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

[rerod]

Hello.

I just bought a clean 97 dodge cummins, but it has many chips on the front that are rusting. Is Dr Color Chip a good way to approach my DD repair, and why doesn't dr color chip list my "light driftwood satin glow" Paint Code PFA? Is this touch up color going to be difficult to find, and am I better off having someone paint the hood and fenders? Is the paint even available and what are the options? This truck is a keeper, but Im going to be DD and I expect more chips and what not.. I wish it was white..

Thanks!

[itsgn]

Is Dr Color Chip a good way to approach my DD repair

Might be, but first you'd need to remove the rust using an "iron" remover. If you don't, then any paint applied to the surface over it will peel off in a short time.

and why doesn't dr color chip list my "light driftwood satin glow" Paint Code PFA?

Color names are not a reliable way to identify them. You should use color codes instead, which definitely identify a particular color, and are easier to look up anyway. The factory color code should be on your door tag, or sometimes on a similar tag located under the bonnet or under the flooring of the trunk.

Is this touch up color going to be difficult to find, and am I better off having someone paint the hood and fenders?

A repaint could have several advantages over a touch up, but it's also more expensive, and if the paint is heavily degraded and/or the body shop can not adjust/match the color properly, you might end up with a panel that has a noticeably different color tone than the original, making the repaint obvious. Personally I'd try to touch up smaller defects, and only do a repaint if the results are not acceptable, or if the are already defects that are just too big to be touched up properly.

Is the paint even available and what are the options?

Get the color code first. Then you can see whether it's available at Dr. Colorchip. The latter is actually not necessary for a touch up, as you can also use regular automotive (touch up) paint for that, which will be definitely available somewhere. However, regular paint has no real blending capability, so you'll have to be more careful how you apply it, and also most likely have to wet sand the surface (and then of course compound and polish it) to get acceptable results.


Btw. it looks like your headlights will need to be replaced too. The yellowing and fogging up of the front "lens" could be fixed by means of polishing, but I also see that the bottom of the reflector surface inside of the headlight is also oxidized - and there's no real fix for that. Also, this is not only a cosmetic problem, but also adversely affects the light output of the headlight, which in turn affects drive safety.

[rerod]

Might be, but first you'd need to remove the rust using an "iron" remover. If you don't, then any paint applied to the surface over it will peel off in a short time.

Thanks itsgn!

I'll assume when you say "iron remover" you mean a rust neutralizer like skyco's ospho?

Color names are not a reliable way to identify them. You should use color codes instead, which definitely identify a particular color, and are easier to look up anyway. The factory color code should be on your door tag, or sometimes on a similar tag located under the bonnet or under the flooring of the trunk.


A repaint could have several advantages over a touch up, but it's also more expensive, and if the paint is heavily degraded and/or the body shop can not adjust/match the color properly, you might end up with a panel that has a noticeably different color tone than the original, making the repaint obvious. Personally I'd try to touch up smaller defects, and only do a repaint if the results are not acceptable, or if the are already defects that are just too big to be touched up properly.


Get the color code first. Then you can see whether it's available at Dr. Colorchip. The latter is actually not necessary for a touch up, as you can also use regular automotive (touch up) paint for that, which will be definitely available somewhere. However, regular paint has no real blending capability, so you'll have to be more careful how you apply it, and also most likely have to wet sand the surface (and then of course compound and polish it) to get acceptable results.

The paint code is PFA, but Dr Color Chip doesn't list PFA as a 1997 truck color.. I haven't asked a dodge dealer yet, but as a daily driver I would much prefer touch up paint because I'm alright with imperfections as long as its not rusting..

Do you know of step by step instructions for rusty chip repair? Youtube video or sticky thread?
What I'm worried most about, is not completely neutralizing the rust pits and it returning again, not so much perfectly matching the touch up paint.. I'm tempted to use rustoleum again because I had great luck rolling it on a white truck, but I don't want any adhesion problems if I repaint with automotive paint later.

Thanks again!

[davidc]

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

[itsgn]

I'll assume when you say "iron remover" you mean a rust neutralizer like skyco's ospho?

Not really. Ospho converts rust to an inert substance, but does not remove it, which will cause a lot of trouble down the road. The ideal solution is - whenever possible - to remove the rust completely, and you do that with "iron removers". These do not actually remove iron, but iron-oxide (and that's why I put "iron remover" in quotation marks), but that's what essentially rust is. I'm talking here about products like CarPro Iron X, but really any similar product is also good, as long as it's capable of dissolving iron-oxide, and is formulated to try to not damage the paint.

The paint code is PFA, but Dr Color Chip doesn't list PFA as a 1997 truck color..

Well, then click "my car isn't on the list", and then you can enter any color code. That said, try to talking to them over the phone first on how to proceed in this case.

