I just bought a used FJ62 body panel (front fender) that I am going to have painted to match my truck. How hard would it be for me to paint the panel myself? Where would I even begin to match the factory paint color? Is this just something I should leave to the pros?
School me on auto painting...
- Thread starter cbmontgo
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- #2
Someone told me about a Web site called www.paintscratch.com. This stuff seems expensive...anyone had experience there or know if those prices are fair?
dmaddox
SILVER Star
if it's a stock toyota color - just get the color code from cool cruisers or have yourl ocal paint store pull up your year/model and you can find the chip there.
Have them mix you up a quart, snag a quart of clear, and off you go!
Have them mix you up a quart, snag a quart of clear, and off you go!
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- #5
I have a Binks Model 7 (see pic). Will this work for clear and paint or do I need an HVLP sprayer?
What is the right amount of paint for the fender? Think a quart will do?
Thanks!
Okay, here's the deal. IF your fender is metallic, you're never going to match it. Metallic takes certain spraying technique, especially if it is a lighter or more opaque color. any sag, drip, or run will be a much darker color. any uneven overlap will leave a tiger stripe. Anything else will dick it ALL up. I hate metallic. The gun is fine, hvlp is nice, but really has absolutely nothing to do with painting a car. It puts more paint on , with less pressure, so less gets in the air, resulting in paint savings. Tens of thousands of cars have been painted with a gun just like yours. A quart of color is certainly more than enough, especially when reduced. There are lots of good books out there on auto painting, I reccomend you check into it. Might save you some (expensive) paint.
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- #7
Good info. Thanks!
Yes, mine is the beige metallic color from '88, so it sounds like it might be a challenge. Good thing this is a trail rig!
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- #9
Yeah, this may end up being what happens.
Even if you go to the paint store with your paint code manufacturers usually have at least 3 variations to each color dependin on what assembly plant its painted at. I have had good luck with PPG matching the paint with there system of matching the paint to your vehicle, basically you drive your car to the PPG store, or take one of your body panels (fuel door) and they take a picture with a gun they have and that "reads" your paint to let them know what pigments need to be put in to match your very close. There will most likely be a slight difference unless you blend the paint into the door and possibly hood but for a trail rig Im betting it will be good enough to panel paint it and throw it on.
Also, paint fades over time. Things like UV, salts, acids, etc will afect the rate and amount o fading. This becomes a bigger problem as the car (paint) ages. Even if you had some left over paint from the factory in a sealed can, 20 years later the paint in the can would not match the color on the car. This is why the color match systems are used even when the paint code is known. The paint code is just a starting point or used for a whole repaint. Also, over time, the new paint will not fade at the same rate as the old paint, so as time goes by, even an undetectable color match can become more amd more noticable as the original paint and the repainted panel age.
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- #12
I have received a recommendation on a paint shop here in Denver (thanks, Chris) and they will match it as closely as they can. Luckily, this is a trail truck and it doesn't need to be perfect. I'll keep you guys posted...
RufusTheDufus
SILVER Star
I bought some paint from Paint Scratch. I bought one of their rattle can touch up kits and it matched up pretty well. So well that I decided to buy a gallon of paint from them to spray my Troopy. They sell PPG paints in their 1-gallon single-step kits. The bummer is that you only get the paint and not the reducer and hardener. I was able to source the reducer and hardener from the local PPG supplier. It ultimately ended up costing me more than just buying the stuff direct from the local supplier.
I also purchased a rattle can touch up kit for the green on my old 91 4Runner from Paintscratch. It matched up perfectly. It seemed a little expensive but they provide everything you need to do the job right.
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- #14
Well, I took the fender to Maaco and I am really impressed. Excellent match, excellent service, good price. Saved me a whole weekend of taping off my garage and covering my wife's Tahoe in a champagne metallic mist!
