Painting tips and advice...

[Mirage]

Well, pretty soon I'm going to replace the right front fender of my 96 B2300, which means of course I'll have to paint it. While I'm at it I thought I'd tackle some of the parking lot dings and dents it's received over the years. My problem is I have never dealt with clear coat before. I mean I've repaired minor stuff before, but that was before clear coat.

First, should I sand the entire panel (say the hood), down to the original paint, repair the dent etc, and then reshoot the whole hood (or panel) then clearcoat the whole thing? What is the proper procedure? I've read through the Tech Articles here at TRS but I'm still a little foggy on the whole 2 part paint idea.

Any help/suggestions welcome.

 

[backroad101]

Unless you are planning on painting the whole truck, you should look into how to blend the newly painted panel into the ajacent panels. TRUCKS did an episode on this with a Chevy Silverado

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[baxtej44]

Unless you are planning on painting the whole truck, you should look into how to blend the newly painted panel into the ajacent panels. TRUCKS did an episode on this with a Chevy Silverado

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yes, wasn't the silverado crashed, and deemed totaled by the insurance company? it was like a door and side panel were messed up, that's it lol. i hate insurance companies so much.

 

[88gt]

well, you either need to learn how to blend repairs into adjacent panels, or strip the entire panel of paint, use your bodyfiller to correct the bad spot and repaint the entire panel. If you do the latter, it might not match the old panels around it due to fade but atleast the panel that was repaired will be uniform.

 

[feellnfroggy]

You could always do your body work, and just get started, see what comes of it. You need enough sanding to take off the smooth parts so the paint will stick and you want the whole panel to be relatively tha same thickness with paint. not exact but roughly close, each time you spray a layer let it dry and sand it lightly with a fine grit. Do about 10 coats and then do the same with clearcoat (maybe not 10, but until it looks to match)