QuestionQUESTION: Hi Gary,
I have a question on a fender/wheel flare I've painted. It is Black BC/CC from a 2007 Tahoe. The repair area (where the new base coat was sprayed) was small probably 4"X4". I then cleared the entire flare. I used the Dupont Chromabase system, however the clear is very old and I also used some very old Basemaker for the BaseCoat. I don't think either of those things are an issue because the entire flare looks great, especially after I plan on wet sanding and buffing. The problem I have is that the black in the new base coat area looks different, darker than the rest of the panel. The clear looks great overall and shiny.
Any idea why the new base coat would not match? I figured the clear would blend it in with the rest of the panel. The label on the paint can shows that it was mixed to code so I kind of doubt it's a problem with the jobber, but anything is possible.
What's weird is during the base coat application, I actually had to stop after two coats to do some light wet sanding and after that, the whole panel looked uniform. I wonder if I should have cleared it after sanding the base coat???
Thanks for any input.
ANSWER: Hi Bob,
2 things could be the problem.
1) Basecoat is not meant to be sanded on. You must clear-coat it within 24 hours without sanding. If you must sand it for dirt, runs, bugs, etc. you will need to reapply the base-coat afterwards.
2) You may have a variant color. Basically car manufacturer's notice after the fact that they have colors that aren't matching standard so they report it to the major paint mfrs. such as PPG, Dupont, BASF, Akzo Nobel, Etc... The paint companies then record it under the same code as what is called a variant. To reference this the paint mfrs. will call the variants something like Darker than Prime, Lighter than Prime, Bluer than Prime, ETC.. ETC... You get the picture. It's very aggrevating to the repairers but unfortunately it's a byproduct of the imperfect world we live in. I hope this helps get you back on track.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for the reply Gary. To address your #1, I actually re-sprayed more base coat after I sanded it for imperfections. I then cleared the whole panel. I was just making a point that after sanding the newly sprayed base coat, everything looked uniform and wondered what would happen if I cleared it at that point (without applying more base).
To address your #2, The spot I sprayed new base coat on is darker, almost slightly purplish compared to the original black base coat. If this is in fact a variant paint, how are repairers dealing with this situation?
On my repair, the average person would not be able to see the difference unless looking for it at the right angle with a flashlight, etc. I think I may have been able to improve this by doing a fog coat (with more reducer)on the last coat spreading out further. I regret not trying that as it has worked for me in the past, but everyone says black matches no problem so I didn't bother.
Thanks for any further info.
AnswerHi Bob,
I recommend always blending base-coat no matter what color it is. You may get away 10% of the time without blending but I find it's usually best to not even take a chance. As far as the variant, you can take the paint code back to your paint store and as if there are any variant matches available for your vehicle. I know PPG stores should have a variant chip deck which will give you an idea of which variant to pick.
I hope this helps and Good Luck with it!
