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Thread: Factory paint matching

  1. #11
    Yesterday I had a little time so I got some warm water and dish soap going in a container. All I had on hand was 1500 wet sand paper so I stuck it in and let it soak. The piece had been hanging in the attic where it's warm but there is no light. My attic is semi finished with a floor and pull down ladder access so it's a great place to put stuff where it won't get in my way or become victim to small children.

    Here is the piece prior to wet sanding.


    In direct sunlight I could tell it was the paint trying to adhere to where I had sanded the piece prior to painting. I gave it a quick buff with 600 and wiped it down but I guess this was the aftermath.

    The wet sanding was great. No mishaps and the metallic stayed put. I lost minimal paint and nothing down to primer. I left while the get'n was good and hosed it off and left it in the sun. After 30 minutes I sprayed the remainder of the paint I had and hung it back up.

    Today I sprayed the clear and right away I noticed a lot or orange peel in the clear finish. The can states the product flashes at 2-3 minutes so I used that as a guide. I ended up doing about 4 coats, not the entire can, and it looks pretty good. The orange peel is hard to capture but it doesn't look bad at all. Everything is very consistent.



    Like Marc did, I think I'll let this chill in the heat and then maybe the sun for a bit then give it a good rub down. The paintscratch website had more info on the clear than my paint. I haven't held the piece next to my bumper yet but it looks good. If anything it will look better because it's fresh and shiny.
    Last edited by 4x4mike; 08-24-2014 at 06:14 PM.

  2. #12
    Sadly your pics aint working Mike
    Sounds like you did a good job.
    Marc<br />96&#39; T100 SR5 4x4<br /><br />Other rides:<br />00 Honda 416EX

  3. #13
    I will wait for pics but if it doesn't match perfectly a little bit of time with road/trail grit and you won't be able to tell the difference

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
    Sliders
    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  4. #14
    Hopefully the pictures work now. I had to get a Google+ account so my Youtube account stays active. I had it pretty locked down which locked the pictures.

  5. #15
    Looks good, it is so hard to tell how paint looks from pictures. Since your truck is a bit faded, the orange peel shouldn't be a problem. I always take some polishing compound on a paper towel and rub it down real quick, followed up by a plain, dry paper towel. It is abrasive enough just to polish it out. Don't go crazy with it though. Goal for me is usually the 18" approach. As long as it looks good at 18", i'm happy.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  6. #16
    Hey that does look good!! I'm with Sean on the 18" rule.
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
    Tundra/Rear Disc Brakes w/parking brake
    Roof Rack/Rear Ladder
    Sliders
    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  7. #17
    Looks great Mike! I'm with you guys on the 18" rule too, my truck was newer and nicer I'd care more but it's old and beat up lol
    Marc<br />96&#39; T100 SR5 4x4<br /><br />Other rides:<br />00 Honda 416EX

  8. #18
    I'm trying to upload a few pictures right now and it's taking forever. In the meantime I'm get'n a ton of info and a few laughs from this guy. He's saying his Caprice has orange peel in the texture of the steel.

    I'm also digging his jacket.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPc_KDU_ECM

  9. #19
    At least the orange peel is consistent.



    I'm going to wet sand it tomorrow and see how it looks. If it's acceptible I'll hit it with the rubbing compound. I'm thinking that if I have to wet sand a ton I may respray some clear but we'll see. I have a feeling it will look good at 18" and I'm happy with the metallic and the coverage.

  10. #20
    Well crap. Let me preface this by saying I'm not a super patient guy. For some things I am but for the most part I don't sit still or like waiting. As such, painting is not one of my favorite things to do. My house, furniture, etc. Spray paint on skid plates and sliders is more of my speed.

    I was really patient with this bumper piece. I actually read instructions, prepped and let it sit when need be. Part of this was because I was too busy to work on it but I took it on as a project and wanted it to come out nice. It dried hung in my attic and was looking really good. I wet sanded a bunch and it was smooth and consistent.

    After wet sanding last week I was drying it off and I noticed a flake of paint on the towel. I freaked out at first but though maybe it was from one of the threaded holes as it was the same size. I found nothing, oh well. I decided to hit the painted surface with rubbing compound as it was the next step and found where the chip came from in the process. It was right on the corner and bend, basically at the exact spot you look at when you look at the piece. Damn. I have the factory touch up paint so I decided to take my time, build it back up and sand it down since I was at that stage. I'd make it look as good as I could since I was already neck deep into this thing. In the end I was impressed as it turned out real nice.

    That chip repair took about 3 hours over 3 days. Like I said I took my time and made sure it was ready before the next step. I ended up doing the entire piece twice with rubbing compound and I was really happy with how smooth it was coming out. It dulled up but the wet sanding scratches were out and things were still smooth.



    The next step was polishing but it had to sit for awhile again. So i put it back in the attic since my garage has about 8 projects in it along with clumsy hands. I placed the piece on a cardboard box with a terry cloth towel on the top. I was in the middle of packing for a camping trip so I was pulling things down from the the attic and I didn't want to drop something on it or scuff it.

    Fast forward four more days and I got a hair up my butt to install the piece. The directions stated 21 days before polish and I figured I'd test fit in the meantime and that polishing would be easier to do installed. I go upstairs, pull the piece down like it was a ticking time bomb and brought it to the work bench. I gave it a slight upward movement to knock the towel off as my hands were busy and it didn't move. I proceeded to pull it off only to see that the towel was stuck to the piece embedded in the paint. S of a B!

    I pulled the towel off like a band aid stuck to a scab all the while cursing like a sailor in my head. On the outside I may have been shedding a tear. Now what? &^$#*(@$$^@^$*(@(*&&^!

    Since I figured it was a goner I took my anger out with some more wet sanding. I may have sanded it a bit much but I didn't care. Two spots were kind of bad, one larger than the other. On the bend where the towel draped down was much lighter but felt pitted. )(@#%@&$$&@*^%!

    This is after some wet sanding anger management and some non-sh*ts given.





    Waiting the remainder of the 21 days was out the door. I had some liquid polish so I gave it a good rub down while telling it who was boss. It shined up pretty nice but the towel damage (really towel damage!?! This whole thing started with rock damage) was still visible. The polish kind of embedded itself in the 'new surface' and shows as well.

    I have no idea why the old piece looks so much shorter. I didn't notice until I viewed this picture. Everything mounted fine so it must be the angle.



    BALLS!


    So it's on and I'm done. Kind of pissed especially since I was telling myself I was going to turn a new leaf on patience, HA! Who was I fooling? I guess it matches the rest of the truck since it's old and not perfect anyway. I've got some money into it and was striving for almost perfect but now it's at the 18", like mentioned above, plus a shot of Patron with a beer chaser. I could have gotten this same ending, after this much time, at a U-Pull or overpriced on eBay. Live and learn.

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