# Which stone chip repair kit



## RichD1 (Jan 22, 2014)

Any recommendations on which supplier to use, or should I get it from the Dealer?

Richard


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

I've use the following :

Chipex - good kit, with an accurate mix of paint and lacquer in a bottle. Have found that the paint can be a tad temperamental to a machine polish. Personally, I'd chuck the 'blend' solution and use a very fine cutting polish to remove any excess, as the blend solution tends to remove MORE than you required, making you start from a) all over again!

Paints4u - again, it was 'okay'. Didn't seem to last THAT long; as in staying on the car. But was cheap.

Doctor Colour Chip - overall, probably the best kit. The paint was a good colour match, and actually stayed on the bodywork. Comes with a blend solution again, but once again I'd stick to using a very fine cutting polish to remove any excess, as the blend takes too much out...<grrr!>

Paints from Dealers - dependant on what paint you have, ie. is it a solid colour, or metallic/pearlescent, I would ALWAYS go to the main dealer for a solid paint. Cost is around a tenner, and you can buy a cheap artist's brush set for about another £1.50. Probably the cheapest, but most effective way of colour matching, and finding a paint that bonds to the bodywork well. Metallic/Pearlescent paints can be a different story! These will come in two - solid paint, and lacquer. Peeps on here are okay with mixing the two, and using that as their touch-up paint.....I'm not so confident, and so would rather spend a bit on a pre-mixed paint from the other suppliers. Using a fine polish to cut back any excess, I find this is the best/safest way to get a good match.

Hope this helps :thumb:


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## RichD1 (Jan 22, 2014)

Fortunately it's a solid colour.

Thanks for the advice Criminal, think I will get some paint from the Dealer with a fine brush.

Do the Dealers supply a one coat paint or a base & clear? Are you saying you prefer using a base then a clear coat over?

I'm having the car professionally detailed with Crystal Serum so any repair will have some blending in when they cut the existing paintwork to get rid of some of the orange peel.

Richard


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Most will supply a solid colour + lacquer.

My personal experience has been that I've always managed well with just using the base colour - I had it on a previous car (Audi TT) from the Dealers, and it lasted past machine polishes.

If you're going to touch it in BEFORE they detail it, I'd make a point of letting them know. It's just that there is the possibility that it gets pulled out when they polish - it kind of depends upon how long you leave it to cure before doing any machine polishing.

So, just be prepared to maybe having to do it again if you do it before the detail.


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## RichD1 (Jan 22, 2014)

So you've just used base coat and then polished up to a gloss once dry?

I thought base coat was fairly soft and needed lacquer to give the tough protection.

Richard


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