Is it possible to remove touch up paint?

**Calendyr** · 11-26-2017, 05:43 AM

Hey guys, here is the situation.

I now work for a high end dealership who sells luxury and exotic cars (BMWs being their lowest end and Ferraries being the high end).

They give me about 3 cars a week to work on and generally it's to prep them for resale (they deal in used cars only) and the work usually involves a thourough exterior detail, one step polishing and quick interior detail.

Most of the cars have small scratches and some have rock chips.

So on this BMW 328i (M package) there was a big rock chip almost in the middle of the hood. The person who tells me what he needs done on the car asked me to touch it up and game me a BMW touch up kit to do it.

The car is white.

So I applied the touch up paint and clear but the kit he provided is not a match for that car's shade of white. The touch up paint is much whiter than the car's existing paint. So it really shows where the touch up was done.

Now they want me to remove it. I am not sure it is possible. Does anyone know if there is a way to do it?

I am not super familiar with touch up paint. I usually tell my clients to get the kit for their specific car at the dealership and do it themselves. Having to wait for the basecoat to dry before applying the clear coat makes it too complicated for me to do the service. This time is different since I am there 3 days a week. Just not sure what is possible to do in this situation. Sanding seems impossible, I would go though the clear on the surrounding area and I am not sure if a chemical could do the job either. Anyway, if you have a solution please tell.

**fightnews** · 11-26-2017, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by Calendyr

Hey guys, here is the situation.

I now work for a high end dealership who sells luxury and exotic cars (BMWs being their lowest end and Ferraries being the high end).

They give me about 3 cars a week to work on and generally it's to prep them for resale (they deal in used cars only) and the work usually involves a thourough exterior detail, one step polishing and quick interior detail.

Most of the cars have small scratches and some have rock chips.

So on this BMW 328i (M package) there was a big rock chip almost in the middle of the hood. The person who tells me what he needs done on the car asked me to touch it up and game me a BMW touch up kit to do it.

The car is white.

So I applied the touch up paint and clear but the kit he provided is not a match for that car's shade of white. The touch up paint is much whiter than the car's existing paint. So it really shows where the touch up was done.

Now they want me to remove it. I am not sure it is possible. Does anyone know if there is a way to do it?

I am not super familiar with touch up paint. I usually tell my clients to get the kit for their specific car at the dealership and do it themselves. Having to wait for the basecoat to dry before applying the clear coat makes it too complicated for me to do the service. This time is different since I am there 3 days a week. Just not sure what is possible to do in this situation. Sanding seems impossible, I would go though the clear on the surrounding area and I am not sure if a chemical could do the job either. Anyway, if you have a solution please tell.

The kit that came with my car recommends base coat only. They give you the clear but say its better to not use it

**jeffindetail** · 11-26-2017, 08:32 AM

With clear on there, it can be tricky. I’d try some lacquer thinner in hopes it hasn’t fully cured yet. White touch up always looks awful. No matter the shade, it always seems to be bright white.

**2black1s** · 11-26-2017, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by jeffindetail

With clear on there, it can be tricky. I’d try some lacquer thinner in hopes it hasn’t fully cured yet. White touch up always looks awful. No matter the shade, it always seems to be bright white.

I agree with the lacquer thinner approach. I'd suggest using a q-tip saturated with the thinner. If the touch-up kit was lacquer (and many are), lacquer thinner will work today, tomorrow, or next year... Cure time being irrelevant.

**Calendyr** · 11-27-2017, 01:43 AM

Ok thanks guys, I will give it a try.

Do any of you do paint touch up using the kits that allow you to mix your own colors... I can't remember who makes it, Darren Priest has shown it a few times in his videos. I am not sure if they are worth investing in. It's a pretty expensive kit and I am guessing you would need to do a lot of touch up jobs to pay the kit off, let alone making a profit.

**2black1s** · 11-28-2017, 12:30 AM

Whenever I do touch-ups I will go to either an automotive paint supply store or an auto body shop and have a small amount of base coat mixed. I have plenty of clear and the associated hardeners/activators on hand.

**MarkD51** · 11-28-2017, 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by Calendyr

Ok thanks guys, I will give it a try.

Do any of you do paint touch up using the kits that allow you to mix your own colors... I can't remember who makes it, Darren Priest has shown it a few times in his videos. I am not sure if they are worth investing in. It's a pretty expensive kit and I am guessing you would need to do a lot of touch up jobs to pay the kit off, let alone making a profit.

I thought I had seen on Dr Colorchip's website that they make such a Kit, more geared towards professional detailers.

Once, I personally asked the Dr. Colorchip folks what should be used to slightly thin one of their touch up paints that had gotten a bit too thick to use. Their reply was Acetone.

**Setec Astronomy** · 11-30-2017, 08:01 AM

Just to add my 2 cents, yes, lacquer thinner will wipe that right out, the one part clear used with touchup is just clear lacquer, not the 2K "real" clear. Just dampen a paper towel and wipe it off. This is all presuming the rest of the hood is factory paint, and don't let the thinner dwell in the chip, you don't want it to get under the primer and stuff.

**Calendyr** · 12-01-2017, 05:59 AM

Gonna do the "Operation" this morning. Will let you know how it went.

I think you are right, Dr Colorchip is the one that does the kit I was talking about.

Since I will very likelly be doing touch up paint now, I need to really get some training in doing it right. The small brush that comes with manufacturer's touch up kits really put too much paint on. Larry Kozilla has a video where he did a restoration on a very old Porshe and he was using a paint pen and that seemed to work very well, so I think I will order one of those and maybe get some fine art paint brushes as well.

Good to know Acetone is the solvent for the base paint, I will very likelly dillute it a bit in the future, to make it easier.

Sad to see no one really does touch ups as a money making service, would have loved to pick your brains about it

**2black1s** · 12-01-2017, 12:49 PM

Even though the manufacturer recommends acetone for thinning the paint I would use lacquer thinner if you have it available. Either acetone or lacquer thinner will thin out just about any kind of paint but lacquer thinner is a bit slower drying and that can give you more working time before the touch-up paint starts to flash. In most cases the additional working time is a plus.

Lacquer thinner is also available in different drying times from faster to slower. Acetone is not. For touch-ups with lacquer type paints I have always found the slowest lacquer thinner (or even a lacquer retarder) to be the best reduction agent.

On another note, I like using 2-part enamels or urethanes for touch-ups. They are not as quick and simple as lacquers but in most cases will result in a higher quality repair. The only exception is that I would use lacquer for touching up a lacquer paint job... But there are not many of those around in today's world.