This past weekend I detailed my truck.I found a chip on the roof about the size of a dime,rusted. To prevent further damage until I can get it fixed correctly,I sanded it and painted it with Duplicolor paint. Is this a repair I can do or should I let a professional do it? What is involved if I do it?

 

You can do it yourself if you wish. First off, make sure you sanded the edges of the chip smooth. You might have to repaint the whole roof. If you decide to do that, mask off everything around it you don't want overspray on, sand the whole roof and go to town. Just make sure the rust is gone and primed first.

 

Why would the whole roof have to be done? It's only one spot.I don't care what it looks like (to a point anyway) because it's where no one can see it.Why can't I just do an area about the size of a quarter?

I do have the factory paint,primer,and clearcoat.What grit sand papers will I need? Time between coats of paint? Will I need something to convert the rust?

 

Painting the whole roof is a personal choice. As far as a rust converter, that depends on how bad the rust is. Is it just surface rust of is it starting to pit the metal? Check eastwood for a rust converter if you think its necessary.

As for grit of sand paper, I'd start out with 320 wet/dry sandpaper. Between coat time is all temperature/humidity dependant.

 

Here's my plan of attack;
When I weld stainless steel pipe at work I use my Dewalt 4.5" grinder with a polishing wheel to clean and polish my welds.I'm going to use this to get down to bare shiney metal.Then tape off the area and use an etching primer.Paint with my color matching Duplicolor paint.Then clear coat.Of course I will let the coats dry to the proper working times.Finally I will use a rubbing compound and then wax.

 

The grinder might be a little too much, but overall it sounds like your going about it the right way. Good luck.

 

Thanx for the support.Any more input is greatly appreciated.

It sounds like it might be a bit aggressive but I can finesse it just fine.