Do you know of step by step instructions for rusty chip repair? Youtube video or sticky thread?

Not really. But once you've removed the rust, you're at a point where most chip repair videos will apply to your situation.

What I'm worried most about, is not completely neutralizing the rust pits and it returning again

Well, the iron remover should take care of the problem, because it literally removes (dissolves, and carries away) the rust. I suggest you use a cotton swab to agitate the iron remover and to help with thre removal process. And you might need to spend up to (or in some cases even beyond) a minute on each chip (depending on the amount of rust that's in them), but in the end you should be able to expose the bare, uncorroded metal under the rust. At which point, if you clean it properly and apply the touch up paint to it, you should be able to stop the corrosion at that point for the remaining life of the car/paint.

[rerod]

Here's a video.

YouTube

[davidc]

Here's a video.

YouTube

That's one of the best touchup videos I have seen, thanks

Dave

[rerod]

The only thing I question is the size of the sand paper disk. Thats way to big imo.

And he should have taped off the good paint with a tiny hole in the tape..

I think I'm going to get Iron X Paste, but neither Dr Colorchip or automotivetouchup.com relied to a email sent asking about paint code PFA.

Is it normal for a paint code to change with the year? Meaning my 97 light driftwood satin glow PFA is the same as Davidc's 99 light driftwood satin glow PFK?

[itsgn]

That's one of the best touchup videos I have seen, thanks

I've tried this method, and it doesn't work at all. For one, it's very hard to keep the pencil perfectly perpendicular to the surface - and if you don't, then the sanding will be unlevel. Also, because the pencil provides essentially no cushioning (the rubber at the end provides minimal), and because the pressure you exert is distributed on a very small surface area, you'll abrade the paint very fast, meaning you're running the risk of burning through the clear coat in a very short time.

What I did instead was I took a relatively large rubber/foam sanding backing pad, cut off a small (probably inch wide) piece off it, wrapped the sandpaper around that, and used that to work and level the touch-up area. It works perfectly, keeps the sanded area pretty small, but it has none of the drawbacks of the pencil method.

[rerod]

I've tried this method, and it doesn't work at all. For one, it's very hard to keep the pencil perfectly perpendicular to the surface - and if you don't, then the sanding will be unlevel. Also, because the pencil provides essentially no cushioning (the rubber at the end provides minimal), and because the pressure you exert is distributed on a very small surface area, you'll abrade the paint very fast, meaning you're running the risk of burning through the clear coat in a very short time.

What I did instead was I took a relatively large rubber/foam sanding backing pad, cut off a small (probably inch wide) piece off it, wrapped the sandpaper around that, and used that to work and level the touch-up area. It works perfectly, keeps the sanded area pretty small, but it has none of the drawbacks of the pencil method.

That video is for new chips that weren't rusting, and a porsche.. Mines a DD cummins with pitted rust that even though I know my touch up job will probably look like crap, I'm more concerned with killing the rust and still curious how Iron X (ammonium thioglycolate acid) removes the rust, while ospho (phosphoric acid) only converts it?

Is opsho more for larger area's in the automotive industry? Because when reconstructing a drip rail on a ford van roof with marine epoxy, I read over and over to use ospho to neutralize the rust or it will come back, faster.. I didn't use it because was unclear if it needed washed off and I didnt want to soak my work area with water. But sounds like you have to neutralize the ospho after using..

Ospho, is a great product for automotive if used right, we give scare warnings because we want people to call so we can make sure they know how to neutralize it, so no problems will arise.
Only one way to use and here it is:

Use as needed and apply as many times as needed to get the spot clean
, let dry and leave for months if you want, don’t matter.
To neutralize the Ospho MUST be wet, so if dry, re-wet with itself and let set one or two minutes and with a clean rag and water, wipe off like washing the car and then dry.
Next, then da car with 80 grit, clean with 700-1 wax and grease remover, let set an hour and coat with an epoxy.

Notes of interest (maybe)
If you try and sand dry film off you will lose 40-60% adhesion (per adhesion tester as some will embed itself in metal and amount depends on how long the Ospho has been on panel as we do know acid films degrade with time but due to many factors we cannot pinpoint a time frame.
The tape is not a test, use razor scraper after 7 days or an adhesion tester if you have an extra $6000 to spend.
How does it fail? Here are a few calls.
Washing car and hose bounced up, hit car and paint bubbled.
Kids finished ball game
and ran by car and tossed ball gloves on hood, next day two big bubbles.
Wife got bag out of trunk, closed trunk and set bag on truck
to play with keys, next day a bubble there.

My FAVORITE TECH CALL at least once a month, my body filler dried and sanded great but when I got to metal is was gummy, DO I HAVE A BAD HARDENER? Nope only one thing, you applied it over an acid film..