Rusty stone chips

doningtonphil

Hello.
I am convinced that the black paint on my Nissan X-Trail is made of cheese  as it seems to pick up every scratch going ( I know black paint doesn't exactly help!) and seems not very resilient.

Anyway, there are a few stone chips on the bonnet which are showing the nice bright contrasting undercoat.  However above the windscreen are 2 chips which seem to have got through to bare metal and are now rusty. The chips themselves are 2 to 3mm and they seem to have a 'haze' around them of 1 to 2mm.
Obviously they need treating. How best to do it? Can I DIY (if so, how?) or should I get a smart repair? What sort of cost would it be.

Thanks in advance

AdrianC

Touch-up pen of the right colour.
A small brush and a small tin of a good rust-proof metal primer.
Some sandpaper, folded to be a small point..

Sand the rust away to clean, bright metal, as neatly as possible. Little bit of primer, let it dry. Little bit of black, let it dry.
For the non-rusty ones where you can see the undercoat, just the black.

Job jobbed as good as it's going to get.

UncleZen

And for the chips that are through to the primer, use colour magic with a touch up stick of matching colour.
I've used it on my black paint to good effect.

doningtonphil

Thanks Adrian and Uncle Zen. Do I need to be removing the 'hazy' area surrounding the rust?  ie is the rust potentially under the paint around the exposed rust?

Richard53

doningtonphil said:

Thanks Adrian and Uncle Zen. Do I need to be removing the 'hazy' area surrounding the rust?  ie is the rust potentially under the paint around the exposed rust?

If the pain is bubbling, then rust is definitely beneath and you will need to remove it back to bright metal. If not, try rubbing it with a bit of polish first - it much just be a surface discoloration. I'd agree with AdrianC's method, but would add that you might put as blob of rust killer (like Kurust or Jenolite) on the metal before painting. It will convert any rust you may have missed to ferric phosphate, a black inert compound. Rinse with cold water to neutralise and dry immediately before painting. That should keep rust at bay for a long time. Let the new paint harden for at least a week before polishing or cutting back.

lemondrops69

AdrianC said:

Touch-up pen of the right colour.
A small brush and a small tin of a good rust-proof metal primer.
Some sandpaper, folded to be a small point..

Sand the rust away to clean, bright metal, as neatly as possible. Little bit of primer, let it dry. Little bit of black, let it dry.
For the non-rusty ones where you can see the undercoat, just the black.

Job jobbed as good as it's going to get.

Fine 'wet and dry' paper or emery cloth would be better than sand paper, unless the car is made of wood. In experienced hands a dremmel type tool would do a  more precise job

fred990

Better still clean out the chip with a fibreglass pen. Build up the paint with a cocktail stick, tiny amounts and allow to dry inbetween. 2500/3000 wet & dry then machine polish.