car paint repair - any recommendations?

madbunny

Hi,
trying to get paint to touch-up VW car, 2 x aerosol 400ml cans will do I think but are at least half the price of local dealer - who would match colour exactly - on site carpaintrepair.co.uk who would do general code and a bit darker which doesn't sound as exact but with limited money.....anybody used these? Anybody know how much difference in colour it may be - basically it's the first part of the code but without the second part. If that makes sense...
thanks

bigjl.

Two cans is a big touch up.

Watch out for the general codes as there are often more than one shade of a given colour.

pitkin2020

two cans is a lot of paint and depending on the shade and your requirements that size of an area could stand out like a sore thumb.

madbunny

hi, thanks very much for your replies. Theres 2 patches on one side, lower half of doors, front bumper, "spots" on bonnet which will be the trickiest. I chatted to someone from that website, gave the code and they said they could go darker than the general code which is a bit risky I know. Someone has suggested I could stick those flower stickers on bonnet if doesnt work!!

Good to know that's a lot of paint - what size area would you say a 400ml can would cover?

andygb

If it is a metallic/pearlescent paint, then you have to be pretty expert to get even an acceptable finish, because with an aerosol you will not be getting the same spray pattern or air pressure of the original job. You then have to think about blending the repair into the original, which is no mean feat. There are other facors such as dust and temperature, plus the possibility of getting paint runs.
No idea about the coverage of a 400ml can, because I have always mixed paint and put it through a spray gun, but from the areas which you have described, I would go for a full respray - lower halves of doors, front bumper, a couple of patches, and lastly, I would never, ever consider spraying one or two areas of the bonnet.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

andygb wrote: »

If it is a metallic/pearlescent paint, then you have to be pretty expert to get even an acceptable finish, because with an aerosol you will not be getting the same spray pattern or air pressure of the original job. You then have to think about blending the repair into the original, which is no mean feat. There are other facors such as dust and temperature, plus the possibility of getting paint runs.
No idea about the coverage of a 400ml can, because I have always mixed paint and put it through a spray gun, but from the areas which you have described, I would go for a full respray - lower halves of doors, front bumper, a couple of patches, and lastly, I would never, ever consider spraying one or two areas of the bonnet.

as andy said, 2 400ml? cans wont cover what you describe trust me ive used spray cans many times, and you just cant paint it on the bonnet and expect it to look good or decent and ive seen a few horrible dissasters with the intention your going to do here, the bonnet is a large area, and depending on year make model and colour code, youll have no idea how many coats to apply, what tempreture is best to paint it at, if your talking old VW cellulose paint would have been used as supposed to todays water based paints. prep is the key to a good outcome, stone chips in the bonnet usually need filling, rust needs rubbing down to fresh metal rust treated,filled.rubbed down again,then smoothed, primered,base coat,lacquering then detailing.

trust me the picture you got in your mind wont be the end result, then if you did take it to a body shop it will cost extra as you just cant paint over freshly painted panels unless its down to bare metal and thats alot of labour, so BARCOAT is used to lock off that area that was freshly painted to be re painted and that stuff is expensive.

i used spray cans to do little things like mirrors, grills, spoilers at a push, splitters, but never whole or half panels, i go into body shop get someone to do it or i get it in a mates garage buy the paint buy the primer buy the lacquer. thinners, deironised water, alchohol wipes, tack wipes,scotch pads,sand paper,masking tape and other thicker tapes ,and brown paper roll, setup the compressor,stick my mask on and off i go.

Hammyman

madbunny wrote: »

Hi,
trying to get paint to touch-up VW car, 2 x aerosol 400ml cans will do I think but are at least half the price of local dealer - who would match colour exactly - on site carpaintrepair.co.uk who would do general code and a bit darker which doesn't sound as exact but with limited money.....anybody used these? Anybody know how much difference in colour it may be - basically it's the first part of the code but without the second part. If that makes sense...
thanks

It will look like an absolute dogs dinner unless you're someone who sprays cars for a living and knows how to blend in new paint. It'll be even worse if it is a metallic colour.

The bonnet would need completely painting - you can't just do bits here and there. Even a bodyshop with the proper gear wouldn't just do bits here and there on a bonnet.

andygb

It is quite amazing what some people expect a repair to consist of. Back in the day, I had a friend's Vauxhall Chevette (remember them?) to prep for MOT. It needed 2 lower sill repairs, brakes and respraying, plus the MOT. I did the whole lot for £120, but the friend's OH thought that it was way too much!!!! The work for the respray included making good all the dodgy areas including filling and finishing the sill work, and dealing with other rust areas. Then there was the etch primer to provide a good key, then the sanding to a really smooth finish, almost as good as topcoat, then the application of the final solid colour - the very distinctive Vauxhall Light Blue. It was one of the best spray jobs I ever did, but the prep work took ages, and still the owner did not appreciate it.

AlexisV

Find a local mobile touch up man (I don't mean that in a dodgy way!)

Cost me £70 to get a bumper resprayed.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

andygb wrote: »

It is quite amazing what some people expect a repair to consist of. Back in the day, I had a friend's Vauxhall Chevette (remember them?) to prep for MOT. It needed 2 lower sill repairs, brakes and respraying, plus the MOT. I did the whole lot for £120, but the friend's OH thought that it was way too much!!!! The work for the respray included making good all the dodgy areas including filling and finishing the sill work, and dealing with other rust areas. Then there was the etch primer to provide a good key, then the sanding to a really smooth finish, almost as good as topcoat, then the application of the final solid colour - the very distinctive Vauxhall Light Blue. It was one of the best spray jobs I ever did, but the prep work took ages, and still the owner did not appreciate it.

the worse ever paint i ever came accross to do anything with was the ford java blue, no matter how you prepped no matter how you painted it on, no matter how you blended, baked it, it always turned out darker than the original even with it mixed from ford. the java blue was used on the fiest mk3 SI and about 70% of escorts of that production time so spotting a repair was dead easy.

andygb

AlexisV wrote: »

Find a local mobile touch up man (I don't mean that in a dodgy way!)

Cost me £70 to get a bumper resprayed.

I was wondering that, but there are several areas on the car which need looking at. I think the mobile repairers do a great job if there is just one repair, but this vehicle could end up looking like a patchwork quilt.