Painting Question... Pics too!

[david-b]

As a lot of you know I was obscesed with the TSi spoiler, so I found one, made a little road trip and installed it. I must say, it turned out good.



ANywho, now I need to paint the holes that bondo-ed in from the ESi spoiler. They're not big, except for the one, but I dont know exaclty how to paint. I need to primer and then paint, but how do I 'blend it in?' Check the pic.



The bondo is now sanded down smooth, but how do I fade primer and paint in to make it look good? Thanks

[gthompson97]

scuff about a foot around the holes. prime about 6" past the holes. then fade out the paint (mist on the last couple inches) and clear it. very quick and brief explanation but you get the idea

[david-b]

If I do a foot around the holes, the whole hatch would be sanded down. Clear it with what?

[TreeFrog]

take it to a body shop and pay some money if you want it to look good bro

[george536]

take it to maaco. lol

[Gsx_hooptie]

Try it yourself before you hand it to the greedy bastards at paint shops, they'll charge you a bill for that job.

I'd buy a book about it. Or if you're a cheap bastard (like me) you can read the section you need in the store without buying the book.

I'm a big fan of that spoiler, too. Looks good!

[david-b]

Thanks. Im too cheap to take it to a shop. I want to keep an arm and a leg...... I need those. lol. Yeah, ill try myself. Got to sand a little more, then pick up some paint. Moneys been a little short the last 2 weeks (new girlfriend... I like to spoil).

[gthompson97]

ok...deep breath. here i go.
to have the paint stick to something, you need to have a surface that it can "grab" onto. this is why sandpaper was invented. to fill a hole and then get a good blend you'll need to "fade" out the paint. first of all, start by scuffing about a foot around the bondoed area with a scotch-brite pad (it will do the trick) you will think you're scratching the shit out of your paint, but you'll be covering it all up with some fresh paint anyways so it doesn't matter. make sure you scuff it up enough to where it's a dull color and it's not shiny at all, otherwise the paint won't stick. this is so you can have a nice area to fade the paint into after you prime it so you don't have a solid line like you would if you taped it off. after scuffing, you need to prime the bondo so the paint will stick to it. i suggest using a 2k urethane primer/sealer, it has always worked for me. you can pick it up at any automotive paint store. if you can't do that, some regular rattle-can etching primer should do the trick . prime about 3"-6" past where you bondoed. come back next with your paint. this is why you scuffed a larger area than you actually needed to repair, so you can "feather" the new paint into the old paint, or in regular terms, blend. to blend, you paint normally around the part that you primed and then start putting on less and less paint after that, eventually you'll be misting the paint on, and thus getting the "blending" effect. remember, you need to do all of this in about 6-9 inches where you scuffed (make sure to go all the way up to the end of the scuff marks so you won't have any scratches). next you have to clear-coat it to make it look shiny and new. you have to clearcoat everything you just painted, you don't have to blend clear though because it's..well, clear. just be careful because clear-coat runs easier than paint. at the edges of the clear you might get a "rougher" feel because of some overspray. if it really bothers you that bad, overspray can be taken out with a little wetsanding. get the painting done first and come back, then i'll explain how to wetsand, if you want.

[david-b]

Thanks alot. Sounds good. Was going to do it this week, but weathered dropped to 30-40 degrees again. Next week!

[gthompson97]

alright, just make sure you do it in a good environment. inside where there is no dust movement would be perfect (hence the painting booths at shops) and also make sure it's not too humid out.