Some questions on blending

[maddoggyusa]

My little paint experience has always been to repaint a panel or two and the shade is never quite perfect. Looks good for my $2,000 car, but eventually I'd like to touch up my nicer vehicles. So for years I've been reading/watching on blending... and the process and terms are not always consistent. Can you guys please help me out?? I know the general prep process. I get confused on the types of clears and "blending agents"... the latest video I seen used an "orientation" coat prior to the base coat on the whole panel. Any clue what this is??? Never seen that one before. It seems in general these products are trying to "burn" onto the existing clear coat?? I figure this is the same reason some clears are for touch-ups... while others are for full repaints. Let's say I have some scratches on the middle of my rear bumper. Here is what I'd do, but what am I missing or doing wrong? 1) scuff entire bumper 2) sand/prime damaged areas and feather into existing bc/cc until smooth 3) tape and spray bc to damaged area 4) slowly expand the bc into larger area (blending) 5) cc whole panel I imagine you pros just blend with the paint in the gun, but I've read to add reducer each time. Is this something I should do not being a pro to ensure better results?? Do I need a blending agent??

[jrm747]

depends on the color for me.
if i were blending a panel, i :
-prep area for bc with 320/600 and red scotch bright the edges.
-prep areas to blend w/ 800 and a grey scotch bright on the edges.
(you can use 600 DA on your blend area, but you run a greater risk of going thru the clear and having to bc that area)
-spray bc just were i need it to. i generally step my color out. covering just the area thats been repaired in the first spray, going a little further on the next and them the same for the next spray. then just clear the whole panel.


-now, some colors have a problem with looking blotchy. it will look sort of cloudy, dark in spots. hard to explain w/out having something to show. PPG has a color blender. all it is is a clear basecoat. you reduce it and spray the panel that you will blend with one coat. what this does is gives the metallic something to bed in and lay down into instead of just hitting the sanded clear that is already on the panel. but this is only on metallics.

what will happen is the metallics that are all over the place will throw sunlight all over the place. this is how it was explained to me.

i usually only use it on certain colors. silvers, light greens, etc. the "reducer" you mentioned sounds like the same thing tho. if i want to step out a color, i will spray two coats of the color, blending it out. then i will take what i have left in my gun, color, and mix that with the same amount of the color blender( 5 ounces of color, 5 ounces of blender). then i will spray that, stepping it out again. then mix whats left of the 50/50 and mix it with the same amount of blender again. stepping it out. you do this until the bc is getting transparent. its fading really. your just fading it so that if there is a difference in color, the eye cant catch it, unless its really bad.

burning in is for clearing only part of a panel. you prep the area you intend to spot you clear at and when you spray the clear, you use a burn in agent to melt the new clear into the old clear. some people use a hot reducer. i never recommend this. i just dont want to have to warranty it. there may be some ppl that can do it so that they never have an issue. but i was always taught it wasnt something you wanted to do on a good job. you usually get a halo where you do it.

[maddoggyusa]

Thanks. Learned some good stuff there.

The clear basecoat makes sense for metallics. That's what I seen called an orientation coat.

And it sounds if I clear the whole panel, the clear I have works fine.

Since you are clearing the whole panel, should you still scuff the whole panel or just the blend area?

And I imagine I need a smaller gun for repair jobs??

[jrm747]

if you are putting anything down, clear, base, sealer, you have to scuff it. use finer grits for clear though, 800 and a grey pad is what i usually use. i use my regular sata for all my base. small guns are good for spot jobs were you want to put a little color down, the clear a small area, burning it into the old clear.

[maddoggyusa]

Thanks jrm.

Finally, how do you match the paint itself on a newer car? Do you just enter the code and paint away and blend it? Or do you ever fine tune it somewhat after entering the paint code to get a better match??

What I'm getting at is... can I go to a body shop with my car and say "Hey I want to buy a quart of your paint. Here's my code, but my car is outside. Please match it best you can."

Where the local jobber is just gonna mix to a code. But some places I've ordered paint in the past wanted me to send in a paint sample for better match. They probably figured I wasn't blending. LOL

[jrm747]

i have a paint system here. i enter the code and mix my paint. most colors have a couple, or more, different shades of that code. depending on where, when, temp, air pressure, etc.. the car was sprayed, the paint companies have realized there are variations to the colors and have them logged in. usually one of them is right or right enough to blend. you still run into situations where you have to tint the color to make it right. depending on the color, some colors fade worst than others and some cars are treated poorly which kills paint. there is no way to match faded paint from the book. so you have to fine tune it some. i wouldnt go to a paint shop. for some reason i hate it when someone comes to me asking to buy paint. if there are shops in your area, you should have a good supplier or three. if you get some paint, tell them about your concerns. buy a small sample and get a spray out card from them. the ones i use have 4 shades on them, white, light gray, dark gray, and black. each one represents a different shade of sealer. spray three coats, depending on how you spray, of the paint onto the card. let it flash in between coats as you would if you were painting. then after the final coat, let it dry for a few mins. take some grease and wax remover, spray the card with it and hold it up next to the car. the g & w remover will act kind of like a clear to make the color shine. this will show you not only what sealer to use, but also if the color is close. if it looks too light, use a piece of 1" tape and cover a strip of the card. then hit the rest of the card with another coat. if you do this a few times, you will have a let down card. it will show you how many coats it will take to get you were you want to be. but always use the g&w remover to shine it up. water doesnt work that great and there is no use wasting clear to do this.

kinda long, sorry