Paint repair...clear coat?
 

I will soon be welding in a rust patch panel and fixing assorted paint chips on my 1979 240D. I have obtained some matched paint and all of the other necessary materials for the job, but then got to thinking about the clear coat. What is the best way to repair the clear coat on the new paint of the repairs? I read on the forum that this car has a solvent based clear coat, which are no longer used. Will I have a compatibility problem using a modern clear coat? Thank you. –Bryan

Edit: the color of the car is Light Ivory

The edges of the repair will probably try to lift when you apply the paint unless you seal it down good with a 2 part primer/sealer. Some times that doesn't even work. All you can do is give it a try.

Why is this?

I don't have a spray gun or compressor. My plan was to weld in the panel and smooth, then mask around the repair and paint using an aerosol automotive primer and some color matched paint I had the local paint place put in an aerosol can. Then un-mask, smooth out the ridge of paint from the masking and clear coat.

What color? Metallic or non? Where on the car?

How to feather it
 

BG, how are you going to feather the edges like that? It seems like you'd have to paint all the way to a trim piece or to the edges of the panel to really make it look right. Otherwise, won't you just end up with a hard-edged paint patch?

I was planning to wet sand using 600 grit paper before the clear coat. I have been informed however that it will be easier to just mask off a large area around the repair and not paint all the way to the edges of the masking.

The color is light Ivory. The large chip repairs that I will be doing are on the hood and on the roof of the car above the driver's door. The rust repair is behind the driver's side rear wheel arch.

Top surfaces are real tough to get a blend without it haloing where you ended the clear after a very short time. If possible, try to clear the complete panel.

Light ivory on a 1979 would not have been clearcoated originally. It would have been single stage urethane. That said people, even shops, do clearcoat single stage cars at times although I think it's a bad idea. Whether you clearcoat or not the key to feathering the edge is to use thinner to melt the edge. The easiet, certainly cheapest way to do this is with lacquer clear and lacquer overspray reducer, both of which are available in spray cans at just about any auto paint shop. Spray the clear then spray the edge with the reducer right away - not too much or it will run in a hurry. When dry wet sand with 1500 or 2000 grit, also available at any auto paint shop, and buff. Of course you can do all this with urethane but it will cost upwards of a hundred dollars by the time you get all the components. Lacquer is pretty tough stuff especially if your car is mostly stored inside, and it's way more cost effective on an older car.

All paints today both metallic and straight color are clearcoated from the factory. The laquer process will certainly do the job as Dean said, if you can find the materials. We haven't used laquer in at least 15 years here.

Bulk lacquer automotive paint is available in some states but spray cans of lacquer are available in all 50 states. Single stage, i.e. non-clearcoated, paint was used on many Mercedes non-metallic colors (white, midnight blue) well into the 90s. 040 black was single stage through 2003. The car in question is a 1979 model. Only MB metallics were clearcoated then.

The color-matched paint I had mixed is an Acrylic enamel. Because this is a single stage paint I should just buff and wax the repair correct? Thanks

NO WAX before you paint,,, boy,,, that was close.:eek: I guess that you were suggesting prepping the area with a buff and wax,, right ?

I ment wax the repair area after I paint. Sorry.

Don't be in a hurry to wax new paint either. Enamels take a while to completely cure and the wax will cause a problem in that process. I would wait a good month in hot weather.