VIENNA, VA – Ahh, nothing beats a peaceful Sunday drive down your favorite backroad. You’re cruising along when all of a sudden, almost from nowhere you hear it – the “ting” of death. A stone has chipped the hood of your pride and joy, now what?!
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In years past, correcting a paint chip meant one of two things: a trip to the body shop or, an exercise in trying to “dab” the correct amount of paint over the chip and then living with an unsightly paint “pimple” where the chip once was.
Enter AutoSharp and their AutoSharp Pen touch-up paint applicator pen. The pen features a felt tipped applicator that allows you to literally “color” the damage away. With thousands of paint codes to choose from, including solids, metallics and pearlescents, AutoSharp is almost certain to have a pen to suit your needs.
We had an opportunity to try the pen first hand this past weekend, so we decided to share our experiences and results with you, the readers of Roadfly.
Our “patient” was a 1988 Porsche 944 with the original Guards Red paint. As you can see, the car has seen its fair share of use and abuse; the paint was heavily oxidized and suffered from many paint chips (and various other ailments). Our first order of business was to wash the vehicle, after which we went about beginning to prep the paint chips.
Since we land on the near side of being anal retentive, we decided to do a few extra things in preparation for using the AutoSharp Pen. We used alcohol and PPG DX330 prep solution to clean the paint chips (this ensures a clean surface for the paint to bond to).
We were also trying to repair a failed repair, which was apparently executed by this Porsche’s previous owner. The touch-up paint was bubbled and cracked, and really looked bad. We sanded away the majority of the crummy paint and did our best to blend the damage with the rest of the fender. With the surfaces prepped, we went about using the AutoSharp Pen.
The pen itself is very easy to use. You simply shake it, depress the felt tip a few times to start the paint flow, and then begin to “color” paint into the damaged areas, much like you would highlight a section of text in a book.
Paint flow was very consistent and predictable. We experienced minor “dripping” from the pen, but it was due to user error – we had pressed the tip too hard while painting the chips.
We tackled various paint chips, from pin-sized chips to long scrapes. In each instance, the AutoSharp Pen worked flawlessly. The paint match was perfect, even with the Porsche’s neglected finish. The pen was also incredibly easy to use, and it didn’t produce those dreaded paint pimples.
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We applied several thin coats over a period of about an hour- our goal was to let the paint layers build up gradually, so that the chips would become completely filled and thus invisible.
Once we were satisfied with the applications, we let the car sit for 24 hours in order to let the paint cure properly. After we were reasonably sure that the paint had cured, we proceeded to lightly buff the repaired areas using 3M’s Finesse It-II and 3M’s Swirl Mark Remover for Dark Cars.
The results were very impressive. As we stated earlier, the color match was spot-on. We could not discern any difference between the factory paint and the AutoSharp Pen color. This really impressed us; often, even the very best factory touch-up paints are not nearly as close as the AutoSharp color was.
We can still tell where the paint chips were, but that’s not the fault of the pen. We tried to repair some pretty big areas, and given the grimness of the situation, we’re certain that anything shy of some body filler and a spray gun would have failed. We also believe that if we had taken a few extra minutes to wet sand the areas prior to painting (to further level the paint divots) we would have wound up with a truly invisible repair.
So, if your baby has a few dings and scars, we’d highly recommend that you explore the AutoSharp Pen – for just under $17, you’ll be rewarded with an easy to use and perfect color match paint repair solution. Check them out at http://www.autosharppen.com, or give them a call at 1-877-701-7780. Be sure to have your vehicle’s paint code in hand, as the folks at AutoSharp will need it to make sure that you get the right color for your car.