Hi All,
>
> Since the weather has gotten better I've decided to tackle the few bits of
> rust and other painting jobs that need doing on my Astra. So far I have only
> painted whole components (mirrors, front grille and the like), but not
> partial panels. There is an area of rust the size of a 50 pence piece on the
> rood (nearside between the windscreen seal and the cover over the gutter).
> Now I have removed the loose material, treated the area with kurust & filled
> it. I have now sanded the filler level with the surrounding paintwork (along
> with removing the paint from 'good' metal around the repair). Now the area
> is primed I have something of a dilemma. As the repair has been masked there
> is a very slight 'lip' where the primer contacts the existing paint, so I am
> assuming I need to sand this very lightly to blend it in to the original
> finish? Also when I topcoat do I need to include a small area (say 2mm) of
> the existing finish around the primed area for when I come to blend the
> repair into the existing paint. This is only a small repair, most of which
> is covered by the grey plate that conceals the gutter, but my next project
> is to repair some deep scratches to a wing (off the car from a scrappie), so
> I want to get the techniques right now!
When doing the wings you may be better doing the panel as they are off the car, most places even say they need to do the entire roof to get a good finish if they are repairing a scratch.