Metallic paint match

budgel, Nov 18, 10:03am
I have a BMW in Oxford Green metallic which needs a few touch ups here and there.

Can a good result be achieved when touching up 12 YO metallic paint, or is it advisable to have whole panels painted!There are several dings about 50mm in diameter that need to be repaired.

I have seen some horribly mismatched metallic paint repairs over the years, but have also seen jobs where a repaired panel is indistinguishable from the rest of the car. What is the economics of professional touch up painting!

Question 2: what is the best way to remove flaking clearcote on my ute's roof! Will a chemical stripper do it!It is a work vehicle, old but relatively tidy that I would repaint myself.
gunhand, Nov 18, 10:09am
Yes Mettallics can be match or blended to show no colour differential. You can blend a small area but after time it tends to show the blended edge.
Putting stripper on ya roof will do just that, strip everything. You can sand off the clear or even water blast it off then sand the remaining.
budgel, Nov 18, 10:16am
Thanks for your reply.
Waterblaster, now there's a thought!
gunhand, Nov 18, 10:19am
If you water blast it you will know whats stuck and what hasnt LOL.Well Adhered Clear shouldnt come off to easy, poor stuff will peel easy.
budgel, Nov 18, 10:29am
Would I have to remove the stuff that doesnt come off with the waterblaster!, or would a good sand before priming do!
gunhand, Nov 18, 10:43am
good flat sand with 80 grit then down to a 150, 220 then prime up.Clear is quite thick once you start sanding at it.
rob_man, Nov 18, 10:57am
I sometimes get lucky with a razor blade scraper and manage to take the clear off the top of the basecoat without damaging it too much. If that works out you can then fine sand the original basecoat with #600 and go from there without having to prime it. You'll still need to do the whole basecoat/clearcoat procedure but it saves an awful lot of preparation.
The key is to hold your mouth right when scraping.
gammelvind, Nov 18, 5:58pm
One of the old school users of 220 I see, no longer available in discs and only in sheets in a few brands or by special request. Most now use 180 or 240.
gunhand, Nov 18, 6:02pm
I can still get 220 hookits! Unless someones about to tell me there about to LOL.Why do they keep breaking things that arn't broke!
budgel, Nov 18, 6:02pm
Thanks guys, looks like I have a job for the holiday break.
gammelvind, Nov 18, 6:13pm
Really what brand! We don't even have them on our data base anymore.
gunhand, Nov 18, 6:21pm
Eeeer be 3m I guess LOL.white box with blue on it.Stupid a, I use shit loads of stuff but never take a hell of alot of notice of brand at times, just order hookits and they turn up LOL.There goldy yellow ones.
While your here do you find 3m tape to be getting more useless by the year!
gammelvind, Nov 18, 6:41pm
White with blue sounds like Sia more than 3M. Haven't had complaints about the current range of 3M masking tape, did have a few rolls that must have got damaged edges and tore, but replaced those and no further problems. What issues are you having!
gunhand, Nov 18, 6:46pm
Sia! never heard of them, will check tomorrow. But as you said they have ended. Our supplier has odd ball arrangements and brings alot of stuff in himself so who knows.
The tape, well tearing mainly and bloody hard to remove at times, curls after one prime up etc. Some rolls seem fine and some are shocking.
Whats the green stuff people use, its always on cars I see masked up.Ive seen it in reps vans etc etc but never used it. Must be more expensive i guess.
rob_man, Nov 18, 6:47pm
PPG have a nice line of loss leader tape, I wonder if it's 3M with different packaging.
I still prefer wet sanding and blocking but it does get tedious cleaning up after sometimes.
gunhand, Nov 18, 6:50pm
Oh and I have 220 Nortons out in shed, just had a look.
gammelvind, Nov 18, 7:01pm
The PPG tape is very good, not badly priced from the right supplier. The issues you are having are not common, I have sold over 60 boxes of the stuff in the last 6 weeks and not had any complaints. I'm wondering If someone is selling you the old 3M 2308 or is it 2348, can't remember but it was a bit of a challenge to sell,not have issues with the 3M automask tape.
The green 233 3M tape is very good but expensive, but there is another green tape on the market which is about the same price as the 3M , have sold it, hasn't got a brand on it tough.
gammelvind, Nov 18, 7:04pm
Don't sell norton discs anymore they priced themselves off the market (ours anyway). Do still sell their sheet paper, but sheet paper sales in any brand are very weak now.
gunhand, Nov 18, 7:12pm
Nothing would surprise me bout the tape we get. The supplier seems to able to undercut everyone else and imports alot of stuff himself so could be 10yo stuff for all I know.Hmmmm, I still use a shit load of sheets, I find it better than rolls for some reason. An 80 sheet seems far better cut than 80 roll. Use rolls on long boards of course.
Oh and don't use much norton stuff anymore either, not as good if u ask me
Use norton 1500 hookits and thats about all.
rob_man, Nov 18, 7:23pm
I still prefer sheets too, particularly 80 grit, the grey one, is it zinc stearate!
gunhand, Nov 18, 7:27pm
Grey! havent seen grey ones for a while, we use 3m mostly.Seems to last and cut better than many.
gammelvind, Nov 18, 7:36pm
What a dag, sold the last pack of 80 grit sheets at half price, it had been on the van so long the packaging fell apart. And out of the 30 or so shops I look after, less than 5 of them use wet rubbing.
rob_man, Nov 18, 7:41pm
It's more like white really, you know the one. I find the gold coloured stuff clogs too quick.
As for wet sanding, it's still the best way to get something straight when you're blocking. The dry papers still haven't progressed enough to surpass wet sanding.
gunhand, Nov 18, 7:45pm
Yea I do know the stuff you mean.I grew up with wet sanding everything, as far as paint side of things go anyway. Now I go with the flow and use whats appropriate on each job.