I authored this on another site but thought that it may be beneficial to our members. I have added a few items, here and there, that may make it a tad easier to understand and follow. As always, please feel free to PM or post questions. Also, if you have something that can help this procedure along, please feel free to post it!
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This procedure is pretty simple but VERY time consuming. Also, you need to be able to stomach wet sanding some paint here because, it's a necessity to really make it come out well...
Here's my procedure in a nutshell (as originally taught & modified from Intel486):
1. Clean the chip. You want it to be free of debris as well as loose flecks of paint. In short, if the paint is chipping within the chip itself, go ahead and remove that small amount so that only competent paint remains. A toothpick can be handy here in that it can help release loose flaky paint. Obviously, don't get carried away with flaking your paint off and realize that not all rock chips can be completely fixed by this procedure.
2. Prep the chip. Using a single-hole punch (like one that can be had at Wal-Mart or your local office supply store), punch out a few holes of 2000 grit sandpaper (some may wish to start with 1500 grit and then progress to 2000 - get comfortable with wet sanding a spot before you go too far here -- if in doubt, start at 2000. 2000 may take a bit more time but, you can easily still get the same results)). Get a standard pencil and glue a sanding dot to each of the pencil erasers. Use several as you will spend the sandpaper fairly quickly... I'd recommend a dozen, at least.
Once you've got your pencil erasers rolling, get a Q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol and gently clean the chip. This step is designed to remove any silcones or other oily contamination that could be within the chip that would cause the paint to not adhere.
3. Soak the pencil erasers. Using a cup of water with maybe a drop of Dawn liquid in it mixed, soak the pencil erasers that have the sandpaper glued to them. (obviously, you'll need to use a good glue (I always use super glue)). Soak for about an hour -- maybe a tad less. The Dawn liquid will add a slight bit of lubrication to the water matrix. You don't want it to be soapy -- just a dab will do ya.
4. Apply the paint. Using the brush in tube, dab a VERY small dot of paint on to the chip. Using a clean toothpick, spread the paint around in the chip making sure that the paint adheres to all sides of the chip and begins to seal the area where the chip starts. In short, you don't want to leave it so that something can slide in between the chip and the edge of the paint. This is a challenging and time consuming step - even though it may seem simple - because nearly all chips are on an edge that is vertical and thus, gravity will want to cause the paint to sag. This is okay but, if at all possible, you'll want to keep as much paint on the chip as possible. Allow to dry for several hours. It is critical that the paint be dry before you move to step #5 or #6.
5. Repeat #4. Keep repeating the #4 step until the spot is filed with paint. A VERY light sanding may be a good idea between coats to encourage bonding between the coats. Again, repeat until the chip is slightly 'over filled' and has some elevation to it over the paint adjacent to it.
6. Sand. It's time to use the wet sanding method that we prepped earlier. Again, be certain that the paint is dry. Using the pencil, begin to sand down the 'blob' of paint that is sitting in the chip. You'll want to use circular, straight, and horizontal/vertical sanding strokes but, be careful to not take it too low. Inherently, you're going to scuff some of the surrounding paint -- no big deal but, just don't get in to it too much because if you sacrifice too much of the surrounding paint, you're setting it up for delamination or other clear failure down the road. Just sand the spot and a VERY small area adjacent to the spot. The goal here is to get the paint flat again. Obviously, make certain that the paint is completely dry before sanding -- patience is huge here.
Another option that may be available is the Langka chip fix kit. Mother's Wax Company put out a version of this kit many moons ago and it can often still be had on ebay for very little cash. The full Langka kit is a tad pricey (IMO) for what it is but, it does perform. I've never been able to 'finish' a rock chip or similar with the Langka kit and have always defaulted back to this methodology but, it can move the procedure along a bit quicker by maybe eliminating some of the sanding -- the sanding can get tedious.
7. Assess your work. Is the area too low in the chip? If so, repeat #4 & #6. If it's good, it's time to polish out the scuffs that you've introduced. Because this is a small area, it's not a real big deal to remove those scuffs...
As is true in nearly everything out there in the automotive paint correction realm, you do not want to proceed to the next step until you've completely taken care of the step at hand. Remember, your final product is only as good as the attention to detail that you give to it!
8. Polish for sanding mark removal. You'll want to use a higher cut polish such as a Poorboy's SSR 2.5 or Meguiar's #83 (or higher if you have it - there are lots of options here. You're looking for a light compound type of product to quickly cut the scuffs). Use a finger tip wrapped on a nice cotton terry towel and work the spot vigorously. You're goal here is to REMOVE the scuffs that you've had to introduce to get the paint flat. Repeat. Repeat. Be careful around your spot as I have inadvertently pulled the 'plug' of paint ouf of the chip by being too aggressive. Start light, gradually increase your intensity.
9. Polish for micromar removal. Because you're likely using a lot of downward force or a higher cut product (or both), you're probably inducing a bit of scuffing, dulling, or micromarring to the surrounding paint around the spot that you're working on... no biggie! It's time to step down in cut and use a product to remove those problems. Meguiar's #80, #81 or Poorboy's SSR 1 maybe excellent choices to remove those problems (you can use anything you'd like here again -- you're basically going to be removing a heavier swirl so, pick your poison to cut the problem). Again, using hand methods, use a foam applicator to properly remove the new problems that you introduced.
10. Protect. After waiting about 3 or 4 weeks, assess the paint again. I would discourage utilizing a wipe down method here (alcohol or prepsol) as they are solvents and can cause the touch-up paint to be removed. Use a high-quality product to protect the area. Remember this spot because you'll likely want to be careful with this spot from this point forward. You'll probably want to avoid this spot with something like a rotary or another high-speed polisher (I doubt a DA will hurt a spot like this pending you're using good technique and not going after the area (which you shouldn't do with a LSP anyway!)).
Enjoy. I hope that helps a tad. Feel free to ask questions.
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