School Me On Blending Paint!

[KBigg]

So im wanting to take care of some rust thats forming on my car before it becomes a bigger problem. Its a 2007 with 148,000 miles thats paid for, gets decent mpg, and has been reliable for the 5 years ive owned it so I will be keeping it around. The body isnt perfect but id like to keep it reasonably nice.

Ive got everything else covered aside from merging new paint to old. Ive welded in patch panels before with good results but ive always just sprayed them with truck bed coating on the outside and zinc primer on the inside. They turned out good for what it was for (old work trucks mostly). Im pretty experienced in paint prep, working with body filler, and complete part painting but ive never had to blend existing paint. This car is black so matching it shouldn't be a problem and its pretty low so its not like the work will stick out like a sore thumb.

The only part im concerned about is where the new and old paint will meet. Will i be able to tape it off then wet sand and buff the line out or tape off about 6-12” higher then just wet sand until the over spray looks uniform? Would it be easier to tape along the body line?

Pics of said car and rust below.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Just a FYI black isn't just black so a color match without a proper blend will stick out. The first thing you need to determine is what level of work/$$ are you willing to put into this vehicle. Judging by the rust bubbling on the rocker panel, I would bet that when you remove the plastic rocker cover, there is a good amount of rust below it. The proper way to repair this is to sandblast the rust, cut and weld/bond in new patches, then bodywork and paint the entire rocker and quarter panel. If this were my car and I was just trying to make it look better and/or last longer, I would remove the rocker cover, assess the rust damage, repair as necessary, and then I would put black stone/chip guard on that lower lip all along the rocker and where it goes into the quarter panel and go right up to that body line.

 

[KBigg]

Yea that was the plan minus the stone guard. It shouldn't be to expensive as i have everything but paint code paint and a replacement panel. I have plenty of time though and im fairly confident in my skills (minus how to go about blending new paint with old paint). Figured id ask for some input from some pros that have mastered the art before i attempt it. If it doesn't end up working out then i can always stone guard it but i plan on giving it my best shot before i resort to that.

 

[rsanter]

Tape,it off and add a racing or GT stripe along the bottom

 

[isb cornbinder]

In the old days before gravity feed and HVLP we used to put a couple of ball-bearings in the pot to keep the paint stirred. This is important with metallic paint . Blending was something I was never really good at.

 

[bczygan]

Color match so the new paint matches the old faded color.

Use blending solvent.

Fan the gun into adjacent areas to reduce quantity applied into old areas.

Make each coat larger in area, than the last.

From my auto body class textbook.


Bill

 

[HMCFab9]

Don't do a hard tape line & try to sand it out later. That never works.

Ideally, you'd backtape on a body line, blending the black basecoat & clearing up to a line.

 

[VC455]

I know I've seen some instructions on that blending process. Seems there was something about folding over the paper line so that the taped off edge wasn't sharp to the car it was folded over so that it stood up of the car in a tapering fashion.

 

[Two Door]

I know I've seen some instructions on that blending process. Seems there was something about folding over the paper line so that the taped off edge wasn't sharp to the car it was folded over so that it stood up of the car in a tapering fashion.

The intent of that is to minimize the sharp line, but it doesn't really do much, especially compared to using blending solvent and working over a large area. It might help taper the edge of the basecoat, but you would still need to distribute the clear over a wider area.

 

[NitroShark]

In order to get the correct color match, you need to control the gun pressure. The paint manufacture will give you a good starting point on the system spec sheet.

I use a built in pressure micrometer in the gun handle to validate pressure.




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[ScottsGT]

Teach someone to blend and spot paint in an internet post? LOL! Seriously, search YouTube. It’s a multi step process that varies greatly with the type of paint already on the car, age of paint, color, etc.....