paint touch-up

erictw

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Since apparently they are in no hurry to get my parts to me, and I can't drive the car the way it is, I am thinking of touching up the acne that is forming around the rear license plate holder and the grille. These are both aluminum parts, do they require a special primer or any other special measures to make the paint stick? The car may ever run right, but at least it should look good, right?
 
I've found body work can be tedious and challenging, especially if you want that SEMA quality. The color of the basecoat and the color of the primer used can have a significant effect on the final part. I just got done painting a red pearl tri-coat and made test samples with both white and dark primer on aluminum with stunning differences in the "value" of the final color. I had created a variety of samples with 1-2-3-4-5 base coat, 1-2-3-4-5 mid coat and 2 clear coats for all for a total of 25 samples. The issue I had was matching the panel to a slightly sunfaded colored vehicle (2014 vehicle), and I chose the white primer ultimately because these samples were what resembled the rest of the vehicle and I followed the painting technique used for the sample that closely matched so I didn't have to do any additional blending around the local area.

If the area you would like to touch up is small, I would still definitely recommend cleaning/removing the oxidization layer/ uneven surface. Primer isn't necessary to make the paint stick, but it definitely won't last. Try to get the basecoat layer to match and if you find the clear touch up pen/paint makes that area slightly raised, you can scuff up/sand the clear coat with a 600 grit minimum to be close to the plane of the original part (without going through to the basecoat- you will see color on your wetsand paper if this happens) and then go through the remainder 1000 wetsand, 1500 wetsand, polish and sealer.

Scuffing the area may sound intimidating at first, but there is a process that needs to be followed. Please cross check other sources as well and ALWAYS use test samples first to gain confidence in painting, messing up, scuffing, and reapplying paint to get the final piece you are looking for.
 
I've found body work can be tedious and challenging, especially if you want that SEMA quality. The color of the basecoat and the color of the primer used can have a significant effect on the final part. I just got done painting a red pearl tri-coat and made test samples with both white and dark primer on aluminum with stunning differences in the "value" of the final color. I had created a variety of samples with 1-2-3-4-5 base coat, 1-2-3-4-5 mid coat and 2 clear coats for all for a total of 25 samples. The issue I had was matching the panel to a slightly sunfaded colored vehicle (2014 vehicle), and I chose the white primer ultimately because these samples were what resembled the rest of the vehicle and I followed the painting technique used for the sample that closely matched so I didn't have to do any additional blending around the local area.

If the area you would like to touch up is small, I would still definitely recommend cleaning/removing the oxidization layer/ uneven surface. Primer isn't necessary to make the paint stick, but it definitely won't last. Try to get the basecoat layer to match and if you find the clear touch up pen/paint makes that area slightly raised, you can scuff up/sand the clear coat with a 600 grit minimum to be close to the plane of the original part (without going through to the basecoat- you will see color on your wetsand paper if this happens) and then go through the remainder 1000 wetsand, 1500 wetsand, polish and sealer.

Scuffing the area may sound intimidating at first, but there is a process that needs to be followed. Please cross check other sources as well and ALWAYS use test samples first to gain confidence in painting, messing up, scuffing, and reapplying paint to get the final piece you are looking for.
thanks, my main concern is with adhesion, more than technique. I just don't like the whitish spots on the trunk and hood, very small areas but they annoy me, lol.
 

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