Expert: William Forster - 12/18/2007

Question
Bill,
Pls. reply to my email address, but you may want to post.
The whole car is new base and clear with minimal orange peel. I light sanded the tops of both doors to minimize very slight ripples. One door is excellent, the other went through to base.  From past questions, I gather the whole panel needs a new base, and clear. I am confident in doing this. Do I scuff up the clear on the whole door, or sand off clear? Grease and wax remover in any case.
Tom Smid  708-707-4173


Answer
Clear coat is never a good medium for blocking waves, body filler and primer are for that. Clear coat just doesn't have the film thickness for that. Anyhow, just scuff the entire door with  a grey scotch brite, spot prime the area you went through, clean and prep the door, and just color the area of the door over the primer. Then, clear the entire door. If you do a color blend instead of coloring the entire panel, you will get a perfect match. Even if you use the same paint you used to paint the car, there is a chance for a mis-match due to changing shop conditions. To color blend, simply arc the gun out and away while spraying. overlap each coat a little bit, always remembering to fan the gun out. That's it! That's how you blend a panel. Bill