FAQs

An OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) code is the series of letters and or numbers that make up a formulation code. The code is then entered into the formulation computer that brings up the exact paint mix formulation for that particular vehicle.

Yes! The Chipex™® product works extremely well at stone chips and small scratches and will also significantly improve scuffs. The product has been tested and certified by TUV the German testing agency. Whilst the product is very good it is not a miracle cure for all damage and it is important that you read the information below on its limitations. If you are at all unsure please contact us by email: info@chipex.co.uk or call us on +44 (0) 1295-258308 and we will be happy to assist you..

It is important to thoroughly wash and clean the area you are going to repair and remove any residual polish or wax that could be present within the damaged area. You can remove wax/polish by using the blending solution provided or white spirits/alcohol wipes. The paint does not adhere well to polish or wax so this is important.

The Chipex™ system has a specially patented and formulated lacquer within the paint that removes the need for this procedure. Furthermore normal hand applied clear coats as used with a conventional touch up paint change the tone of the color leaving the repair even more visible.

Yes the Chipex™ system has a specially patented and formulated additive that hardens the paint once it has cured. The curing period is in the region of two weeks depending on weather conditions..

You can use a jet washer to clean your car straight away however we recommend that you try and avoid the repaired area until it has fully cured. Curing takes around two weeks.

No, Not straight away! When a car has just been painted the paintwork is soft and requires time to harden. After one month following painting it is safe to use Chipex™.

No, due to the vast selection of colors available we make each paint to order on a daily basis so it is completely new for the customer and to maximise shelf life.

The shelf life of the Chipex™ paint is three plus years and the blending solution is two years.

No the Chipex™ Blending Solution will only work with the specially formulated Chipex paint.

Yes you can use Chipex™ on rusted bodywork to cover over the damaged area successfully. The Silver Mercedes Benz in the Examples section was rusty and you can see the difference. Please note that the Chipex paint is NOT a rust inhibitor and the paint could rise after a period of time due to the moisture within the damaged area. Rust inhibitor products can be purchased from car accessory shops and these will help reduce but not totally cure rusted areas.

Yes Chipex™ is suitable for use on classic cars. Cars painted pre 1970 will have been painted in a Cellulose paint that is very soft and whilst the Chipex paint can be used the blending solution can affect the paintwork as this type of paint is very soft and it is not recommended. Most classic / vintage cars have generally been repainted in modern paint so this is not applicable.

Yes we can. If you have a car, light aircraft or boat that you do not have the color code then if you could supply us with a panel or paint part we can match to it. Please contact us to discuss this.

Touching up your car’s paint, even with the many clever and easy to use solutions that we have these days at our disposal, is always a nerve-racking ordeal. Everything rushes through your head at once; are you using the right paint for the job, or whether you’re even putting it on properly. Am I painting too much over the lines, or do I need to wax the car down after this.

This is made more anxious after you suddenly remembered someone mentioning sanding your car. Well, it turns out that a bit of gritty sanding helps a lot to smoothen out the damaged or chipped paintwork. Overall, this makes it both easier to touch up, and may improve the final look of the now-repaired bodywork. But what grit of sandpaper should you be using for paint touch-ups

A Few Gritty Facts That You Should Know

Before we dive deeper, however, what exactly is grit? In sandpaper, ‘grit’ defines how much abrasive material in individual pieces you have per square inch of paper. For example, 1,000 pieces of grit on one square inch of sandpaper would equate to 1,000-grit sandpaper. Something else we’ll learn through this is that the higher the grit number is, the finer (less coarse) the sandpaper will be

In automotive applications, the grit rating can vary anywhere from a scratchy 40 grit, to a very fine 3,000 grit. It’s crucial to understand the differences, as either end of the grit spectrum has its use for car repairs. Here’s a breakdown of the most common grit ratings on sandpaper that you may come across

40 grit – These are as coarse as sandpaper can be, for the most part. For 40 grit, it’s a very rough surface that will leave sanding marks, often used to prep the bodywork before any paint or material even goes on it. It’s very handy to have when say, you’re trying to remove deep rust before any body filler is coated.

80 grit – If 40 grit is rough enough to smoothen out your car’s bare bodywork, 80 grit is a step below that in coarseness. This is a great starting point for after the filler’s dried out, and you’re looking to smoothen out the body filler before adding the primer, and then the base coat of the coloured paint on top

120-180 grit – Once again, these two are great for finer sanding of the filler layer. Some specialists finish off the filler with 120 grit after the 80 grit sandpaper has done most of the smoothening work of the overall surface. 180 grit can be used to carefully feather the edges of the filler and remove any spot putty, but also doubles as a good way to remove small scratches with minimal markings

320-400 grit – Both are excellent for the finishing steps of sanding and levelling the filler surface before the primer is painted on. Remember that even the tiniest of imperfections left on the filler can magnify greatly once the primer, and then the base-coat is added on top. Thus, these incremental grit sanding increases are needed

600-800 grit – Although some might be brave enough to use 400 grit sandpaper on the upper primer layer, it’s best to use 600 grit for that job. Most would recommend starting with sanding the primer with 600 grit, before slowly moving up to the finer 800 grit paper

