I did a small repair on a front fender. Initially, I tried to blend the clear with blending solvent at the edges. It worked OK but I knew it was there. I also didn’t like the color match so I have sanded the color repair and clear blend down to 600 grit. My intention is to redo both the color blend and then reclear the whole panel. After sanding, I still can see the clear coat blend line (in the picture the color underneath the clear blend is all exactly the same and away from my color blend, so what you see is the clear edge). Although I haven’t sanded into the basecoat. The line is actually a lot more conspicuous with the sanded finish compared to the polished clear. If I proceed from here and color blend the base in the small area that needs and then reclear the whole panel, will these clear blend lines show through? Do I need to sand the blended clear off back to base coat and proceed. Or all the way back to metal and then epoxy, base, clear? Any advice is appreciated.

Monday, I finished scuffing the tailgate, and yesterday, I was able to mask off the FORD letters so that I can paint the them and bury it under the clearcoat. I sprayed the letters with a couple light coats of Wimbledon White and then a couple medium coats. After it flashed off, I unmasked it and found a few small areas that bled under the tape edges, and one area where the line was crooked. I was really frustrated, so I got the wife to take a look at it. She suggested sanding. I have to give her credit, it was a great idea. I got my 800 grit on the soft pad from the booth box, and carefully was able to clean up the edges. It only took a few minutes, but I thought it came out really pretty nice. After wiping it down, and tacking it off, I sprayed it with a couple coats of clear. No runs, and only a bit of orange peel. Painting the letters and burying them under the clear was a lot of work, but it looks great and I'm super happy with how it came out.

I am doing a small repair and blending the metallic paint into the rest of the fender using a wet bed. First time using this technique. The physics of the wet bed makes sense for the first coat because the metallics land in the clear base of the wet bed rather than as dry overspray. However, how does the wet bed help the second coat if you don’t respray the wet bed. Since this may be the final color coat, doesn’t it dictate the final look? Aren’t you back to no wet bed for the second coat and faced with the same blending problem with the metallics are the edges not laying out correctly? Do you limit yourself to one coat with the wet bed? Thanks

Does anyone have any advice about mixing products from different manufacturers? If I am out of PPG slow hardener, any harm in using High Teck? Assuming they are the same mix ratios? I realize the isocyanate ratio needs to be correct for it to cure properly and mixing brands may leave some unbound. But does this cause a problem in the real world or just on the chemistry white board. What about using a wet bed from House of Kolor and PPG Omni basecoat?

Its hard to photograph. Easier to see in person, although I know where to look. The color is a 1969 Ford OEM color "Black Jade". It is a dark green/black with metallic. The car suffered a chip on the edge of fender. I did a touch up spot repair using a glass fiber sanding pen, base coat with a needle/syringe followed by touch up clear coat with sanding/polishing. The touch up color was too dark and did not match. I sanded the repair back down and primed the now larger area. I got a small batch of paint mixed up at my jobber/auto paint supply store after they did a color match and spray out card. I base coated the primed area and finished with a drop coat. After appropriate flash time, I sprayed clear over the repair with blending solvent at the margins. I did not re-clear the whole fender. I now have a very subtle clear halo and the repair color is too light. I am guessing that I changed too many variables with the custom color and the drop coat. By doing both, I overcorrected the dark color. I have since done several spray out cards - with and without drop coats and various gun pressure settings to find the best match. Some recommend increased pressure for drop coat, others decreased pressure. As for the clear halo, I just learned the hard way why its hard to blend clear in certain locations without body lines to help you hide it. I plan on sanding the repair area, now even larger, back down - 400-600 grit? Scuff panel for adhesion with 800-1000/grey SB. Urethane sealer over repair with blending solvent applied at the edges with existing paint. Wet bed. Base coat the repair. Clear coat the whole panel. Anything I am missing? How would y'all approach this problem. How far down do I need to sand the repair and the clear halo. Do I need to take the entire area back down to metal? If so, is that because of a coverage/cover up issue or a too many mils thickness of the final product issue? I assume that the clear halo arises from the slight change in clear thickness at the edge of the repair... or is it something deeper in the clear layers? Could you theoretically scuff the clear and clear the whole panel to get rid of the halo? - I realize the problems this could lead to with adhesion, but I am just curious what the halo arises from.