FARK!! Paint chipped off at the car wash.
 

Normally I don't take the Monte to any kind of car wash, but with all the nasty snow I've had to drive through these past few weeks, :angry: I figured I ought to use the local coin-op self-serve to spray the accumulated wintery gunk off.

Now I definitely know not to get close to the paint with the high-pressure nozzle, but even being careful with it, a chip of white paint suddenly flew off from above the driver's-side backseat window.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/monteca...789a322c70.jpg
Didn't think the paint was that thin and brittle up there. Well, I do have a bottle of white touch-up paint, but that's more than just a nick or scratch!
Dammit... :(

Sonofabitch! Not an easy fix. It surprises me to find out you drive your Monte in the winter/ snow...

you might want to try some plain white vinyl to cover that and then use a hairdryer to fix it to the contours. Check the sign shops for small pieces.

Thanks, Dean, that sounds like it might be a good option. Would the white vinyl need an adhesive, or does the hairdryer's heat do that?

My Monte is my only motor vehicle at the moment, so thru the snow it must go. Although it sure doesn't like winter any more than I do, I've got to say it's a real trooper: starts reliably in the deep cold, and with a good set of tires, it'll get thru the white stuff.

Now if only my city would just plow the freakin' streets like they're supposed to...! :chair:

Vinyl already has it's own adhesive, just peel and stick.

However, there are 3 issues with vinyl:
1- it wont match. There are certainly options for white out there, and itll certainly look better than the black, but it wont be the same color as factory
2- since it's just a sticker, you'll be able to see the edge. To make it as invisible as possible, you would probably have to do the whole window trim area rather than just a local 'patch'
3- since the paint already appears to have adhesion issues, the vinyl is very likely to make it worse and peel off a lot more paint when you go to remove it (it wont last forever and will need to be replaced periodically due to the sun)


The best balance of cheap vs good looking IMO would be to get a rattle can of color matched paint. Hit that spot with primer, then paint. Since it still wont match the surrounding area, I'd remove the masking of the spot and try to fade it a bit more along that window trim panel. Then I'd hit that strip with fresh clear.

Would be a lot more work than vinyl, but would be almost undetectable.

Good info there too, bumpin. I'm actually a bit more inclined to favor a paint option like that.

Another option you might want to look at is... there are 2 U-pull it yards real close in Omaha and you may be able to liberate the same part from one of the Cars there and utilize it. Just a thought of course. The paint thing will work too. The Vinyl idea is a temp repair just do to the winter we are suffering from it may be a quicker repair. Sometimes you see more paint fall off near that area you might want to check the adhesion of the paint nearby that effected area.

Ugghhh... didn't even touch it, and already it's gotten worse:
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/monteca...6a03360f64.jpg
Looks like it doubled in size, and now there's a crack & bulge on the lower edge.

I wonder if I might let a body & paint pro handle this one in a month or so, and combine that with a fix for the whole top of the spoiler, where the paint has been going bad all last year:
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/monteca...14cdf471d6.jpg
The spoiler looked just fine when I bought the car about four years ago.

This paint fix might add up to a few hundred bucks... sheesh.

that is a job for a Pro for sure Looks like a big blister on the window trim. See Earl Shieb for sure!! Not sure he still does that painting.