Do you sell touch up paint for car interior, wheels, or bumpers?
Yes! But wheel and interior selection is limited, and to find a code for it is rather difficult. We recommend emailing us
first to see if it is available or if it is possible. Some wheels are painted and some are powder coated. Domestic wheel
colors are frequently published in manufacturers color books. Bumper colors are the exact same paint as the body of the
car. Urethane basecoat is very flexible and suitable for plastic bumpers. If the color is a different one other than the
body (like a black car with a silver bumper) then we treat it like a two-tone vehicle. We will need the factory color code,
and make us aware that your vehicle is two-tone and inform us of the right color for your car. There is an additional comments
box at the end of the checkout procedure; feel free to email us too.
What is a tri-stage paint?
A car manufacturer will paint a vehicle one color (a groundcoat), then they will paint over it with a very transparent color
with a higher density pearl. This method gives a different effect. Sometimes we have a 2 stage formula available which is
easier to apply. If a two stage formula is not available for your color we will contact you for the purchase of an additional
can.
Should I wax my car before or after touching it up?
You should remove wax before touching it up and wait at least one month before waxing fresh paint. Wax, silicone, and oils
may cause fisheye. Don't worry, prep solvent is designed to chemically remove these contaminants. A liquid dish soap like
Ivory or Joy will remove most of these paint contamination problems. Regular car soap often has a car wax so this product
may not be used.
Where is my color code?
We try hard to display this information for you. However, even experienced painters can have a difficult time finding the
paint code so please don't get discouraged. Some car manufacturers keep paint code locations consistent, others change year
to year, and from plant to plant. Also, when a vehicle is wrecked, a door or fender with the paint code information could
have been replaced. Some dealerships do not let you order replacement stickers. If you order and the paint code is wrong,
we will email you with extra help to find it as well as give you paint code examples for your vehicle.
I need to order touch up paint for my car by color name.
If you provide us with the color name, year, make, and model of your car; we can give you examples of paint codes to look
for. We need to verify a color code before shipping to qualify for our color match guarantee. Many times car manufacturers
have a color with an individual color code, but have several names for it. For instance Toyota and Lexus share colors and
color codes, but have different names for them. Oddly enough so does GM brands, Honda and Acura, Ford and its family of
cars. Sometimes Isuzu shares codes with Honda, Nissan with Ford, Ford with Mazda, and so on.
We will use the color black as an example: How many names can you come up with for black? black, ebony, jet black, onyx,
super jet black, black onyx, etc. Blacks can also have metallic or pearl. The pearl can be different colors. It could be
a blue-black or a brown-black. The possibilities are endless! That is why color codes are important. Imagine red, blue,
green, silver, and all the other colors available.
What is blending?
Blending is the art of making a line disappear. The way to take two very similar colors and blend them into one like an
illusion. If you had a white piece of paper and black paint, and you stopped painting in the center you would notice a gray
area in the center. There would be no line, and it would be impossible to tell where the black area started or stopped.
Do you remember water coloring in kindergarten? Or how about color pencils and pastels. After you make a line, do you remember
what happened when you smeared the line with your fingers? What happens when the two colors are near identical? The effect
is similar with basecoat except it involves several coats; and the clear coat covers the entire surface so everything is
more uniform.
Why do I need clear coat? Will nail polish work?
All orders are mixed basecoat clear coat. It is the most user-friendly and has the best color match. Base coat is a dull
and completely flat paint. The clear coat makes the paint glossy, just like the rest of your finish. It also protects the
paint from friction, weather, chemical resistance, and from chipping. Nail polish is not an Automotivetouchup.com approved
product, but it will give you the same effect as our clear coats, but lasts about one month before fading and chipping. Your
Automotivetouchup.com touch up paint system has been designed and tested to last for years to come.
What is a paint blob?
Colored wax vendors put down on touch up paint as a marketing ploy. When a bottle of touch up paint has been left out in
the sun without a top for a long period of time the solvents escape. In other words the paint has started to dry. Our paint
has premium solvents and a paint blob has never been reported for our touch up paint line.
How should I prepare my vehicle for cold weather?
See our article on
winter preparation.
I ordered touch up paint but received 2 bottles, "groundcoat" and "midcoat". What do I do?
This is somewhat rare in our product line - certain colors can't be replicated without a multiple coat system. Here's how
to handle this: when you apply your paint, the groundcoat goes on first, then the midcoat goes on over the groundcoat after
that.
The "factory name" of my paint doesn't appear. Will it work for me?
Our paint color names are somewhat diminished by the database that our vendor provides. For example - black, onyx, raven,
raven black, and obsidian black are all going to have a paint code of wa8555, or 41, or GBA, or 8555, or U8555. They are
all the same color, and have the same paint formula. This example is a buick color that has been used from 1984-2015 and
while the names may change a little for marketing purposes, it's still the same color. So you should be fine.
Should I sand between coats?
No sanding should be done between coats (with a few exceptions).
An example of when you might want to sand between coats is if a little dirt
lands in the paint - if this happens, you may let the paint dry and sand out the speck of dirt. Other reasons you might
want to sand is if you run into problems with runs or have excessive texture on your touch up repair job. If you want even
more info on this subject, check out our blog post on
why you shouldn't sand between coats on touch up paint projects.
Can I use your products to paint my ________________?
People have been using our products for years for projects that are not typical exterior applications. You should have no
problems when using our paint under your hood, on your engine cover, on your engine bay, on your brake calipers, and on
your air filter cover, and it's housing exterior. However, we do not recommend using our paint on your engine, radiator,
brake rotors, or any other part which has extremely high heat and/or friction.
We've also seen people paint non-automotive things like guitars, model cars, and bicycles with our paint with good results.
Dig deep in our gallery to see lots of various applications!