I need to fix a few spots on my newly painted doors, where you can see right through the paint in certain light. The color is red, over grey primer, and there are 4 coats of base, with 3 coats of clear. (the problem areas probably have 7 coats of base, used Sherwin williams Dimension, wouldn't suggest it, it's like spraying Kool-Aid). Anyway, when you take the panels under full sun, and look at an angle, you can see through in spots. What would be the proper approach to fixing this? My plan is to scuff the entire panel, sanding the problem area and applying more base with my touch up gun, then reclearing the problem area with 3 coats, each time spreading out a little further, reclearing the entire door with my final coat. Will this work?
Mike
Poor paint coverage
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doc
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Mike,
My guess is that this will be very hard to "patch" unless you are an expert painter or your spots are very small and in inconspicuous spots. It is just so hard to get the correct "blend" within a panel.
I suggest you paint the whole door or, at least, from a definitive body line to the edges. It will be a lot less work at the end of the day, I think.
Your description of the Sherwin Willaims paint sounds funny. Candy paints are the transparent ones that require more coats to increase color depth. Regular (solid color) paints should cover a completely prepared panel in just a few coats. The tendency of us amateurs is to put too much basecoat on. Anyway, next time, I think I might stick with a paint supplier who is pretty dedicated to the automotive industry. S-W's rep is built on house paint, I think.
The rest of your procedure sounds correct. Scuff current surface, repaint, clear and polish. Good luck!!
doc
My guess is that this will be very hard to "patch" unless you are an expert painter or your spots are very small and in inconspicuous spots. It is just so hard to get the correct "blend" within a panel.
I suggest you paint the whole door or, at least, from a definitive body line to the edges. It will be a lot less work at the end of the day, I think.
Your description of the Sherwin Willaims paint sounds funny. Candy paints are the transparent ones that require more coats to increase color depth. Regular (solid color) paints should cover a completely prepared panel in just a few coats. The tendency of us amateurs is to put too much basecoat on. Anyway, next time, I think I might stick with a paint supplier who is pretty dedicated to the automotive industry. S-W's rep is built on house paint, I think.
The rest of your procedure sounds correct. Scuff current surface, repaint, clear and polish. Good luck!!
doc
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BUILDER
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I suggest sanding the entire panel with 1000 grit paper ( no coarser than 600 grit) and spraying more basecoat then re clear. I am a certified for sherwin williams lifetime warranty auto paint. Some colors are very transparent, I'm not talking candies either. I have had to spray 7 or 8 coats to get adequate coverage on some colors. A trick we sometimes use is to take a color that is close to what you are spraying and use it to cover your primer before you spray the actual color you want. This will reduce the amount of material you will need to use. Of course if you don't paint a lot of vehicles you may not have leftover colors to do this.
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BUILDER
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The tiger stipes you refer to is actually called mottling, it happens when the metallics "pool" in an area. this is usually caused by too much material being applied or the paint is too thin. I avoid this problem (or correct it ) by doing cross coats. After spraying your paint horizontally (a normal right to left coat ) you can turn the air pressure up a little bit, hold the gun back a little further, and do a diagonal coat or an X coat. this will usually eliminate the tiger striping or mottling.
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Mike Kayer
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Just wanted to update this thread. After running out of paint the first time, I went back and had another batch mixed. This batch covered marginally better, but the color was off from the first. So now I'm left with a body thats one color, and doors, decklid, fenders, and hood another. So off I go again for yet another batch of paint, hoping it will match one of these 2 mixes, but prepared to buy enough to redo the whole car. The manager recognizes me and takes me aside, concerned that I've been buying so much paint, for such a small car. Turns out the red toner needed for my color is discontinued, and they have to special order it, so another weekend passes. The following monday, they mix my paint, and he does a spray up to see how this paint covers. It takes him 8 coats to get coverage on his spray card! Long story short, I bring in a painted fender to him, and he toys around with the mix for a while, and has me approve the final mix, before replacing all the base, reducer, clear, and activator I've went through free of charge. Nice to see a shop that stands behind its product like that. I was more than willing to chalk it up to inexperience and lay down the visa again. I hope to do some more painting this weekend.
Mike
Mike