Help! Mismatched paint

My car got a bad dent in he hood and a friend I visited in Wisconsin offered to fix it. He did a great job straightening/filling the dent. However, he did not match the paint too well. One fender and part of the hood looks different, you can clearly see two regions with a boundary on the hood.

He said I should polish (wax?) it when I get home. Not sure of my own skills, I went to a upscale hand car wash. The manager there said, I should wait 2 weeks because buffing it now may take the paint out.

That's where it stands. I am waiting and haven't done anything yet because I don't want to make it worse.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I can't afford serious money but would love to get rid of that 2-paint look. Should I try to buff/wax myself? (Don't even know what to do in which order, but can try to learn.) Take it to a hand car wash? Body shop?

Reply to
Kishore
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"Kishore" wrote

Waiting 2-4 weeks matches what all the body shop guys I have ever used has said. Your friend didn't do the right thing, which is to entirely re-paint the hood, perhaps blending colors towards the edges.

I doubt that waxing/buffing it is going to help. My advice is to go to a cheapo paint shop (MAACO) and get them to paint the entire hood.

Floyd

Reply to
fbloogyudsr

Its fookin 'ard to match paints. My paint supplier spent half a day trying to match my white (slightly faded) but couldnt properly. Its got better over time but it should have been totally sprayed.

Reply to
Coyoteboy

Don't waste your $ at MAACO. Do you have a buffer? Can do by hand but more work. Go to Advance Auto and get a can of rubbing compound (orange) and polishing compound (white) --- or just try the white and see if it works for you. White is finer and cut the paint slower. You an use it to feather the painted area in. Be careful on ridges and edges - you can cut thru the paint. Depending on the car color it may have had a clear coat which changes the color of the paint (most metalics like silver are clear coated). After using the compound wax the area with a good wax. Unles its over more than 1/3 of the hood I would advise against repainting the entire hood . New paint isn't baked on and will easily chip plus next owner may think it was in a bad wreck to require entire hood replacemnt or repaint.

Reply to
Wolfgang

How old is the car?

Reply to
Art

Wolfgang is on the right track, but *WAIT* ! At least 30 days before doing

*anything*. Unless the paint was baked, it will take that long to cure. Maybe longer (60 days) if he mixed the hardner wrong, or *next* *year* if he didn't use hardner at all! (common for a small repair like this!). Use a *very* fine cutting compound, like 3M Microfinish or similar. And use *LIGHT* strokes to start, to see if it blends in. Look at the cloth as you're doing it, and see how much of the finish is coming off. It should color the rag *lightly*, any more than the *STOP* and wait another 15 days.
Reply to
HachiRoku

Some people invent things to worry about........ You are one of them.

If you want *PERFECT*, spend a years income and get the whole car professionally stripped and repainted. Otherwise, go have a few beers and find something more important in life to worry about, while the sun fades your new paint until it looks like the old paint.

-OR-

Buy a new car !!!

Reply to
val

Man, that was a sort of uncharitable response!

Some of us *really* *like* our cars! I have an '85 Corolla GTS that the finished has been maintained by me for 18 years. The paint looks near immaculate! The slightest, noticable blemish and I get out the Mequires and the rags! Been doing that for 18 years. I have a '94 Chry LHS that someone *gave* me. Know what I did today? Scratch removal and polishing. Boss says, waxing the dents? You! Because after getting 'intimate' with the car, most scratches have come out, and I can better assess what needs attention, dent removal, where I'm going to paint, etc.

I have 6 cars, 2 are impeccable, one will be by spring and the van? UGH. It'll get painted...

Reply to
HachiRoku

I know they're rare, but they are getting mopre common all the time:

Paint scanners.

Guy who has a body shop has one. Says it's 99% accurate. Makes single panel painting a breeze, without having to blend in most cases. Matches fade, etc.

They are expensive, abotu $7000, but being able to do spot/panel repair? Priceless!

I've heard if you only sell/use one suppliers paint products they will 'give' you the scanner and software as a loaner.

Reply to
HachiRoku

I am impressed. What's the basic technique for small imperfections? What, for that matter, is Mequires?

Reply to
Kishore

rags!

There are two basic technique for small imperfections. First is to fill them with some transparent material, this can be wax, scratch filler, etc. After a good washing the scratch reappears of course.

The second is to grind away the clearcoat surrounding the scratch until the surface of the clearcoat is level with the bottom of the scratch. This will survive a wash of course, at the cost of making the clear thinner.