1,000-1,200 grit – Either one are good options for removing imperfections from the coloured base coat. The best way to do this is using a method called “wet sanding”, where you would soak the sandpaper and the base-coat surface with a lot of water. The wet sanding process often enables the sandpaper to cut faster, and prevents particles of the paint from clogging up the abrasive paper. Although, and depending on how dry the paint is, a regular “dry sanding” would be good enough

1,500-3,000 grit – However, do know that even the finer 1,200 sandpaper will still leave marks, which you’ll have to remove before adding the final clear-coat layer for the best results. For this, you can use 1,500 or up to 2,000 grit sandpaper. On top of that, 1,500 and 2,000 grit could also be used after the clear-coat has been applied, to get improved final eye candy. You can scale this all the way up to 3,000 grit, if you prefer. In both cases, wet sanding is the preferred way to go about it

Sanding Your Car’s Paint

At this point, we’re now well acquainted with which grit of sandpaper you’d need to use. In all, the varying grit sizing will be best suited based on what layer of the paint you’re on, and what or how much is the material that you want to remove

Primer – Anything below or around 500 grit sandpaper will do wonders at quickly removing the upper paint surfaces, and down to the primer layer. This is great if you might want to start from scratch during the touch-up, or if some significant imperfections need to be ironed out. You can then move up to finer grit levels as you slowly start to finish off a smoothened look for the primer

Base-Coat – The argument of ‘dry vs. wet’ sanding will depend on your touch-up paint of choice. If it’s waterborne, then wet sanding may start removing the paint itself. Once you’ve considered your approach, you can start using 1,000 grit sandpaper to sand out imperfections in the paint. You can then move upwards to 1,500 grit, as the base-coat surface starts looking finer and shinier

Clear-Coat – The final clear-coat layer is what tops off your car’s paint, so you’ll need to be careful about the grittiness of the sandpaper of your choice. 1,500 grit is a good starting point, though you’ll need to be cautious about sanding it off too much. It’s better if you have 2,000 grit, at least, as you can then move up and up to 2,500 grit, and the final 3,000 grit for an ultra-fine finishing touch.

Deep narrow scratches that are down to the paint or primer can be fixed with Chipex™. It is important during the blending solution step to apply very light pressure on the cloth so as to not remove excessive paint from the scratch.

When cars are painted they are finally sprayed with a clear coat lacquer to create a protective shield to the paint as well as giving it a shine. If the vehicle is lightly scratched in the clear coat it can look far worse than it really is as the clear coat lacquer will go opaque / white in color. In many cases you can either use a rubbing compound or take the car to a body shop where they will use a buffing machine to remove this damage. In cases where the damage cannot be removed by a rubbing compound you can carefully apply a small quantity of paint into the damaged area and then remove the excess with the Chipex™ polish which has a mild rubbing compound in it.

The Chipex™ system will NOT work well on this type of damage due to the amount of paint that has been removed and in this instance the vehicle should be taken to a body shop for the panel to be repaired and sprayed.

Whilst the Chipex™ system will not make an invisible repair on this type of damage it can go a long way in masking it. For an example of a repair on this type of damage please look at the blue BMW on the bottom of the examples page

Heavily keyed paint work is difficult to repair and where the car has been vandalised down the side with a very long key mark it is recommended that you take the car to a body shop. However if you wish to mask the damage you can use the kit to achieve this, however it will not be an invisible repair and will still be noticeable.

Road Rash is where the vehicle’s paint work has been peppered by stones causing a large quantity of stone chips.

As road rash is in a concentrated area you can quite simply smear the special paint all over the damaged area and then remove the excess paint with the blending solution.

The applied newly applied paint is not removed as the chemicals very gently remove only a very small cross section of paint at a time. However if you were to apply an excessive amount of the solution and apply excessive pressure to the cloth you can remove the paint you have applied making the product very safe and risk free.

Yes the system will work on deep stone chips, however you will have to build up the paint in layers to achieve a good level. This can be done by either building up in layers or applying a large blob of paint and then letting it dry and then blending it down with the solution.

The vast majority of chips are not visible after painting unless you are very close to the bodywork and looking for them. When inspecting the car from a normal distance of over one metre the damage will be very hard to see and in some cases invisible. Please read our testimonials from customers that have written to us to get a good understanding of this. Please do bear in mind that whilst the Chipex™ product is extremely effective as a cosmetic repair it will not achieve the same result as would be achieved by removing all the paint and re spraying as carried out by a professional body shop.

Chipex™ works especially well on dark and solid colors including metallic paint. When using Silver and Gold metallic paint there can be some shade variation due to the metallic particles within the paint which can cause the applied paint to be darker in some light conditions.

Yes. Whilst this is the most difficult finish due to the complexity of the paint we have achieved very good results with our paint system. In the case of Tri colors the kit comes with two paints so as achieve the most original finish.

You can use Chipex™ on Matt paintwork but you must NOT use the polish within the kit or any other form of polish on a car that is painted in Matt paintwork as it will lose its matt finish.