Will I be able to do a localised repair or paint the whole door

[Vince70]

After my successful repair on the sill of my car using Halfords rattle cans I'm spurred on to do the door now.

 

The problem I have is the door isn't to bad just a few little low spots and scrapes on it and I wondered if I would have to paint the complete door or could I get away just painting the damaged area then putting a coat lacquer over the damaged areas then give it a going over with some 1200 grade and soapy water..

 

The car is a standard black and doesn't contain any metallic in the paint but I would like the finish to look like its original paint.

 

I've got the dents out as best as I can but it's going to need a dob of filler

 

Regards Vince

[Mr Livered]

That's so shiny that at first glance I thought I was just looking at a wheelarch with a wheel under it, but not actually attached to a car.

[dave21478]

Black shows up every tiny imperfection in your prep work - I would be surprised if you got a decent spot finish with a rattle can and painting the whole door with cans, while possible, may also end up looking bad compared to the rest of the car.

[vulgalour]

If your other repair was satisfactory give it a go.  Worst thing that happens is that you have to repaint the entire door.  Best thing that happens is that you don't have to repaint the entire door.

[fordperv]

If you do a spot repair go to your local paint suppliers and get them to mix you up a colour match rattle can, that way it will be a better match

[cort16]

I've done a very similiar repair to that and it didn't end well. I was matching yellow though, which was what made it look shit as it came out green!

The laquer is the hard bit as you'll have to scotch bright around the repair area so the new laquer has something to grab onto then polish it back up. You've got nothing to lose really you can buy paint and laquer kits on line for 20 quid.

[steve_earwig]

I'm still struggling to see any damage, although the reflection of the wheel looks a bit wobbly If I were you I'd leave it, just dab in any deep scratches. Unless you've done lots of this sort of thing it almost certainly won't end well. As above, high gloss black will show up everything and it's notoriously hard to match. You could just paint the whole door but you'll know, and any buyer will probably notice the door and wonder how bad the crash was...

[retrogeezer]

Doing a small area like a sill is totally different to spraying a flat door panel. Leave well alone as it looks absolutely fine as it is.

 

Even the pro's have to blend into panels either side (and yes, sometimes with black!) so that the repair is not so obvious. 

[Vince70]

I was thinking of putting on a set of these as it would cover the shallow dents in the door.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Volkswagen-Beetle-side-racing-flag-stickers-013-graphics-decals-/261170054219?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3ccef2c44b

 

But on the other hand it could go horribly wrong and it does make the car look a bit chavvy

[Station]

Don't do it!!

Always found rattle cans are really good, but give inconsistant 'delivery' on big flat panels, especially on panels that are 90 degrees vertical.

If you're going to do it, do the whole panel.

[sierraman]

As people have said rattle cans are ok for small areas, once you start painting panels it looks awful. It takes a lot of practice as well.

[trigger]

From experience leave well alone, you'll just make it look worse and end up HAVING to get the door professionally done.

[Wackeldackel]

Give a spraymax can a try. Its 2 pack paint in a rattle can, comes with a separate can of lacquer too. Once you shake it up it mixes the 2 components and I've had good results in the past. About £16 off amazon or ebay for the kit, paint and lacquer, 250ml paint 150ml lacquer I think.

 

You will probably need your cars paint code to order the right colour and also once you shake it up you only have 36 hours to use it (I would say thats a fairly conservative estimate, probably good for 2 days)