Frequent applications of car wax are the number 1 thing you can do to keep your paint good. Wax protects from the sun's UV rays which will destroy all paint over a long enough time. Wax also prevents tiny dust particles from scouring the paint finish. And it also protects against corrosives like bird shit, salt, etc.

Ted

Reply to
Ted Mittelstaedt

Take the 94 LHS to Dent Wizard. That's what I use to do when people hit their doors on it. Great paintless dent removal.

Reply to
Art

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The only problem with buffing is if it is a newer base coat- clear coat paint all you will be buffing is the clear coat. That is why all decent repair facilities paint the entire panel. The days of rolling the edge of your masking tape to feather the repair edge and buffing smooth the transition are gone along with single coat paint jobs.

Gary Carter

Reply to
Gary Carter

I work at a used car dealer, and we have a complete body shop (well, almost complete. All we need is a real sprybooth, hopefully in a couple weeks. But, I had forgotten about that. The car needs minimal painting (two scrapes and a bumper cover), so this may be a most excellent idea!

Reply to
HachiRoku

You're talking to a genuine car nut! That said, remember you have been warned!

Over the years I have acquired all kinds of chemicals, from basic waxes to professional quality rubbing/buffing compounds. Unfortunately, I would have to see it to know what to recommend.

Sight unseen, since it is mismatched paint, there are a couple things to recommend.

off the bat, Meguire's is a series of car car chemicals ranging from extremely mild and extremely good waxes to chemicals that can take the paint right off if used wrong. I can't off the top of my head remember the numbers (all Meguires are numbered; generally, the higher the number the easier on the finish. The really light waxes (wax blends only, no cleaners, etc) are in the 20's). What you want is something around #5 or so. Follow the instructions on the bottle. If this does not do it, go down two numbers.

They have a range of products for scratch removal, tar removal, blemish repair, etc.

3M also makes good products. I recently (yesterday) removed some deep scratches from a Chrysler using 3M liquid Rubbing compound. This may also work for you but *WORK* *LIGHTLY*! You want to blend the colors to try to reach a compromise here that will be acceptable to the eye.

There is also 3M Fill 'N Glaze, a general pink liquid that removes oxidation very well and is clear coat safe. 3M Microfinish is generally used for removing scratches after wet sanding with 1500 grit sandpaper, but can also be used for overall shine before waxing.

I have been using a number of these compunds on my '85 Corolla GTS, and on the parts that haven't rusted or been replaced the paint is almost as good as the day I bought it! I have used mostly the Meguires #s 5,7 and 20, the Fill 'N Glaze (about once every 3 or 4 years) and Meguire's waxes.

In all cases, easy does it! Being too agressive can damage the paint. Work lightly at first, and if the results aren't satisfactory, go a little harder.

Oh, yeah, another decent product from Meguire's is New Car Glaze (#2? #3?) I put it on a brand new Honda in 1987, with touch ups about every 18 months, and 3-4 waxings a year. The car looked great when it got traded a year and a half ago!

Reply to
HachiRoku

Hey:

I have been having a hard time trying to locate Meguiar's products on the shelf.

They do have a web site,

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You want to take a look at the Prfessional store, then Polishes, and take a look at the Machine Glaze. This would be the place to start. You may need something a little heavier, like the swirl remover, or under cleaners, a medium cut cleaner.

Again, you want to wait a good 60 days to make sure the paint is well cured before applying anything to it. I would start mild (I always *do*) and then work heavier and heavier (in chemicals, that is, not elbow grease)until the paint starts to match.

Unfortunately, the one store that carried almost the whole line of Meguiar's products in this are went out of business 2 years ago. All the other stores only had 2 or 3 of the real finish repair products, so I can't tell you first hand.

What you don't want to do this job is the 'Deep Crystal' cleaning system. It will be fine after you repair the finish, but for what you want to do you need the professional line.

You didn't say how old the car is or what the finish is like. If the paint is starting to oxidize, you want the Machine glaze for heavy oxidation, (or the heavy cut cleaner...Careful!), for lighter oxidation the medium cut is good, and for minimal or just starting oxidation the fine cut.

After removing the oxidation and getting the shine back you can go to the Deep Crystal system. These are much lighter cleaner and polishes for new cars or cars with good finishes already.

I have been using these for 18 years on a Corolla GTS and the finish is almost showroom!!!

Reply to
HachiRoku

Reply to
Artfulcodger

In Canada Canadian tire carries some oth Meguires lineup. I doo believe I have seen some of the product in US at Walmart as well.

Mike

Reply to
Artfulcodger

OH DEAR GOD THAT IS SO WRONG!!!! The numbers are effectively random.

Reply to
alan

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