-----Original Message-----
From: Joseph Cianciotti <jmc987@earthlink.net>
To: mg mailing list <mgs@autox.team.net>
Date: Monday, June 08, 1998 10:41 PM
Subject: Painting expertise wanted
>Spoke to someone (over the phone) today about repairing my vandalized
>door and lock. He mentioned using a clear coat to blend the paint. It
>seems kind of odd to me since my car doesn't have a clear coat. He said
>that's the only way to get it to match if the new paint isn't spot on
>correct. I asked why he wouldn't just repaint the door (or even just the
>lower half) and he said that getting the color to butt match is extremely
>difficult, though not impossible.
>
>I'm still not clear why. I thought that, like house paint, you bring a
>sample to the paint shop and they match it using some sort of
>computer-type gizmo. And that putting a clear coat on my car would make
>the repaired area look different from the rest of the car.
>
>What do you think? Please help. Thanks in advance.
>
>Joseph
>67 Roadster
>
What color is the car? If it is white/black you could probably get by
painting from edge to edge above the trim and it wouldn't look too bad. If
it is red (especially) or most any other color,the paint will have faded
considerably. Sometimes, if you spot in the area with lacquer and then buff
the whole car you can get fair results. The clear coat will give the
repaired area a slightly glossier look, but again buffing the whole car will
make this less noticeable. he way the clear works is (usually) the repaired
area is spotted in in as small an area as is practical, then the clear is
applied to the entire panel so there is no Frosty looking area between the
old/new paint. Works very well. If this is done by a pro the repair is
nearly invisible, and even an amateur can achieve respectable results.
As far as the computer matching, I've never seen it done at an automotive
paint store, and I do have some misgivings as to it's practicality, but a
really good painter will be able to match the faded paint by adding a few
drops of the correct toner to the factory mix. Sadly, I don't know any
painters of that caliber.
Eric
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