Hi folks,

I just finished the repair work on my rear wheel wells. I cut out the rust and bondo'd with fibreglass underneath. Due to the poor shape of the inner fenders I fixed them up by using expanding foam.....don't laugh, I cleaned out as much rust as I could then sprayed a rust converter in to seal it, then sprayed the foam in. It sealed all the holes and seems to be working great. I went to a speciality autobody place and got a can of colour match paint. I then painted over all the primer. What I noticed was although the paint matches perfectly colour wise is not as shiny as the paint thats already there. I am assuming that I should clear coat where I painted. My question is whats the best way to clear coat over colour match spray paint. IE should I wet sand (the guy at the autobody place said don't sand between coats of paint) or just clean it real well and clear coat it, etc etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance
F.O.G.

 

You don't sand between clear coats unless you have imperfections (dirt,runs) you must alow time to harden before sanding though.
Also sand if you go beyond the required time between coats(chk label on can)
Clear coat works on a chemical bond to the basecoat in all newer paints.

 

Thanks for the info. But unfortunately I've got another question. I purchased what said it was clearcoat from WalMart (probably not a good idea) and sprayed two coats on the truck. While it shone up a bit it still doesn't even come close to matching the exhisting clear coat and feels a bit rough. Since I don't need alot I intend to go to the auto body store and get an actual spray can of clearcoat. Do I need to resand before I apply it. Next quick question, would it be better to get a quart of clear coat and spray it on with my wagner power painter, which isn't what I'd call a quality spray gun and I'd probably have alot left over. Also do you know if a bodyshop would give it a quick coat for a reasonable price.

Once again
Thanks in Advance

F.O.G.

 

ok here is what u need to know. cars today are shot in urethane based paint, as opposed to laquer back in the day. find out what ur spraying. maybe ur clear is enamel based. like the other guy said,u shouldnt have to wetsand the clear in between coats unless you get a bad run or a big dirt spot. make sure when u sand not to go through the clear, you'll have to respray the panel. this is how u get rings and pull-thrus that will come thru immediately or in the near future to haunt you. if you want ur panel to look really nice, i would suggest wetsanding the whole panel down, and blending into the door and around the backon the tailgate to kinda ensure the paint wont look like different colors in the sunlight. wetsand the neighboring panels with 600 wet and spray the whole quarter with ur new basecoat. you can now blend the new color into the other panels by spraying in a diagonal pattern . dont go across the whole panel, cuz this will defeat the purpose of blending. then u clear all 3 panels with some nice urethane clear. we use ppg at my shop, but i think its kinda soft. dupont or sikkens clear is real nice. good luck.