Morris Minor Owners Club

anyone have any experience/tips on touch up, as sold by ESM?

specifically:
what preparation is needed beforehand?
how easy is it to use?
and achieve a decently blended in result?

I've got the usual light scatter of chips in the paintwork, and while far from enough to warrant the expense of re-spraying, and the old man insists that touch-up is more trouble than it's worth, it sometimes bothers me...

The Spray Cans from ESM are top notch, and I got a perfect colour match with the Trafalgar Blue on my traveller. You can of course touch up stone chips with a brush and polish back when dry to remove any high spots.

Here's my way of doing it with spray cans

1: Clean area around damage to remove wax/dirt etc. I use panel wipe.
2: Clean off any rust from stone chip with tip of pen knife.
3: Apply a dab of primer with a fine brush and allow to dry for 30 minutes
4: Take a piece of A4 paper, and poke a hole through it with a round screwdriver
5: Hold paper about 2 inches away from the panel and over the stone chip, and spray the top coat through the hole.
6: Allow top coat to harden for a few days, then cut area with rubbing compound.

With practice you get an invisible repair. I also use a badger airbrush for slightly larger touch ups, and the HVLP spray gun for complete panel work.

It is important to paint up any stone chips right away - no matter how crudely - to stop any rust developing. You can always rub it back and do a better job later!

thanks bmc - that's more-or-less how my mind worked on it... but for the last fourteen months I've been bowing to the aged parent's received wisdom ;)

might order some at the same time as the exhaust-hanging bits

and it's good to be advised on the method too - but how necessary is the priming? And any tips on brush-technique for the top coat if I can't get the spray?

cheers

if its only small then try dipping a cocktail stick in the paunt and then touch the tip into the repair. do this several times over a good few hours/days till the repair is proud of the surface. Leave it to harden a few days and then cut it back, using wet and dry if nessasery. One way of doing the rubbing back is to get a pensit with a brand new eraser, glue the eraser to a sheet of wet and dry. once the glue sets then cur round the eraser and you have a precise mini sanding tool

You can use very fine artist brushes for this too, in leau of the cocktail stick.
Never use the crude nail-polish brushes that come with the touchup paints.

If you have loads of chips I have heard tell of folk literally pouring the paint right onto the bonnet then wiping it away quickly with a squidgee, leaving the chips filled and the original paint unharmed.
I'd imagine you'd still need to wet sand and polish the lot afterwards.

quality idea!!!

I use an artists paint brush to apply the paint and I thin it first with ~50% cellulose thinners, then apply the thinned paint in layers to the chip. With care and patience you can make an almost invisible touch in. BTW, clean the area first with panel wipe to remove wax and contaminants etc.