How to Apply Touchup Paint

Posted on May 12, 2017

You can be as careful as possible when you park. Unfortunately, there’s always that one person who parks too close to your Acura. The wind catches their door or a button or zipper on their jacket rubs along your car. You’re left with a scratch on your car and the oblivious offender has doesn’t seem to care. Can it be fixed with touchup paint? It’s not that hard to fix a small scratch with touchup paint. The process is straightforward and it takes only a few minutes to do it right. Follow these steps to erase that annoying scratch from your Acura’s paint.

What you’ll need:

  • Color-matched touchup paint from Jay Wolfe Acura
  • Alcohol wipe
  • Clear coat touchup paint
  • 2000-grit sandpaper
  • Water in a spray bottle
  • Car polish

Step one: Clean the scratch thoroughly.

Wipe your scratch with the alcohol wipe to clean any dirt from the area. If there’s any rust on the metal underneath, scuff it with the edge of your sandpaper until it’s gone completely. Then, wipe it clean with the alcohol wipe. Don’t use water – it will allow the exposed metal to rust before you can fix the scratch.

Step two: Apply thin layers of touchup paint.

For even coverage, it’s best to use thin layers applied with a small brush. Fill the scratch with two or three layers of paint. It’s okay if it’s still below the paint’s surface – in fact, it’s better that way!

Step three: Apply clear coat over the touchup paint.

Clear coat is optional but it yields the best final result. Like the touchup paint, apply a couple layers of clear coat. Bring the paint level up to the surrounding paint’s level, even slightly higher if you plan on wet sanding.

Step four: Wet sand for a perfect finish.

Wet your sandpaper extremely well, then spray the touchup paint with water. Very lightly, rub the clear coat in a straight line, checking often how deep you’ve sanded. Once it’s even with the paint surface, stop! Let it dry, the polish the area with your favorite car polish.   After this process, it’s like the scratch never happened at all! If you need touchup paint to match your car’s finish, see the parts department at Jay Wolfe Acura in Kansas City. Or, if you’d prefer to let the professionals fix the scratch for you, we can help. Contact our service team to arrange for your scratch repair.