I’ve had a look around on here to try and find out how to get the dimple effect on sills and lower body panel when I come to respray, as just currently finishing my lower sill repairs on my mk1.
Found a post from 2009 that said about to dab a sponge on the paint as it’s drying, then spray a top coat on this once dry? nobody replied to whether this worked?
Alternatively, would hammered paint give the same effect if rollered on? then a top coat colour sprayed over?
Trying to keep exterior as original as possible.
It’s a stone chip coating, U-Pol do a good one called Gravitex.
To get the desired effect you need to apply it with an underseal gun so you’ll need a compressor.
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-cub3-under-body-seal-gun/
You can get stone chip in an aerosol but you won’t get the rippled finish you’re after, it’ll be more flat.
And whatever you do don’t use Hammerite stone chip, it’s terrible stuff that will crack after a short while. The U-Pol stuff is far superior and what you’d find in a professional bodyshop.
I don’t have a compressor, so I tried the aerosol version of Gravitex…, which, as I recall was called Graviguard.
The result was decidedly mediocre, with more of a ‘blobby’ effect, on a test piece, rather than dimpled. Spray pattern also spluttery
Keen to put something on, rather than leave the sills bare, I went to the nearest Halfords and bought some Tetrasyl aerosol.
Sprayed on fine, nice steady spray pattern, and dimpled up well, and evenly. Perhaps not ultimately as good as the full professional job with a compressor and gun.
But pretty good.
If using an aerosol paint/primer, I have found they work best when left in a bucket of hot water for a while.
Generally when it comes to “dimples” this is in reference to the visible spot welds on the wing lip, and people faking these.
Will try this as I haven’t got compressor either, Thanks for all the responses so far.