Bought a factory new 2002 dark shadow gray metallic F150. The paint on the verticle panels (very noticeable on the doors)has light blotches in it as if the spray gun was running out of paint as it went down the line. It's as if you can see the primer through the paint. You can see light oval shaped patterns along the sides.

I have noticed this on every 2002 F150 with the dark shadow gray metallic color. This was a new color introduced for 2002.

Has anyone else noticed this on their truck?

-hooD

 

The effect you see is most likely a result of the metallic in the paint. The millions of tiny metallic particles need to be laid down with great care during the application process. Each tiny metallic particle approximates a square. In an ideal world you want to lay all the particles down the same way. For example you dont want some particles laying down on their side and others too close together or overlaping. If these conditions happen then you get those patches you see. Paint applied too wet or sometimes too dry will most always cause the problem. Silver is probably the worst color to paint due to the high metallic particle content although other light color metallics will also develop the patches or what we call mottling.