Rust chips and Dr Color Chip, light driftwood satin glow Paint Code PFA

[itsgn]

Converting rust to an inert sealing layer is the way to go, if the rust is not directly accessible or removable, and you don't plan other means to seal the surface and prevent corrosion. Because a fluid can obviously penetrate even small crevices that are not accessible by hand or tools, and because the formed inert substance (if fully covering and perfectly sealing the surface of the metal) prevents oxygen and water reaching the metal, and thus further corrosion.

However, a rock chip fits neither of these criterias, because it's directly accessible, the rust is easily removeable from it, and when touching up with the paint, the paint will also seal it off and prevent further corrosion. Also, the paint will not be able to bind properly to rust, which will cause the paint to peel off, if applied to it anyway. Also, even if paint could bind somehow to rust, or to the surface of rust which has been converted by ospho, the deeper layers of rust still present could still break and get dislodged any time, which in turn would again mean, that the paint will peel off. That's why you need to remove rust in the first place.

Also, as already explained, rust takes up more space than the raw metal, and any conversion process will most likely just add even more to that already bigger volume. So, if you do that, even if it would be perfect for the purposes of preventing corrosion and for the paint to bind to, it would still most likely mean it would create a bump in the chip, which would or could hinder you in creating a perfectly flat surface with the touch up paint.

That's why using ospho doesn't seem to make any sense to me when touching up rock chips. That said, because you seem to be pretty determined to use it, just do it, and let us know about the results.

[rerod]

That's why using ospho doesn't seem to make any sense to me when touching up rock chips. That said, because you seem to be pretty determined to use it, just do it, and let us know about the results.

Thanks allot for that itsgn..

I ordered both Iron X paste and ospho.. I'm ordering the touch up kit from automotivetouchup instead of dr color chip and have their DT2703 which is my PFA base, some primer, and clear coat in cart. But do I really need clear coat for a DD? And would you use a rattle can CC?

My 99 has the same paint and the full code is PFK,QFK taken from the data plate on the radiator. I do not know if the QFK is the clear coat with tinting or not to give the driftwood shade. You could call them and find out. I know they made 2 versions with 1 being Driftwood and the other being Driftwood Satin Glow.

Dave

I'm still concerned I'm getting the wrong paint after reading what David said.. How can your 99 also have light driftwood satin glow, but with a different PFK code? I checked my 97 radiator tag and it says PFA like my door sticker says.?

Thanks

[davidc]

I have no idea, they do show PFA above my PFK. I would mix clear and color 50/50 then apply which should keep the gloss up and give UV protection.

Dave

[davidc]

Ok, found this on the cummins forum

PFK is called LIGHT DRIFTWOOD SATIN GLOW. has 3 alternates to that color. year range from 95-01.

PFA is also called LIGHT DRIFTWOOD SATIN GLOW. it has 5 alternates. year range from 92-01.

they are different colors and are close but would be noticable if you had a bed one code and the cab another. i jus went and looked in our color chip book at those 2 codes, the PFK has a lil more coarse of a flake to it compared to the PFA. also one has a lil more gold tint to it compare to the other int he sunlight and vice-versa in the shade. that because of the gold pearl.

https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/9...de-link-2.html

Dave

[itsgn]

I'm ordering the touch up kit from automotivetouchup instead of dr color chip and have their DT2703 which is my PFA base, some primer, and clear coat in cart.

Note that regular touch up paint requires a very different application process than Dr. ColorChip. You can't blend regular touch up paint like you can the former, so you'll need to be very careful when applying it, and only cover the chip itself with it, with preferably minimum excess, if any. You'll also need then (after it has dried) wet sand the touch up blob (obviously very carefully) to fully flatten the surface, and then compound and polish it to fully blend in into its surroundings. Also make sure to shake the paint container thoroughly before application (especially if it's a metallic paint), because otherwise your color match will be way off.

But do I really need clear coat for a DD?

No, and I'd actually advise against using it in most cases, because in my experience it just makes the touched up area more obvious and pop out. Well, at least on flat surfaces (like the hood) anyway. You might use it at door edges and such, where it would be problematic - if not impossible - to achieve shine and gloss by polishing the base paint. Which should be your preferred method of making the touched up spot shiny and glossy (instead of using clear coat touch up) on flat surfaces.

