A few weeks ago I had cracked my front lip. The damage was minor so I ended up JB welding the crack from the inside and sanding down the outside. The repair came out pretty nice so I ended up spray painting the damaged area as well.

The problem I have is that the painted area is still recognizable. The color matches (as I used the oem paint) but the area is dull. I only applied a single layer of clear coat and stopped as it seemed to make the surface more dull.

I'm not much of painter and I'm not sure how to make the glossy look. Is this due to the clear coat or do I need to apply more layers of the original coat? And what type of clear coat should I use?

All paints were from spray cans. Is this a limitation of using spray can paint?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

There's your problem and answer.

 

the damagad area was about 3 inches in diameter. For such a small area, I didnt think it was worth a visit to the paint/body shop.

Are you saying that with spray paints, you cannot achieve a glossy finish? The color match is perfect and in direct sunlight, you cannot tell the difference. However, in the shade, you will notice the dull finish.

What do you recommend?

 

It's not the spray can paint (although it doesn't help), but really the process. A painter at a body shop would be prepping properly, painting, and wet sanding, maybe painting again, wet sanding and clear coating (this is where you get the shine). You might try re-prepping & wet sanding (which I don't think you did) or buy a bumper - maybe a Nismo-style with a nice lip!

 

ya I was considering re-trying it once more but putting some more prep time into it. I really cannot consider replacing the lip as it is in perfect condition (minus the paint). My last resort would be to get it repainted professionally but for such a small area that is affected, I feel it a waste...

 

What color is your car?

How can you be sure you got a perfect color match with rattle cans?

Like ^he said, did you prep properly? How many layers of paint did you spray? How long of time to let dry in between layers?

I dont think the quality of paint is going to be as good as a shop would use, nor the clear. Plus paint from a shop is mixed and shaded to match your car and a flex addative is added on the bumpers, whether FRP or plastic.

Your just flat out not going to get the same look from the cans as taking to a body shop. Ive seen some come damn close, though.

 

Well the cans are from a local paint shop and they are telling me its the same oem touch up paint sold at Nissan. Since the area was about the size of the palm of your hand, I couldn't use the brush touch-up, and opt'ed for the spray can.

I'm pretty sure my problem is prep time. I'm searching google right now and looks like you need a lot of wet sanding and several layers.

I did about 2 sanding phases, one at about 500 grit and the 2nd at 800. Then 1 layer of primer and about 2 or 3 layers of color. Followed by 1 layer of clear. Google sites are saying wet sand 300, 600, 1000 and 1500. Then 3 primer layers, 7 (!!!) color layers followed by 3 clear coats. And it says to 1500 grit wet sand in between the primer and color and clear coats. Youtube has some examples and they look extremely nice.

Again, since the damage area is so small, I'd like to try this again myself. All the supplies cost me less than $30, of which I already had most of. If it dont work, then off to the body shop we go...

 

That is nowhere near accurate. Once the base coat is applied it can not be sanded (and if it is the base has to be reapplied), and the clear coat is applied 15-30 minutes after. One coat of clear gives it all the shine it will ever have, and a second coat of clear is added to give it the required UV protection. The only time wet sanding (or any sanding of the clear for that matter) would be involved is when there is an imperfection in the cleat ie: runs or debry, or when the "orange peel" is being sanded out. Which does not improve gloss, just the "pureness" of the clear.

 

I'm reading that it is recommended to give a very fine grain sanding inbetween the phases (primer -> color -> clear). This way it keeps the surface very clean for the next phase. ???

 

the smoother the surface the smoother the finish. also the finer sanding is required to not show any sand scratches while painting.

Here if your using spray paints final sand the damaged area with 400, then apply a primer then wet sand that with either 400 or 600. Then apply basecoat/clearcoat. The reason for the dullness is bc of the spray cans and you are not applying enough. Even with a spray can you can get somewhat of a shine, but if yours is looking dull then your gonna have to spray a little heavier.

if you were to take that panel to a body shop we would repaint that whole panel to have a more uniform repair non of this spot painting.

and it is recommended you give the clear coat a nice buff when its all dried since your using rattle can its going to have a lot of texture. so apply a **** load of clear then wetsand with 2000 and then buff with rubbing compound followed by a polish then a glaze.

The only time I wetsand inbetween basecoat and clearcoat is if I was to do a show car/ restoration where a mirror finish is needed. I would shoot my base coat until everything is covered then I would do a light wet sand with 2000 to get rid of ANY and ALL imperfection IE DIRT/orange peel then I would apply 1-1/2 coats of base coat then a 1 1/2 coat of clear coats. bake that till dry then wet sand again with 2000 and apply 2 more coats of clear coat then a nice wetsand/buff.

But with OEM finishes a little orange peel is needed when repainting a panel to match the OEM surface, so we would not wet sand inbetween base/clear.

You will never be happy with the outcome of the rattle can job you are doing, it will NEVER match oem shine/color period.

 

well thanks for the tips anyways. I figured I'd give it my best shot since the local shop is quotting me $150 for the job. I'm not even sure if I like this lip anymore so it's really not an option to invest that much into this.

I'll give the rattle cans one more try this weekend. See how it goes. If its still noticeable, I'll start looking for a new lip or take this to the shop.

Thanks again

 

I'd leave it to the pros

 

Agreed. Wish I had the money to go to them for the big and small things...

 

throw some pics up here!