Dr. Colorchip Experience - KAV Color on Wheels, Front Bumper, and Hood
 

Hello all,

I've seen a lot of questions about the KAV Dr. Colorchip set and decided I would do a quick write up after I got done using it.

First, I must say that it is an incredibly easy process to apply this paint. The solution they give you to use after the paint has dried is fantastic. Now, to my experience...

I just bought my 40th used from a guy who kept it in great shape with low miles, but it did have several microchips in the front bumper and hood and a couple of rashes on the wheels. I decided to buy the smallest Dr. Colorchip package and try it out.

I first tried it on a small chip on the bumper and saw that the color matched flawlessly so I began doing more and more. I did about 5-6 microchips at a time and overall I did about 30. None were bigger than 3mm so, for larger chips, I have no comment. By the time I was done, I stood at about 3 feet from the car and could not see a single chip.

NOTES: They give you a SINGLE glove to smear the paint once it was on the car, but I found myself to having too much trouble with that. Instead, I used the included brush to do several dry brushstrokes in a cross brush pattern (north to south then west to east). As long as there are no protruding bubbles, the solution you apply afterwards takes the excess paint right off.

Now, I mentioned there were some rashes on the wheels. I'm planning on buying some new ones, but haven't had the time to shop. Instead, I decided to touch them up to make them less noticeable. I've got some pictures below:

The process for these is quite different. Because most rashes are deeper than a microchip, I applied several coats very carefully. Any time I overpainted, I made sure to do the dry cross brush I mentioned above to remove any bubbles on the smooth parts of the wheels.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8282/7...c345587b_z.jpg

Upper right Before:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8016/7...a0347cca_z.jpg
Upper right During:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8157/7...dc5941ac_z.jpg
Upper right After:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7274/7...2d825fc7_z.jpg

Bottom left Before:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8016/7...c83d1cdb_z.jpg
Bottom left During:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7...e4217ffc_z.jpg
Bottom left After:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8022/7...b6fe175e_z.jpg

Sorry about the picture quality. All I have is an iPhone 4S. This is also one of the reasons why I didn't bother taking pictures of the microchips on the hood/bumper.

If you have any questions for me, please let me know.

Not bad, looks pretty good! I have used the kit as well just on my bumper, hood and fender areas though not on my wheels. I find that it does a decent job on the bumper and hood areas if you stand back a few feet looks great :tup:

Yeah keep in mind the wheels are not KAV so it won't match properly but it does look better than before.

I have the largest kit and love it. Used it recently on a bunch of rock/dirt rash on the rear of a side skirt (smeared it with a rag more or less) and it came out great.

Only issue is obviously that it doesn't fill the chips very well so the variation in the depth is visible from close up.

:iagree: I notice the same thing when washing/polishing/waxing mine! Drives me nuts! But it is better looking then having nothing! It will hold me over until I get the car re-sprayed.

:iagree: It was just very noticeable especially after a good wash.

Hoping to get a full paint job soon, but until then, this will have to do.

Good write-up. Thanks.

I will say though I did my repair last summer and the colour is still holding up. I have polished the car (not 3 step but finishing polish) a couple times and it holds up good! I also wax it up on a monthly basis, I find with a good cleaning and nice coat of wax the chips are less noticeable.

But like you said this is just to keep me from going crazy over the marks until I get full repaint.:tup:

I agree with it not filling in the chips. There is another company that included 3M Putty in their kit to fill in all the chips before applying the paint. I am guessing you could probably just pick up some 3M Putty and keep using the Dr. Colorchip kit until you are out of paint.

For any of those interested Applied Colors is the company. I have never used their kits before so mileage may vary.