Painting a junk yard hood

[jkubica]

Hi
I just replaced the hood on my 1985 300td which is painted Bolero Red with clearcoat -the new junk yard hood is a silver-like color.

Rather than bother with the original paint & clearcoat, I would like to just match the color with enamal to repaint the hood.

How is the best way to do this and where is a good place to buy the paint? Also how much paint should I get to paint the hood both sides?

Thanks for any help

Joseph

[1lowdiesel]

your best bet would be to find a local auto paint supply store and either give them the paint code or bring a piece of the actual color you need. they will be able to make up some single stage paint that will just be an apply and let dry paint.

with single stage there is no clear coat. also usually if needed you can either roll or brush it on and when done right will look just like you sprayed it with a gun.

[tyl604]

Question - when you get the paint code you get the exact color that the car was when it was new. Don't they do something with the new paint to approximate the fade over the years so that the new paint matches the old slightly weathered and faded paint?

[Mike D]

Originally Posted by tyl604

Question - when you get the paint code you get the exact color that the car was when it was new. Don't they do something with the new paint to approximate the fade over the years so that the new paint matches the old slightly weathered and faded paint?

Ahh yes! When you order the paint mix tell the counter man to add 1 pint of "fade" for each year of age the car is. (Old bodyshop humor!)

You can't match the fade. What part are you matching to? The sun baked roof? The heat AND sun baked bonnet? The weather and stone chipped front? The road grimed, sand blasted, slightly less sun baked sides?

You get the picture. The best you can do on single panel repaint is to paint to a "horizon" line or if you're really, really good, to blend gradually into the existing paint.

[tyl604]

That's interesting. I actually thought they mixed in a little something like white or off white paint to blend it down. Learn something new every day.

[TX76513]

Better than adding fade have him shoot the car with a color camera - most paint stores have these now. You will be assured of a good match.

[jkubica]

Originally Posted by 1lowdiesel

your best bet would be to find a local auto paint supply store and either give them the paint code or bring a piece of the actual color you need. they will be able to make up some single stage paint that will just be an apply and let dry paint.

with single stage there is no clear coat. also usually if needed you can either roll or brush it on and when done right will look just like you sprayed it with a gun.

Hi
Thank you all very much - off to the paint store I go'

Joseph

[BodhiBenz1987]

Originally Posted by tyl604

That's interesting. I actually thought they mixed in a little something like white or off white paint to blend it down. Learn something new every day.

They don't add it to the can of paint, but when actually applying paint there are some techniques to fade the new color into the existing color on the panel. I believe you can add some clear into the color on your final coats to blend it into the panel. When painting the whole hood, I'd take the car to the paint shop and ask them if they can match the color on the fenders. The paint on your car will have faded differently in different areas, but you'd want the hood to blend in with the fenders.
Make sure you sand the hood down before painting and clean it thoroughly to get a smooth coat. I'm going to paint my hood soon, since it has a couple rusty or nicked up spots, along with fenders. Fortunately my car's color (light ivory) doesn't show much fade and so far the new stuff is pretty much spot-on as far as color match. I just stink at blending texture-wise.

[MAG58]

By itself, top clear coat does not play well with many paints, and the color will tend to sink out to the bottom during drying. A product called base clear is what you're looking for and that is what it is designed for.

The basic concept is that you shoot your panel in your solid coat, and then to thin it 50/50 with base clear. From there you spray the panel again, but extend the line about 2-3 inches into the 'faded' panel. After that flashes off, you'll cut that mixture with another 50/50 of base clear (this time it will be 25% color) and spray over, this time going out a few more inches. You repeat this process, cutting your base clear/color mix by another 50% of base clear after each flash coat. You can stop when you no longer see (in the bright sunlight) a transition to the new coat. Then spray the entire area with a coat of clear, buff and you're done. Just remember that your car does not come color-sanded from the factory. There is a slight amount of orange peel, and if you color sand the car to a luster, you'll have one panel that looks quite a bit better than all the others.

[MB Nebrasaka]

Being this is a solid color most good autobody paint stores can use a computer color matching if you bring in a sample off the car like a the gas lid door which they hold up to an electric eye that comes up with the color formula.