Advice/opinions on touch up spray paint?

Do you have a photo of the damaged area?

 

I bought the 791 code paint pen and have used it once. Works well for a small area.

Pics of the damage?

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

mask what you can, do it indoors if at all possible- keeps bugs from landing in it. Have a means of dealing with overspray ready- that can be a rag with solvent, or yet another spray.

Auto paint is 99% prep 1% squirt. Clean it, clean it again, degrease it, clean some more, sand it a little to promote adhesion, use primer (instead of color) to build height where it has gone down to the base. And be ready to polish it after.

 

Tape off the area about 1" away from the damaged area. Lots of tape and paper to protect the rest when you spray. Sand the area reasonably smooth, clean thoroughly and then spray the finish coat. It will leave a ridge at the tape line. After the paint dries, remove the tape and wet sand the ridge line. This is all plastic, so no metal prep or primer is needed.

 

As far as sanding I'd probably do 800 for the initial rough up to create traction for new paint. JB is correct you don't need primer for corrosion, but you may need it to match thickness and it usually helps with adhesion for the color layer. Can also be helpful if the base color is still showing after a few coats of color.

After the color I'd wetsand it at 2000.

The donut-hole spray method has its advantages- in this situation I would only do that for the clearcoat, and then only on a larger aperture mask after removing the damage-area-only mask post-color.

 

It looks like the scratched area is pretty rough. I would flatten it with 400 wet. Then smooth with the 800, etc.

 

I'll put on my flame suit and say body shop. If you want it to be seamless.

 

It’s a lower plastic piece. Even if it’s not perfect it won’t be very visible. And if the OP decides it is not an acceptable look, then the bodyshop can always fix it.

 

True, the lower it is, the less noticeable. And, if a body shop does it, pretty much guarantees you'll scrape it again, lol.

 

I would check with a body shop for a price to paint-brush plus UV light to blend it in.

Many years ago, my wife backed in (back up camera didn't exist during those era), scratched the bumper color big time and created a screw pinch-in hole. Had the body shop to do a fix, I paid about $200 all inclusive. It was like brand new.

If you can shop for DIY, check with body shop for cash deal, sometimes you get a very good decent job to a similar $$ for DIY. Make sure UV light is applied for the final touch (I think that is needed to make it shine for bumpers).

I am no SME for car fix but what I am trying to say, if it costs so much to do DIY, I'd rather pay the same or a bit more to do it right and save my time. I can guarantee you if I DIY.. I will screw it big time and the result will not blend in.

As Mendel said, it could happen again