How can I fix this? *pic*

[ChrisGT]

This has been driving me insane as of late. Little white and gray specs embedded in the front of my car. It looks 10x worse in direct sun.

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll30/CHR1SGT/IMG_1057.jpg

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll30/CHR1SGT/IMG_1058.jpg

This is the front lip on my car. (Ignore the specs on the top right, that is dust from the TSR) The picture was taken after I clayed it twice (aggressively) and then made 6 passes with Wolfgang TSR 3.0. The surface feels very slick. The entire front of the bumper also looks like this. I am thinking I need to either wet-sand it or have it repainted in the spring.

I believe this damage happened after the big southern snow storm last year.. I had to drive on salted bridges for a week or so and didn't get the chance to wash the car, even though I had paint sealant on.

The paint behind my wheels is also beginning to look like this. Is this just something that happens to a black daily driver? This sucks! Do you think wet-sanding would solve this?

Thanks

[jpegs13]

If claying didn't remove the spots. In all probability they are tiny rock chips. As you said, it's you DD and therefore salt and sand will pellet the areas you talk about.
Not really much you can do other than Dr. Colorchip: Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair, dr. color chip, repair paint chips, touch-up paint, Doctor Color-Chip Paint Chip Repair (http://www.autogeek.net/dr-colorchip-paint-chip-repair.html)

[slickooz]

If claying didn't remove the spots. In all probability they are tiny rock chips. As you said, it's you DD and therefore salt and sand will pellet the areas you talk about.
Not really much you can do other than Dr. Colorchip: Dr. ColorChip Paint Chip Repair, dr. color chip, repair paint chips, touch-up paint, Doctor Color-Chip Paint Chip Repair (http://www.autogeek.net/dr-colorchip-paint-chip-repair.html)

Yeah, looks like your bumper took a beating from salt/sand/rocks. Dr. ColorChip looks like your best/cheapest bet.

[ChrisGT]

Oh, nice! That actually looks like it may work well. My only concern is if the imperfections are big enough to hold the paint. I'm quite sure most of it is from the salt.. there are thousands of tiny places. It's worth a try though, seeing as I have other larger rock chips that need to be repaired anyway. Thanks guys.

[jocassee]

Just that part shouldnt cost an awful lot to just get repainted. Myself and A-Train have new four door GM trucks (mine is a Chevy, his is a GMC) and had the rubber trim pieces on the doors repainted for right at 100 bucks. Well worth it to start with a clean slate.

[A-train]

:iagree:

[weavers]

imo learn to live with it. every car has imperfections, unless you had it professionally painted and you keep it in a garage.

you can try compound, or wet sanding. most likely it will need to be air brushed. you can buy paint for your car online.

I have bought spray paint from these guys a bunch of times. if its only metallic paint then forget it cause paint fades over the years(i mean +20 years), but otherwise I have had good experiences with them.
Automotivetouchup.com Touch Up Paint, Aerosol Spray Paint and Touchup Paint Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup | 888-710-5192 (http://www.automotivetouchup.com/)

you can sand and buy a can of spray paint and clear coat then wet sand, compound, and polish. it will cost you 50 bucks or so in supplies.

I would get a quote at a few different body shops and ask about air brushing and how much a clear bra would cost. Clear bra will help prevent this from happening again. Or just learn to live with it.

[A-train]

imo learn to live with it. every car has imperfections, unless you had it professionally painted and you keep it in a garage.

you can try compound, or wet sanding. most likely it will need to be air brushed. you can buy paint for your car online.

I have bought spray paint from these guys a bunch of times. if its only metallic paint then forget it cause paint fades over the years(i mean +20 years), but otherwise I have had good experiences with them.
Automotivetouchup.com Touch Up Paint, Aerosol Spray Paint and Touchup Paint Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup | 888-710-5192 (http://www.automotivetouchup.com/)

you can sand and buy a can of spray paint and clear coat then wet sand, compound, and polish. it will cost you 50 bucks or so in supplies.

I would get a quote at a few different body shops and ask about air brushing and how much a clear bra would cost. Clear bra will help prevent this from happening again. Or just learn to live with it.


You could go that route but after you spend the 50 bucks on supplies plus shipping and the labor intensive hours you will spend doing this... Plus attempting a task like this if you've never done it before could be a little risky. It would be well worth getting a quote and if you could get a professional to do it for $100-150 buck that is the route I would take. $100-$150 vs the amount that most forum members spend on supplies a year seems kind of trivial to try and do this yourself when a professional could handle it.

[Ted S.]

Looks like a bunch of tiny pores to me. You could try wetsanding if you have enough paint to work with. But make sure you do have enough paint to work with. I've wetsanded single stage paint that had similar pores, but afte wetsandting, there were just as many pores after polishing. It was a win lose situation.

That paint looks to be a bit too thin though...

EDIT

Looking at it again, some of the chips look to deep to do anything about. If it really bothers you, you may look for a repaint of that section.