My 2005 XJ is painted in the Radiance Mica color (code CHB). I have a small (2" long), shallow dent in the roof. I need to put some touch up paint on it. I have found the paint on several websites, but I need some advice on the best way of applying it. There are four 1/4" scratches within the dent that are all the way through to the base aluminum.
Other than the touch up paint do I need a primer or other materials to do the job properly? It's one of those things where it's not too noticeable unless you are doing a close inspection. Most people wouldn't notice it, but I know it's there and that's what matters to me.

 

Graham, I guess the question I would ask you is whether you plan on doing any other painting of the car. If no, then go with the touch up bottle (read below). If yes, then I would tell you to spend a few extra dollars and get say a quart of your color in a "single stage" paint (paints come in single stage, ie, has the clear already in the paint or in a double stage which requires you to add clear after the fact, both cost about the same for the color portion of the paint). This will then give you plenty of paint to dress up some things that you may want to alter.

If using the touch up paint, what I have found is that this paint is very thick and will tend to rise significantly above the level of the paint on the car. So, adding a very small amount of thinner to the bottle to get the paint to be a bit more like water (ie, thinner paint) will be advisable.

What I have found is if the area is fairly flat, I would take a toothpick and dip that into the bottle to get a ball of paint on the end of the toothpick and then use that to paint with. Push the paint around some to cover the area in question. Keep getting another ball of paint once you get the paint to become see through. Keep adding the ***** of paint until you get the wet paint just above the height of the factory paint. As it dries, it will shrink some and that should leave the paint fairly level with the factor paint. If anything, having the paint a little on the thin side will be beneficial compared to it being too thick. You can always add more paint later and it will also give you a bit more time to work with the paint.

I see that you are in Florida. Your car is going to be hot this time of the year. To give yourself the most amount of time to work with the paint, it is advisable to get the car into say a garage where the temp is even in the 80's and shaded. You try to do this out in the sun in the afternoon, pretty much, as soon as you apply the paint, the thinner is going to boil away and you are going to have a blob of paint that is already dry and non-workable.

As for the need for primer, it would probably be a good idea. But, for a small spot like this, I would say you probably don't need any as long as you make sure to clean the area really good to get out any loose paint and any dirt that may have built up over time.

 

No primer needed. See end of post...

I would have the dent removed first, because if the paint dries and then the dent is removed, the paint may crack as the metal is pushed outward.

Make sure whoever does the dent removal is familiar with aluminum (aluminium according to Jaguar) as it stretches and has a lot of "memory."

The factory touch up kits include your paint color, and a bottle of clear. The touch up bottle has a very fine-tipped brush. Make sure the paint bottle is above 70 deg Fahr, and shake the living crap out of it. Metallics will separate easily.

Have a small bit of cloth rag handy in case you mess up. You can wipe it off within a minute and still be fine. Have a small piece of cardboard handy. Remove the brush from the bottle and wipe some of the excess that pools where the brush meets the stick it's bonded to, and then just use the tip of the brush at the lowest point of the scratch to spread the paint.

The paint will pool slightly, but don't try to fill the scratch in one shot. Just spread it out so no aluminium (yeah, I can speak British) is showing. Wait about an hour and put another layer on it. It dries quickly. It will shrink as it dries.

If you want to go pro, keep layering it (may take 5 times) until it's just above the body level. Use 2000 grit paper with water on it to smooth to body level, then 4000 with water to finish. The polish it. You will never know it's there.

It sounds like a lot of work, but only takes minutes...

BTW, X350 (your body style) is dipped in several anti-corrosives, and also plated. It's also aluminum. It won't corrode if you don't use primer.

 

If you haven't done scratch repair before, this video illustrates the techniques:


I'm not advocating use of the Farecla Scratch & Stone Chip Repair Kit but the preparation and painting process shows what can be achieved regardless of where your source materials.

Graham

 

Thanks to all of you for the very helpful info. For the time being I am going to just do the touch up paint as opposed to also removing the dent. The cost to remove the dent and repaint would be about $1,000, and I just found out yesterday that I will need to replace the air suspension shocks. Doing both would stretch the old budget a bit too much.

 

Ask your dealer who they use for dent repair (mobile). It's usually around $75-150 to take one out, depending on location and shape of dent.

Arnott makes decent aftermarket shocks. Until Jag lowers the price on those from what they will be in the year 2050, I offer the aftermarket ones as a much less expensive alternative.