Help! what colour is basecoat and primer on vRS

[Flanno]

07 vRs (race blue)...recently got some stone chips on bonnet....possibly 3 weeks ago...has been raining since. Noticed them yesterday when washing, and the chips were brown. The chips are spreadout over a 4x4" area...3 of 4 small ones, and about 20 tiny ones. Like the car was pepperred with grit/stones.

Foolishly I cleaned them first, touched them up without considering if I needed primer. And I have read here the primer is supposed to be white. So would I be correct in assuming the chips are down to the metal and they have rusted, hence the brown colour. These chips are small, and if this is rust it is going to be difficult to remove without damaging the surrounding paintwork, at least with that brush that comes with the touchup stick. Having said all that, I would have assumed not all of them would be this brown colour. I count 32 in total.

[Leeboy]

I wouldn't have thought you would have a rust problem. I know this is a MkII Octy but I guess like the MK I model the body is zinc galvanised - you won't get rust from stone chips.

Is there something else - touch up paint reacted with polish or the like?

[ap0gee1978]

If a stone chip's deep enough, I think it can go down to the steel, which will cause a spot of rust - certainly that's what happened in the chips on the leading edge of the roof on mine. The zinc around the chip will provide cathodic protection, however, so it will just be surface rust and you shouldn't be troubled by bubbling or anything like that. In the bad old days, you had to remove all traces of rust before touching up the paint, but bearing the above in mind, and the fact that the rust spot (if that's what it is) will already be oxidised, then covering it with paint will stop any more water or air getting to the metal, and this ought to be enough.

[Flanno]

Thanks for the info. Relieved.

Actually thinking about it, the chips are not deep, and even where it's chipped very lightly it is still brown. You would think if you got around 30 little stone chips that some of them would be a different colour, and not all of them would of gone down to the metal.

I guess the best I can hope for is to put a couple thin layers of paint on..literally drop the paint in with a toothpick, and then use a mild polish like Scratch-X to level the paint.