Posted this in the Paint section but got nothing and was hoping to go get the paint supplies tomorrow. If you have any advice please help me out. The good thing is that all of these are just paint issues, none is a dent or rusted thru. Not yet atleast.


This is the major chip out of the rear fender.

One of the deeper scratches

Hood with a bad fix.

Not as deep of a scratch

One more bad fix.

Let me know what you guys think my best line of attack is. I cant afford a whole new paint job, unless somebody does some home work and is willing to help me out in the chicago area. I am thinking of getting paint mixed to match as "close as possible" and then laying it down with a airbruch. in these small to larger problems I think it will give me the best results but willing to listen to any ideas.
Regard
Cbass

 

I cant tell exactly how many panels are effected but to make it look its best I would panel paint the areas. you can look at my gallery and get a idea of what would be involved.

Rick

 

Rick, I took a look at your gallery and could not figure out which album I was looking at for this. Two of them had parts of painting processes but neither was very discriptive. These paint issues are pretty much all over the vehicle in different locations and thus the reason for touch up. I also dont really have any room in the garage to be doing large scale painting at this point or a compressor that could handle a spray gun. over the next couple of years I plan on getting things like this but till then I am limited. I have brother in laws that might be able to pitch in but not sure of what they have either, will ask. If you could walk me through what you are talking about when you say panel paint the area that would be great.
Thanks
Cbass

 

From what I can tell from the pics, these areas are relatively small and could be painted with a small detail gun (read, no need for a large compressor). HF even has a rechargable aerosol can that you could fill with your matching paint and pressurize with a tire nozzle. The paint appears to be solid, non-metallic, so your touch-up should be a lot simpler. Clean and smooth the affected area using metal glaze or other spot putty as necessary. Prime and paint.

 

To make the repairs look somewhat decent here are my suggestions:

Wipe the repair area down with a good wax/grease remover.

Feather the edges of damaged areas as best as possible with 320 grit sandpaper, you might have to start with 180 grit to do get it started but end with the 320.

Get a can of rubbing compound and rub out the panel about two feet around the repair area, or to the next body seam. You do this so you have a good, clean surface past your initial sanding area so the over spray has something to stick to.

Mask off the panel, if you're repairing under a raised body line tape of the body line with one piece of masking tape and then over lap that piece with half of another piece and curl up the edge. This will allow you to spray up to the line and not get a harsh paint line. You will probably have to do a little buffing but not too bad.



After you have the spot feathered out and the area masked off spray the repair area until it's covered. Then leave it flash dry, meaning just until it start to dry, maybe 10-15 depending on your paint. While waiting dilute your paint so it's mostly thinner, then carefully spray the repair area around your repair, about 5", wait again and then spray again but another 5" further. What you're trying to do is melt and blend in the over spray from your main paint coverage.


This will work pretty good with a one stage paint but if you're using a base coat/clear coat system you can do this with the base color but you'll have to clear the whole panel. I've done this with one stage paint many times but not with base coat/clear coat, but I've seen more experienced guys blend the clear coat with pretty good result.

 

Bob, thanks a ton. That is exactly what I was looking for. Pretty much what I was going to do but it is nice to see what you were talking about and the picture helped a bunch. I will post pics when I am done in a week or so.

Cbass

 

I can do this with a airbrush right? or is it better to use one of those rechargable aerosol, or non rechargable cans? Those are my options, which is better.

 

Those places look like the damage is more than just paint, but metal dings as well.
Check out the videos here:
Evercoat
to learn how to repair the metal damage.
If you take your truck to a good automotive paint supplier they have computerized optical color matching equipment that can mix a perfect color match. WARNING: be sure you have an area at least a foot square of undamaged paint that is clean and waxed. Otherwise the color matching will even match the dirt/weather haze!

 

Unless you have a large tip airbrush, you would be better off with having the paint supplier package the paint in aerosol cans for you or purchase a HVLP gravity feed touch up gun and borrow/rent a contractor's compressor (the type used to power nail guns).

 

No metal damage, just the way the pics were taken. I am going to go to the paint supplier now and have them put the majority in can and then some not so I can get the scratches that are not down to the metal with the airbrush. Thanks
Cbass

 

Quick question as I am leaving in the next 30 minutes, does anybody know if they will mix a can of aerosol paint with a larger amount of thinner for doing the blending? I am problably over thinking this but want it to look good but as mentioned it is a daily driver that wont be fully repainted for years.

 

I've tried one those rechargeable sprayers, the kind with the glass jar and pressurized changeable pressure tubes. I couldn't get a good coat of paint of out the POS. I bought it because I had a small project to paint and didn't want to haul out my touch up gun. In the end I would have been better off just going with the touch up gun because I ended up wiping the paint off, reprepping the part and using the touch up gun. I also wasted a small amount of paint.

If all you have is an air brush and can't afford anything else, go for it. It's got to be better than the disposable units. I know where you're at, I can't afford to run out and buy the best of everything to do my DIY jobs, I use what I have which might not be the best option but it's the only one I usually have. It seems some times it's hard for others to realize not all of us can afford specialized tools for every project, that we have to do with what we have. I agree, doing it on the cheap usually isn't the way to go but a lot of us have to do with what we have.

It's best to try to stem the deterioration now, even if it doesn't turn out the best. You can always save and redo it better when you finally have the resources. If you don't do something to cover the scratches, even if it's just dabbing paint on with a small brush, it's only going to get worse and cost more to fix in the future.

 

If you ask them they probably will. If they say no ask to talk to someone else there, lol.


This is single stage paint on your truck correct? (no clear coat)

If you get real picky about it you can build the paint till it's a little more than what the original layer of paint was, then sand it down with a high grit paper, it should make it flush, then you can polish it. Course if the paint has to be too thick to fill the difference you'll have problems, but you said there where problems in the steel... a dual action sander (the orbital ones) work marvelously for this.
Course you may find you don't need to if the feathering turns out the way you want it.

 

To answer your last post, I seem to remember a long time ago I used some touch up aerosol cans and they had a separate leveler they sold that did basically the same thing. It's been a long time so things might have changed and they may no longer sale it. The best thing to do is go to the store, tell them what you're doing and what to do and they should be able to help you.

 

late to the party, but heres my 4 cents.
what kind of air brush are you going to use? if its a model car brush that has no pressure control i would be hesitant to use it, if its a nicer one that you can control the air pressure(moving trigger up/down) and paint consumption(moving trigger back/forward) it should turn out decent.

look out for sand scratches, if the paint is very thin(like most rattle cans) you will be able to see them.
if you think the grit is too much, take it down to 400. prep work is everything.
if you run into orange peel or fish eye problems it wouldnt hurt to hit it with 1000 grit(wet) and give it a good buffing.