plastikman

Today I finally got my windows tinted and the clear bra added as well, but a few days ago I got a really bad rock chip on my hood. When I took it in today the guy said that you would be able to see the rock chip a mile away, so we held off on the hood part of the clear bra. I need to get this fixed asap, but I am not looking to drop a whole bunch of money on this, since I just spent a grand today. Has anyone ever done the wet sand blast on their RL's? What do you guys think about that ? If this was your car, what would you do? I want it to look nice, I mean thats what its all about. Hope you guys have some suggestions, it would be nice to hear from a few people who know something about this. Thanks.

lland

I got a rock chip on my hood a week after I bought the RL. I didn't want to have the hood painted so I tried the Langka Paint Chip Repair kit. I followe the instructions perfectly. Didn't like the result so I tried again. Still didn't like it. I finally just filled it in carefully with touch-up paint (OEM) and it really isn't all that noticable. Maybe the clear bra would make it look worse but I'd certainly give that a try before dropping a lot on paint.

I've hear decent things about Touchup123 but I Haven't tried it. Maybe in the spring.

LL

plastikman

I tried it with a touch up paint pen and I dont like the results, so now I would like to get a pro job done. I was told that they dont have to do the whole hood, so that is something I would like to look into.

lland

When I looked into having my hood painted, they said they had to do the whole thing. Unless you can find someone with an airbrush that can fill in, sand, touchup, clearcoat, and polish the chip, I can't imagine having part of the hood repainted would be much less that the whole thing.

LL

VOdoc

A local car wash had a guy that would do local repairs of little chips and dings for $75 or so. We had him do one on a metallic silver Honda and you couldn't tell. Most body shops want to do the whole panel and then blend in the adjacent panels. (Cure worse than the disease??)

One issue to consider is that car dealers now have little devices that can measure paint thickness, so a refinish will cut your trade-in value.

Keeping a coat of wax on the hood doesn't seem to provide much defense against road debris, especially as paints get wimpier to comply with environmental regs. Sorry to hear...

Mike_TX

I dunno ... maybe I just have a different outlook on things.

The way I see it, you are going to get nicks and chips, no matter how careful you are. I have one on the top of my passenger side front fender from a flying rock, and even though it's small, the silver of the aluminum shines through the CGP paint like a beacon. But, hey, at least it's aluminum and won't rust.

I'm not being critical of you guys who spend the big dollars to put clear plastic all over your car, but you remind me of an old lady I knew as a kid who put those clear plastic covers on all her sofas and chairs. They were cold and slick and they crinkled when you sat down. I guess she clear bra'd her furniture.

I personally hate chhips and nicks, but I know they're going to happen so I just grin and bear it. If they get bad enough, like maybe after a couple of years, I'll go spend a couple hundred with a paint detailer and make everyting new again.

Plastikman - I think you should go ahead and get it detailed out and clear bra'd ... the next owner of your car will appreciate it.
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plastikman

Dont get me wrong, I am not gonna run out everytime I get a nick in my pait and have it repainted. Having said that, this is more then just a nick, and its right in full sight on my hood. I would like to have this one fixed and get the rest of the clear bra installed, I have had the clear bra on my other acuras and I do like the protection. Tomorrow I am one of the lucky ones to have the day off, so I will hit a few shops and get some pricing and Ideas, or at least I hope to.

plastikman

Thats the kinda guy I need to find, someone who does just rock chip repair. As for the dealer being able to measure the thickness, well that is true, but there will be a clear bra in that spot, so it should be ok.

plastikman

I guess noone has had this issue then

jftjr

Mike, this made me *howl*.... my crazy Italian grandmother has clear plastic slipcovers on her horribly ugly furniture... and then she has towels under the slipcovers to keep the fabric from fading...then she has towels ON the slipcovers TO KEEP THE SLIPCOVERS CLEAN.... and then...and I am NOT kidding... she used to make us sit ON THE FLOOR because she didn't want us kids messing up the furniture -- I was literally not allowed to sit on the furniture until well after I had graduated from high school....

So, uh... yeah. You guys got South Philly Eye-Tallian slipcovers on your cars....

Mike_TX

plastikman

I just went and got some quotes from some body shops, this isnt gonna be pretty

GoHawks

Grew up in a household like that. My younger brother is kinda like that. Putting sheepskin seat covers on his leather seats. I never understood that. You pay more for leather, it looks better and then you cover it.

I gave him enough grief that he finally took them off of his new TL.

plastikman

A little update, I went to a bodyshop I did business with a few years ago, great shop in the Tacoma area. Since someone decided to run into my rear bumper a few moths ago, right after I bought the car, I have decided to fix both problems at the same time. Looks to be costing me about $1000 and I dont think I will get a better deal. I was not looking to spend this kinda cash right now, since I was wanting to do all my upgrades, but I feel this is something that has to be done, everything else has to wait a few months.

apdoc

I live in the Tacoma area and would love to get some paint chips repaired on my Acura. could you please let me know the name & location of the paint shop in tacoma? Thanks!

neuronbob

ROFLMAO

That was my mom when I was a small child. Thankfully, she relented as we got older

TampaRLX-SH

Can't we just get a forcefield like the Jupiter 2? It will deflect rocks and keep the cheesy aliens away.

Honda...get on this, no need to thank me for the idea.