Forum | Touch up paint and tire cleaning

Help! I have some scratches I need to take care of. ANy good sources for touch-up paint? And, I have been cleaning my tires with dish soap but does amyone have a better solution?

Matt,

You may want to check with a local automotive paint supply.  Black should be an easy color to match and they might give you a small amount of touch up paint for free.  My local PPG supplier has a photospectrometer (PPG Prophet System) to analyze the paint and provide a perfect color match.  Of course this level of work would not be free and would probably require a minimum of a pint of paint due to the required accuracy of mixing and formulation.  

For a quick, cheap match you may want to try buying an aerosol can of gloss black (Duplicolor makes a high-quality spray) at your local automotive parts house.  If you can find the Duplicolor can marked “SUV and Truck Paint” this is not only ridiculous marketing, but a better, faster drying paint.  First of all, clean the area of the scratch with a wax and grease remover.  PPG makes the “Acryli-Clean” product for this, although a diluted solution of dish washing liquid and water will do the job as long as you rinse and dry the area thoroughly.  After shaking the can for the indicated time, spray some into the cap of the can, or a small glass jar.  Use this with a very fine paint brush (found at a hobby store or art supply — I prefer Winsor & Newton brushes).  Now simply color inside the lines.    If it’s not perfect, don’t worry.  Just let it dry for a day or two and then if you want to retouch it, or lightly sand it (careful with the sanding!  I typically use 1000 to 2000 grit sandpaper or a Meguiar’s Unigrit sanding block) and then buff it out.  Buffing would be an entire thread of its own…

John

Matt.……One & All,

For paint touch-up I use ‘Japlac’ jet black, which is a high gloss enamel paint. A little tip, on chips, instead of a brush try using a cocktail stick to lightly blob the paint on, it will srink back when dried. On scratches try using an old plastic bank card or similar, load a little paint on the edge and wipe it over the mark diagonally which should infill the mark. 

Also the Pashley approved chain lubricant ‘GT85’ is excellent for lightly wiping over the frame, it protects the paint and makes cleaning off dust and dirt after a ride easy with the use of a microfibre cloth. 

For the tyres good ol’ soap and water is probably best and safest.

Safe rides, DW. 

…I bet this chap didnt use GT85 on his tyres

ahh Sir those whiskey fairies are dangerous little fellows…

Mr McMichael and The Major, do post some photographs after your tweedy event!

Kind regards,

Martin