Prepping, applying, and finishing paint

[Slanski62]

Hi folks. I'm completely unskilled and unschooled in the art of painting. My project is simply to touch up the edges of my doors. I went through several attempts, but tried all of these steps: 1) wiped the area clean with denatured alcohol, 2) feathered the edges of the chipped areas with wet 800 sandpaper, 3) painted the exposed bare metal with self-etching primer, 4) sanded the primer with wet 1500, 5) brushed on Dr Colorchip paint, 6) wet sanded with 2000.

I kept running into two problems. I couldn't sand the painted area without getting immediately down to bare metal. The color coat was very transparent and wouldn't conceal the spot and it didn't adhere to metal.

What is the proper procedure to apply paint? Thanks for any and all help.

Steve

[962porsche]

1st off non of the sanding grits you picked are what the products your using call for .
primer will and can't stick to 800 primers tend to need a 180 or 220 grit cut to bite into and stick .
then 1500 for a top coat this too is way way to fine of a grit for a top coat . most top coats will need a sanding grit of 320 to 500 you can at times use a 600 but that is not a good idea .

you asked what is the proper procedure to apply paint that is out of a spray gun automotive coatings are designed to be sprayed . you at time can touch up a spot or two with a brush but that is about it . the viscosity of automotive paints is way to thin to get good results using a brush .
sounds to me your trying to use a band aid when stiches are needed .

[Slanski62]

Ouch. The truth hurts.

Would you mind telling me what to do? The goal is to touch up the very edge of the door--several bare spots maybe 1" long.

I'm grateful for any help.

Steve

[962porsche]

what color
a photo of what has to be touched up would be best

[sugarwood]

+1 on not using brush on paint. Go to the local auto paint supply and get a $30 can of factory matched SprayMax with your paint code. A few light coats will stick better, I bet.

Was the paint fully dry when you sanded it? I bet brush on takes a lot longer to cure, since it's thicker.

[fiily]

I would rather go to my local auto paint supplier and have them color match the paint, ie fender, hood, quarter. This will ensure a match to UV faded paint/clear, otherwise you'll notice a brighter fender/clear than the rest of the car.

If you're doing just a panel repair/repaint I would do the following:

Sand w/320 grit,
Wipe down with panel cleaner/alcohol, tape off and don't leave any hard edges on panel
Tack it, then shoot primer with Nason® 421-24™ Primer Aerosol can.
Wait for flash time on primer depending on temp and/or what directions say flash time is.
Hit the panel/spot with primer again, wait for flashing of paint.

Then, to go on the cheap route:

Use Nason® 441-37™ Aerosol Fill-In Can
Clear with a 2k Aerosol Eastwood 2K AeroSpray gloss or matte finish, your choice.

Cheap and effective for what your looking to do.

As 962 mentions, your using way too high of a grit, 1500 to 3000 grit, is for wetsanding clear.

Repainted my Simplcity tractor in the pic for under $100 with the above methods, after a wetsanding, cut & buff, the outcome was better than factory with no runs, fisheyes, or orange peel.

[Slanski62]

Hi. Original poster here. I've missed much of your follow up comments but I appreciate them very much. I'm not familiar with the specific products mentioned. I assume SprayMax is just a color-matched rattle can. Is this correct? What are the Nason 421-24 and 441-37, products?

For the SprayMax and Nason, are there other brands of essentially the same thing in case I can't find these?

Once I apply the clear coat, how do I blend it with the existing finish so there aren't tape lines? Do I sand it use one of the clear melting products, or something else?

Thanks again.

Steve

[fiily]

Originally Posted by Slanski62

Hi. Original poster here. I've missed much of your follow up comments but I appreciate them very much. I'm not familiar with the specific products mentioned. I assume SprayMax is just a color-matched rattle can. Is this correct? What are the Nason 421-24 and 441-37, products?

For the SprayMax and Nason, are there other brands of essentially the same thing in case I can't find these?

Once I apply the clear coat, how do I blend it with the existing finish so there aren't tape lines? Do I sand it use one of the clear melting products, or something else?

Thanks again.

Steve

Your local paint store should be able to get you a spray can color match of the paint code you currently have on your vehicle or bring in a panel to have them color match it.

Use a blending reducer to blend the new clear to the factory clear, plenty of threads and youtube vids out there. For no hard edges, just reverse mask your blend area so there are no hard lines and then cut and buff to blend repair.

Edit: your using a spray can, hmmm. Use a gun to blend clear, I haven't done it in a can but anything is possible!

[sugarwood]

I'm no expert, but you don't want any hard tape lines or edges.
If your repair area is a quarter size, you leave a frisbee sized area not taped off.
So, you have gradual overspray. Once you wet sand and polish the clear, it will all blend together.