i would like to ask you guys what your ideas are to blend clear coat.i have tried a few types like the fade away in a rattle can.that stuff sucks.had to respray my entire hood.there is also a trick i learned that you reduce down the clear as you get closer to the edge.this kinda works.i have had the best luck with just spraying it out to the edge and wet sanding the dry edge away.im also hiding the base coat edge on the body line.this is a repair to the rear bodywork (rear clam)of a lotus elise.so its a big piece so i just dont want to respray the entire piece.this area of repair is just below where the bumper would be.does not have a bumper its one piece.there was a slight crack there when i bought the car.so thats fixed and all blended with primer.im getting close to base coat stage.just need to spary a test piece to check color and figure out what im doing withv the blend.any help would be great.i havent figured out pics yet so sorry for the lack of them.

 

You got to do whats called a melt. google it

 

yea thats the trick where you reduce another 1 or two parts reducer to melt the edge.i have done this in the past with mixed results.sometimes it works fine.sometimes it melts the paint you are blending onto and wrinkles it all to hell.i think i will try it on a test panel.it should be the right way to do it.

 

Dupont makes a blender for clear. I paint commercial trucks so its not always feasible to clear whole panels since they are too big. It works pretty good. I think the number is 19304s but not positive. I buff the panel im blending on the base, clear, blender while clear is still wet. Let that dry then hand rub the overspray from the blender off with compound. Works pretty good when you get used to it, but it only last about a year and the blender starts breaking down and the edge will come back.

 

exactly,melt the clear. the stuff i use is actually called " blender" . its from dupont. prep your area how you normally would, but near where you will be blending youll need to hit it up with something finer and to make sure you didnt go through the clear anywhere during prep. I always put a loose piece of paper about 5 inches over my backtape where im going to melt it so the blender can disperse in a very soft subtle spray. On the last coat of clear, leave just a little bit of clear in the bottom of the cup, throw some blender in the cup and mix. than go back in and spray it as close to the piece of paper as possible. after baking, sand and buff. I wont melt big *** panels unless there is a significant roll down in the panel making it look like a seperate piece. I usually only melt bumpers on the thin part near the bottom or if need be on the pillar, but i dont normally melt big stuff, just do the whole panel. the faster you get the blender on the better.

 

thanks for all the help guys.im using ppg products so i will see if they make a blender.i need to go in and have them remix my base anyway.so this blender that you add at the end is sprayed around the edge to melt in the dry area?or are you spraying a full coat over the entire area?

 

you had it right the first time, only spray your blender where it is meeting the old clear, like i said i always do a soft line tape and put a piece of paper a out 5 inches over it to make it an even softer dispersed spray, dont want blender building up making a hard line. just spray it where you prepped it with a little finer grit paper or gold scotch brite and in that area only.

 

alright i think i have it figured out.i will try it on a test panel to see if it works for me.thanks for your help.i will post my results when im done next weekend.

kevin

 

i asked at the paint store today if ppg makes a blender and they do but it is sold in a gallon can.i only need a few ounces of the stuff.does the dupont come in a smaller can?the guy there said it would be fine with ppg as long as its for urathane clear.or would you know of any other brand that would come in a smaller can.if have to i guess i can buy a gallon.

 

pretty sure dupont blender only comes in gallon cans also, however some places have open cans in the back and will sell how ever many ounces you need. Ask and they might sell you a several ounces. The number is 19301S for the one i use.

 

yea this store didnt offer to sell out of a can.they ordered me a gallon anyway in case i want it.i might try a body shop to see if they would part with a few ounces.i dont get why they dont sell this in a quart.everything else comes in quarts?

 

Heres a little paint thing i made for you or readers down the road.
(Fender spot job)


fixed typo

 

ive never seen blender in anything other than gallons. i doubt youll find it in a quart from a paint store.

 

thanks for the diagram.i have tried this same thing only with reducing down the clear at the end 1 or two parts to act as a blender.it has worked once and once it attacked the base.

impatient,yea i know i will never find it in a paint store in a quart.my only hope is to find a body shop that will part with a small amount.or buy a gallon.dont really want to do that though.i will have it forever.

 

All the blender does is soften up the old clear and yeah it sucks when you can't get just the amount you need.

 

here are the results of my spot repair on my lotus elise rear clam.i think it turned out pretty good.the paint didnt match perfect but im happy with it.i used this stuff called fade away.its something i had from awhile ago so i did a few tests with it.the problem i had before with it was the pos tip on the rattle can.so i just sprayed in into a cup and after the clear was one i just hit the edges with it and it blended it perfect.so now i just have to do a little met sanding compond and im done,here is a few pics of it.

 

cool!

 

 

why couldnt you just tape off the lights and spray up to the curved edge and then wet sand and buff out the edge. since the new/old line would be on the curve once wet sanded and buffed you shouldnt be able to see it.

 

that was my plan at first.to hide the blend on the mid body line.it had some pretty good scratches just above the body line.this is why it ended up a bit above.some time in the future i think im going to respray the back and hide the edge up top just below the top edge.there are a few other scratches there too.this will get me through the re title just fine.

 

i just had to deal with a blended clear coat gone bad today... mine is gonna be a redo lol

good luck with yours

 

thanks man.yea its hard to get done right.best to just paint the hole panel.plus the blend will lift after a few years.

 

i think if done right with quality products, the blend should have no reason to lift....

and u wouldnt wanna paint the whole panel, cuz of materials costs etc, but even then, if u paint the whole panel u might have a color mismatch and then you're just diggin yourself deeper. so a blend is basically necessary

 

yea thats what i think too.in my case this panel is half the car.so if i was to paint the hole thing then when installed on the car it would show where it meets the door.im just saying that some time down the road i will respray a bigger area of just the back of my rear clam.hiding it on the edge of some body lines.