Paint Repair
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 144
Likes: 25
From: About to Lap You
Paint Repair
Hi Guys,
To save time, I made a cliffnotes version of the paint repair I've been trying on the C7. If you want all the details, the full version and all the steps I've taken are in the full version below the cliffnotes
****Cliffnotes****
Damaged the paint during spoiler install w/ a heat gun. Been repairing the damage using dupicolor primer, acdelco 501Q, and dupicolor clear. All was good until I sprayed the clear which had a ton of orange peel after 3 coats.
The thing I really need help on is getting rid of the orange peel and blending the repaired areas because the repaired area was pretty evident. You could easily see the transition from new base to old base and clear to clear. Any tips on helping making the transition as invisible as possible would be great (short of spraying the whole spoiler hopefully!) I used an airbrush for most of the application process. If the entire spoiler needs to be removed and sprayed, I don't mind doing that as I have a compressor and paint gun that can handle that job. I used the air brush because I didn't have a ton of paint and was spraying a small area. Any idea where I could find the base and clear to perfectly match the gm 'carbon flash' paint? The AC delco looks like it might have been a touch light in color.
****The Full Version****
While upgrading to the stage 2 spoiler...made the mistake of using a heat gun to try to remove some of the adhesive....I'm sure you see where this is going.
Some of the paint on the spoiler wrinkled up, and some of the artic white got accidentally got bumped while hot and removed a small section of the paint. Lesson learned. While the damage isn't extensive I still wanted to fix it, so I've been working to repair the paint.
I focused on the spoiler first, and picked up some dupicolor primer (which is part primer part filler), the acdelco 501Q (carbon flash match), and the dupicolor clear coat. I also picked up an airbrush kit (to spray a finer mist than the rattle cans), and 400,1000,1200, and 1500 sand paper.
I started by using the 400 to remove the wrinkled paint after masking the area off. Sanded it back to the primer. Then sprayed 3-4 coats of primer. To speed up the drying process, I used the heat gun in combination with a laser temp gun to make sure the surface wasn't getting too hot. I'd heat the surface to about 130 on average with the highest temp not getting above 150. Seemed to help dry the pretty well without any bubbling/wrinkles/damage. Sanded w/ the 400 then 1k after each pass. Everything was looking good. Scuffed the surface w/ the 400, then applied the acdelco base coat w/ the airbrush kit and dried the paint w/ the heat gun again. Did 7-8 thin coats, and sanded w/ 1000 - 1500 to smooth everything out. 3-4 coats would have been sufficient, but had to smooth out the area around the mask that had left a ridge due to the tape, which scuffed the surrounding clear coat.
Put down a fresh mash over a larger area to include the scuffed clear coat, and made sure the surface was prefectly prepped. The base coat looked great, showed no signs of orange peel and was silky smooth, so I started to spray the clear coat. Used the same drying technique, and that's when it all went to crap. The base coat looked too light, and the clear coat had wicked orange peel.
My guess is I put too thick of a clear coat on. That or maybe the clear coat wasn't warm enough when I sprayed it on because it was about 50 degrees (though i was trying to warm the garage/paint w/ a space heater).
Let the clear coat dry for about 12 hours before heading back out to check it out, and it hadn't improved, so took the 1000 grit sand paper to it and wet sanded it...which of course took off most of the clear coat. So back to the base coat step (I guess). Where did I go wrong? Should I have tried compounding the heck out of the surface even though the orange peel was pretty bad on the clear?
To save time, I made a cliffnotes version of the paint repair I've been trying on the C7. If you want all the details, the full version and all the steps I've taken are in the full version below the cliffnotes
****Cliffnotes****
Damaged the paint during spoiler install w/ a heat gun. Been repairing the damage using dupicolor primer, acdelco 501Q, and dupicolor clear. All was good until I sprayed the clear which had a ton of orange peel after 3 coats.
The thing I really need help on is getting rid of the orange peel and blending the repaired areas because the repaired area was pretty evident. You could easily see the transition from new base to old base and clear to clear. Any tips on helping making the transition as invisible as possible would be great (short of spraying the whole spoiler hopefully!) I used an airbrush for most of the application process. If the entire spoiler needs to be removed and sprayed, I don't mind doing that as I have a compressor and paint gun that can handle that job. I used the air brush because I didn't have a ton of paint and was spraying a small area. Any idea where I could find the base and clear to perfectly match the gm 'carbon flash' paint? The AC delco looks like it might have been a touch light in color.
****The Full Version****
While upgrading to the stage 2 spoiler...made the mistake of using a heat gun to try to remove some of the adhesive....I'm sure you see where this is going.
Some of the paint on the spoiler wrinkled up, and some of the artic white got accidentally got bumped while hot and removed a small section of the paint. Lesson learned. While the damage isn't extensive I still wanted to fix it, so I've been working to repair the paint. I focused on the spoiler first, and picked up some dupicolor primer (which is part primer part filler), the acdelco 501Q (carbon flash match), and the dupicolor clear coat. I also picked up an airbrush kit (to spray a finer mist than the rattle cans), and 400,1000,1200, and 1500 sand paper.
I started by using the 400 to remove the wrinkled paint after masking the area off. Sanded it back to the primer. Then sprayed 3-4 coats of primer. To speed up the drying process, I used the heat gun in combination with a laser temp gun to make sure the surface wasn't getting too hot. I'd heat the surface to about 130 on average with the highest temp not getting above 150. Seemed to help dry the pretty well without any bubbling/wrinkles/damage. Sanded w/ the 400 then 1k after each pass. Everything was looking good. Scuffed the surface w/ the 400, then applied the acdelco base coat w/ the airbrush kit and dried the paint w/ the heat gun again. Did 7-8 thin coats, and sanded w/ 1000 - 1500 to smooth everything out. 3-4 coats would have been sufficient, but had to smooth out the area around the mask that had left a ridge due to the tape, which scuffed the surrounding clear coat.
Put down a fresh mash over a larger area to include the scuffed clear coat, and made sure the surface was prefectly prepped. The base coat looked great, showed no signs of orange peel and was silky smooth, so I started to spray the clear coat. Used the same drying technique, and that's when it all went to crap. The base coat looked too light, and the clear coat had wicked orange peel.
My guess is I put too thick of a clear coat on. That or maybe the clear coat wasn't warm enough when I sprayed it on because it was about 50 degrees (though i was trying to warm the garage/paint w/ a space heater).
Let the clear coat dry for about 12 hours before heading back out to check it out, and it hadn't improved, so took the 1000 grit sand paper to it and wet sanded it...which of course took off most of the clear coat. So back to the base coat step (I guess). Where did I go wrong? Should I have tried compounding the heck out of the surface even though the orange peel was pretty bad on the clear?
Last edited by jdlev; Mar 6, 2018 at 02:14 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 6,140
Likes: 2,745
From: Northeast
Looks like you’ve gone beyond the simple patch job. I’d recommend spraying the entire spoiler if you’re looking for a seamless finish. I believe the following sells spray-ready pints and quarts of 501Q: http://www.automotivetouchup.com. GL.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 192
Likes: 23
From: Palmyra Va
I would wet sand with 1500 to start, then 2000 and then 3000 and finish off with finer and finer cutting compounds/polish. There is also an adhesion promoter and blending agents that can be used to burn in a small area that will help.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 144
Likes: 25
From: About to Lap You
