Pikey Painting

[Pillock]

Any rattle-can geniuses in here?

 

I have a question. If I have a car with metallic paint, and I want to touch up, do I need to key or remove the old lacquer first?

 

Currently, the car will have primer, paint, and then lacquer on top. I want to do some localised repairs and blend out over the panel as the paint will be halfords, so probably not perfect compared to 17 year old paint. But as I blend over the panel, there will be areas that I've not flatted back which will now have primer, paint, lacquer, paint, lacquer in that order. Will that be noticeable? Should I lacquer the whole panel, even the bits towards the edge I've not painted?

[londonm]

You'll be lucky to blend, without it being noticeable. What are the repairs exactly? I would want to leave as much original paint as possible, and touch up using the 'stone chip' technique. Basically, cleaning out the dink or whatever it is, filling in with touch up paint and then levelling off with t cut whilst paint is still softish. You will never match original car paint with a rattle can, especially metallics. Keep the treated areas as small as possible.

[Pillock]

Rust behind the headlamp on the wing of the MG, but also the bootlid has gone crazed and there's a A5-sized old repair on the bonnet, and there's some 50p sized bits around the air intakes.

 

My old friendly body shop always wanted to do the panel they repaired, and blend into the next one along. So that's pretty much everything apart from one front wing going by his rules!

[Bren]

You can blend in the new lacquer with the old - laborious process with lots of wet and dry paper.

 

Surprising what you can do with a rattle can if you know what you are doing - most people don't.

 

I have had lots of practice due to having some truly wank cars - body filler/wire mesh/newspaper being used.

 

I used to think that If I ran somebody over it would'nt be the impact that killed them - they would die of asbestosis.

[Jim Bell]

Just be like me and leave a nice straight, bold line between the old and new paint.

[Bren]

Just be like me and leave a nice straight, bold line between the old and new paint.

Cover the join with a stripe.

[mrcitroen]

Maybe you could use this stuff. Never tried it myself. I have rattle canned with success on flat colours, but never metallic.

 

http://www.spraygunsdirect.co.uk/product.php?tid=204&products_id=7376

[chaseracer]

 

[tooSavvy]

Cover the join with a stripe.

Vertically?

 

 

TS

[Pillock]

Hmmm, stripe not bad plan!

 

If I always go to a panel gap, I'll end up repainting the car. I don't want it to look toss, but I can't just leave rust blebs to get worse. And I'm not paying four figures to respray, unless there's a decimal point halfway.

 

Maybe for the wing and bootlid, new panels are the answer. Tahiti blue Fs aren't exactly dodo-shit. That just leaves the air intakes which is less to go wrong.

[londonm]

There is no way you will match Tahiti Blue with a rattle can, and blend it off. Where do you live? Perhaps a back street cash respray is the answer.

[Timewaster]

I would take the shine off the lacquer around the repair with a very fine wet and dry 1000grit + and when the repair is done, polish the whole panel back with a really really fine paper (2000grit or finer) or compound to blend it in.

 

Rattle canning metallic is an art.

Don't wave the can about too much and try to get all the paint on from the same direction.

 

Good luck. I accept no responsibility for the outcome!

[Barry Cade]

The entire offside quarter and the lower nearside quarter was rattlecanned quickly by me after a bit of welding was done in the car park with oxy acetylene. Halfords cans and some 2k aerosol laqquer. If this finish is acceptable still I can talk you through it.

[fordperv]

I am seriously disappointed now because I was expecting a thread about paintings of caravans

[Pillock]

They're probably the only panels that I don't need to touch, so your job was a good one Shitbeans! Never seen any joins either.

 

I can get a good finish with metallic and lacquer, I've been pleased before. It's more the colour match, and the layering on top of existing lacquer that worries me. And feeling obliged to spend megabucks righting any wrongs, naturally.

[chaseracer]

And feeling obliged to spend megabucks righting any wrongs, naturally.

 

You are in the wrong place, my friend... 

[Barry Cade]

Hafords Tahiti blue is a perfect match- this was blended half way up the quarters and the only thing to watch is distance ..so it's not too sparkly if you're too close. Treat laqquer the same as any other paint/primer-just flat it and paint over it.

[sierraman]

Some colours easier than others. Silver for example is a real fucker to match. Dark red maroon colours on other hand easy. It just depends on how much time you have to prep it properly and the location. Hopefully later this year I'll be tackling a small area of corrosion on the focus arch... That's until I break the grinder out and a 1 inch long scab turns into something a family of housemartins could live in. The animal that is... Not the band from Hull.

[New POD]

Years ago I dented to bonnet of a bronze metallic mk3 escort, and attempted to rattle can just the repair. In the end I did the whole bonnet, the top of the wings (to the bend) and the panel scuttle (where the wiper arms poke through).  If you looked carefully in bright light, you could see a difference, but mostly, your eyes were deceived due to the sharp profile change on the wing.

 

 

I also resprayed the front half of a yellow mini, and the paint match (with a spray gun, not cans) was dire. Lucky that half way through my wife told me she was giving the car to her friend, so I stopped caring.