[outlaw17]

I painted a 69 Coronet a year ago and now it has a small 'ding' in the quarter panel , up high , getting close to the B-pillar , I am looking at fixing the ding and spotting in the base then clearing the quarter but I certainly dont want to do the whole roof and other quarter , is it possible to get a nice blend at the top of the b-pillar(sail panel) where it meets the roof ? Ive done lots of painting , blending base etc but havent done a clear blend forever, can someone out-line the steps for me ?

[kenseth17]

What I normally do is sand the quarter with 800, and maybe 2000 or something fine where the the blend will be, and compound the area outside the blend area. Mask off a ways from where the blend will be, or roll the paper back over itself to prevent leaving a harsh line, but also cut down on the area thats not covered up and overspray can land.
Blend your base past the repair area. blend the clear in the sail panel area, and hit the blend with blending solvent or straight reducer thats in another gun after each coat.
Set out in the sun to help the clear cure up good, and when well cured, carefully buff the blend area. If the clear is not cured well enough, it will be hard for then new and old to buff the same, and will leave you with a halo you can't get rid of. Blend jobs on sail panels are often enough done to save having to paint the whole roof and other quarter if there is no place to tape off, to save money or if insurance won't pay for it. There is always a chance for earlier failure at the blend, since the mill thickness in the blend area will be low, and modern paint, reducer does not soften the old paint, so the new and old melt together.
Here is a thread that discusses blends, and another method some use without using any reducer over the blend.
http://spi.forumup.org/about30-spi.html

[outlaw17]

kenseth17, when I blend the clear do I mask on the area sanded with 2000 , then spray the clear and blending solvent , then when unmasked I can polish the area back to a shine ?

[kenseth17]

I pretty much do. I've seen others run blend up to where they have sanded, and just have the area around that hit with a wool pad and compound.
But I like to sand aways past where my blend will be and paper aways back from the blend, and scuff up to about where my paper is. I want to make sure at least that underneath where it will be cleared and blended is scuffed fairly well so the clear is sure to have a decent scratch to hold onto. But want to use pretty fine out past and around the blend, so doesn't take very much to buff back out your scratches, and you aren't hitting the blend too much with the buffer. Then while you are buffing your scratches back out, you remove any overspray.
Take a look at this thread. I thought someone once did a thread with pics and steps of either doing a spot repair or a blend, but can't seem to find it now.
blending clear

[outlaw17]

This whole car was wet sanded originally and polished. Now by the sounds of it, after reading some of these posts it seems as if after the blend area is sanded with 2000 it is compounded then the blend is done , is this a proper way to do it ? Or am I better off doing the blend half way through the 2000 grit area then polish after a proper cure ?

[kenseth17]

You really could do it either way. Not everyone does exactly the same.
Compounding with a wool pad and compound will leave some scratch, and another reason for compounding is you want a clean panel. Some will blend right to there edge of there sanding and even into area they have compounded.
I personally just wetsand past the blend area and keep my blend line within that area, and buff both those scratches and the blend out after painting, because I am not comfortable applying clear over an area that is not sanded.
Even when there is a hard line I can back tape on and do a blend and am able to keep it right at that line, I'll still willsand past the line a little ways before backtaping along it, and then run the buffer over it afterwards.

[milo]

Heres a read with pics that may help..

READ ME

Useing blend bridges with the masking paper is key..



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[crashtech]

An open blend on an OE finish will have a high probability of failing down the road, not catastrophically, but the clear will eventually erode away from the blend leaving a visible line because the refinish material can't penetrate the baked OE finish and "become one" with it.

BUT, open blends on repaints are sometimes a different story. A repainted panel usually will allow solvents to penetrate just a little, so with proper use of a blending solvent, a blend that is invisible and tightly adhered can sometimes be achieved.

The trick with an open blend is to first have the surface CLEAN, and to have it abraded as much as possible but still able to be buffed out easily. I have found 2000 grit scratches to be too coarse for this purpose, but a compounded surface to be too fine, so my procedure usually involves... neither. But it does get abraded, and if you use "bridges," which can come in handy in certain situations, make sure you clean the living heck out of the panel BEFORE putting them on!

[jcclark]

Originally Posted by crashtech

I have found 2000 grit scratches to be too coarse for this purpose, but a compounded surface to be too fine, !

I have recently started useing Meguiars 3000 grit for that reason.
Seems to work pretty good.

I have used the buffing only method for the blend area and never
had a prblem or come-back, but with the small collision repair
I do, I don't know how it holds up really.
Most don't have the car that long