And would you use a rattle can CC?

Paint or clear coat from a can requires a very different application process than touch up paint. It allows you to get a generally better finish (which might be close to what the body shop would deliver with a full repaint), but it requires a far more extensive prep of the surface (including several iterations of wet sanding, using bondo to fill the defects, use primer to achieve good adhesion, masking off of unaffected areas, etc), and only makes sense if you apply it to a relatively large area. It's also higher risk and requires more experience to get it right than a spot-like touch up.

I'm still concerned I'm getting the wrong paint after reading what David said..

Well, you can do a test spot on the inside of the door sills or some other inconspicuous area, where you could apply the touch up paint over the factory paint in a small (like half an inch) stripe or blob, and see what kind of color match you're getting. Note, that you need to let the paint dry for a day or two to see its final color, because while its wet, it will usually appear darker. Also note that such inconspicuous areas usually show the original color tone, because they have not been "bleached" by the Sun, whereas exposed areas, like to hood or door will usually appear somewhat lighter (or sometimes even slightly different in color tone), because of the degradation of the paint through UV exposure. This also means that if you get a perfect color match on the protected area, you might not get such a good match on exposed areas, where the remaining factory paint - unlike your touch up paint - will not be exactly the factory color anymore.

In this case you might possibly try to experiment with mixing some (not much) touch up clear coat to the touch up base paint to make it a little bit lighter - but even that will only help if the factory paint is only faded, but has not yet begun changing also color tone; and unless you do test a relatively wide range of different mixture ratios, it will be just as much a hit or miss with the color match, as using the original touch up paint undiluted.

[rerod]

Hey people.

I wanted to add a update before I start to touch up the chips.

I cut short pieces of 1/8" wooden dowel and superglued 220 disks to the ends. Its easily controllable and seems to work great to sand a chip. I will make some 400 grit "sanding dowels" next. Then clean it with Iron X paste after sanding.

As far as cold temperatures, my garage is 45 degrees while its 20 degrees outside.. I'm going to assume I need to heat my garage with my 220v heater and maintain 60 degrees to apply the primer, base coat, and maybe the clear?

Thanks!

[davidc]

The warmer the better

Dave

[rerod]

Wow I really underestimated how much effort this repair will take!

1/8" disks are to big to sand many of my chips.

Feels like I'm fighting a loosing battle and should have temporarily sealed off and slowed the rust with fluid film before having it professionally painted. Ouch!$
Or can I apply primer/paint without sanding, or light 1000 grit area sanding if I use Iron X paste and Ospho? I'm still waiting on the Ospho, but Ive read it can damage paint.

Thanks!

[itsgn]

You need to sand _after_ you've applied the touch up paint to the cleaned surface. If you do not sand the touched up area flat, then the touch up paint blob will drop a shadow, and the defect will be even more obvious that in was before you touched it up. If you do sand the area, use at least 2000 grit sandpaper (but 4000 or 5000 will be even better), because otherwise you won't be able to remove the scratch marks with a compound, and you'll likely burn through the clear coat in just a few strokes anyway.

Of course if you have a very fine and tiny artistic paint brush, you can try to just barely coat the bottom of the chip with the touch up paint (obviously after you've cleaned it, and removed all rust), which will save you having to sand down the blob. But if you do this the defects will still be very visible even from a couple of feet away, as they won't be flush/level with the rest of the paint now, and the paint will only sit at the bottom of the "pit" that's your chip. It's just that those chip craters won't "poke" right into your eye anymore, because now they will have (about) the same color as the rest of the still in tact, original paint.

I personally wouldn't opt for the latter, as it barely provides any improvement over the original state, and will still take at least half the time as would the one with the sanding part which - if done correctly - leads to pretty decent results.

Other than these your only option is a full repaint of the panel in a body shop. Which however also might have its own set of problems, like with color match, especially in different lighting conditions. Theoretically you could also try to do a repaint yourself with some canned paint, but that most likely will not lead to decent results on a hood, which will show any and all imperfections 10x more than for ex a curved bumper.

[davidc]

Wow, that's a lot of chips. Kind of like pepper sprayed. Some body must have been driving behind a gravel truck.

Dave