Paint touch up advice? - Wheel arch damaged

Howdy folks. Posted this in the detailing chat thread last night, but figured I'd post it where someone perhaps with more knowledge may see it.

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Gave the C5 it's well needed wash today. It does a lot of high mileage and once it went beyond a certain level of dirtiness i wouldnt bring it to a car wash and waited to get a chance to do it myself.

I've noticed some fairly serious paint damage on both front wheel arches. Must be from stones flying up from the front wheels and pelting the paint. Not sure what the best approach is here. I think I'll try touching it up myself with a toothpick and tub o' colour-matched paint from motor factors, but if it doesn't work I reckon the only real solution is a respray of both wings?

Here's a pic of the worst side:




Was just about to buy wipers on Micks Garage and seen Mudflaps.. wonder would they be worth investing in for the above issue? (get the area affected painted and sealed, and then cover with a mud flap to prevent it getting hit again!?)

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I'm a bit stumped on the best way forward. I was going to try and toothpick-apply some paint on, and do it over a few days, small layers at a time (so try and build it up) but I'm wondering will there still be a break between the newly applied paint and the currently damaged paint, where the current paint will continue to chip away?


Naturally I want to get at it before any rust or such gets a chance to form.

Anyone had this issue before?

Cheers to anyone with any advice.

JohnBoy26

A small artist brush will work better than a toothpick for that kind of chip. Luckily the rust protection barrier hasn't been breached so all you'll need to do is aplly the top coat to the chips.

biko

Remember to clearcoat it after, several thin layers

JohnBoy26

biko wrote: »

Remember to clearcoat it after, several thin layers

Unless the clear coat is 2k I wouldn't bother with it tbh as it will add little benefit otherwise. Also I find that unless you leave the top coat to harden for a few weeks applying clear coat is counter productive as it ends up lifting the top coat as you brush it on.

colm_mcm

Repair the paint with touch up then get the Citroen mudflaps that should cover all the damage and prevent more.

JohnBoy26

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Luckily the rust protection barrier hasn't been breached

As a regular joe soap, how do I know when it has been? I thought i was straight on the road to rust-ville to be honest, when I seen it.



Can I ask, have any of ye ever bought Mudflaps off Micks? I can see 4 different types, at 4 different price points, all of which seem to have the same description. All that changes is the size. Does it matter what I buy? I presume I'd just be going for the smallest ones as I don't particularly care about the mudflap itself, I just want it to cover the wheel arch (I presume they all cover the same amount of arch?)


EDIT: Sorry ignore that, using internet on the phone and the pics wouldnt show up. They have now though and I can see the pic explaining the different dimensions

shietpilot

Actually one of my wheel arches has similar paint peel but it's nothing as bad as yours. I think I will get some matched paint and slap it on with a clear coat on top. It's one of those areas you don't see anyway but I wouldn't like to see it start to rust.