the basecoat, more and more each coat, to provide simpler blending. There is also a chemical that can blend away hard clearcoat lines. I'd look into that if you don't plan on re-clearing it all.
4. You say very small dings. You CAN bondo them, but keep in mind that bondo is ALOT of work and if not done perfectly, you'll see it. If the dings are VERY VERY small, a good primer surfacer might take care of them. If they're VERY small, a 2 part body glaze may suffice and it is much less work than bondo.

If I were you, I would worry most about possible rust spots. Cosmetic should come second. If it's your first time with a gun (I recommend a GOOD touchup gun. I got away using one from harborfreight but there are much better ones out there), your blending will likely be subpar and the repairs won't be perfect. This car sounds like a good candidate for an all over repaint to me. If you truly have "hundreds" of dings/dents, it will take you longer to go to each one, fill it, level it, prime it and base/clear it than it would to do the whole panel. Good luck, and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

 

Thanks a bunch for the help. As far as the dings go, they're of all different sizes (depths, widths). I don't think they're small enough to be covered with primer surfacer alone. A lot of them are from big acorns falling from very tall trees... they're not huge, but they're big enough that I thought of bondo.

As far as doing entire panels or an entire paint job, it's more of a cost thing than anything else... I really don't think a full paint job is within my budget. From what I recall, the entire setup (equipment and appropriate auto paint) would come to ~$1500. A few rattle cans of Taffeta White, prime and clear from paintscratch seem more within my budget and should be more than enough to cover the areas that are chipped.

I do have a few more questions:

1. What makes good masking tape?
2. Assuming I did decide to do a full paint job--maybe I can rent the gun, compressor, and a booth or something--can I get away with using a lesser urethane paint? Not top-notch auto paint, but a cheaper two-stage urethane base and clear coat? From the YouTube videos I watched, a full paint job with a proper compressor and gun looks pretty straightforward.
3. Or let's say I do use "proper" automotive paint... what kind of budget am I looking at to paint the entire car with rented materials?
4. I agree with what you said about cosmetics vs. just taking care of the rust for now. Honestly, I was considering sanding and spraying some truck bed liner over the chipped/rusty areas, just to get me through the Winter... until I can do a decent paint job. Is that a really bad idea, or can I just sand it off later on and paint it?

Thanks for your help, I'd be lost without this forum.

 

1. 3m and meguiars both have a variety of masking tapes. You'll need at least a thinline tape and a thick tape.
2. Getting away with a lesser urethane can be done. Many of the smaller, cheaper urethanes can be mixed to whatever color you want if you ask the company to do so (I know that TheCoatingStore and Smartshoppersinc will mix custom gallons).
3. 2 Stage urethane base and clearcoat ARE proper automotive paints. If the equipment is available to you, you're looking to spend at least 100$ on prep stuff (body filler, sandpaper, more sandpaper, surface prep stuff, tape) and I'd say at least 500$ on a decent automotive paint system (primer, paint, clear).
4. Truck bed liner will not prevent underlying rust from popping through, it will merely hide it. Rust problems need to be diagnosed. For simple surface rust, any kind of coating should suffice. Bed liner can be very difficult to remove.

 

Thanks. If two-stage urethane is proper auto paint, what exactly is a "lesser" version? Also, what kind of urethane paint am I looking for? Are there different types?

 

There are several types of paint on the market now.
The current industry standard is urethane base/clear coat. Clear coats are always catalyzed, base coats can usually be shot straight out of gun with perhaps only a touch of reducer. Many people sell urethane paints and a local paint shop could probably get you a decently priced paint system (centari, limco, omni, all cheaper lines from large paint companies.)
There is also single stage, which is also a urethane paint but the base/clear is integrated and shot in one step.
And finally, acrylic enamel and (shudder) lacquer. Cheap (well enamel is anyway) but old technology. Price difference does not justify going with an acrylic enamel over a urethane.

Note: urethane enamel, acrylic urethane and just plain urethane are all the same thing.

Hope this helps.

 

That does help a lot. Can you recommend any websites which sell decent urethane paint so I can compare my options? (Or am I better off looking locally?)

 

smartshoppersinc
TheCoatingStore
TCPGlobal

All fairly decent, I think they'll all mix to custom colors if you ask as well. Going local has advantages though, you can build a rapport with the workers and they can give you advice as to which line is good to use, what activators must be used, ect.

 

Alright, thanks a bunch.