Success. I bought a 98 Civic in June (you may remember my commuter car saga thread ) and it had previously been in a small accident and had a replacement black bumper and hood. The hood was primer and was pretty gross. Everything would stick to it, from bird crap to fingerprints, and it looked like hell. I finally got to painting it this weekend with the help my my father and grandfather. It came out great. The paint match was PERFECT, thanks to Automotivetouchup.com. I HIGHLY recommend these guys. I threw in my paint code, and they factory matched it nearly perfectly. I brought the car to my father's in Jersey to use his garage and we worked on it there. Below are an excessive amount of pictures for your enjoyment.
Overall, I am thrilled with the finished job. The paint isn't as smooth and perfect as a factory job, because it's damn near impossible to keep all dust and grit from falling into the paint (it was windy as hell today, too). Also, being that this was my first shot at something like this, I could have done a better job - there are are slight "orange peel" spots, but I should be able to buff them out with a little polishing compound in a few days. It's not perfect, but I could NOT have asked for a better paint match, honestly. Automotivetouchup.com NAILED it, and like I said, I highly recommend their product.
Here's the original condition of the hood. That's my grandfather next to the car - the painting legend himself.
Closeup of the mess:
Step 1: Wash and wet sand with 1000 grit sandpaper (hood) and 600 grit (bumper)
Step 2: Pull it into the painting bay (garage with tarps) and mask that sucker.
Step 3: Start the basecoat application. We used 3 total coats.
Step 4: Apply clearcoat. We used 2 total coats.
Step 5: Let it dry, unmask it, and enjoy.
The finished product:
Overall, I am thrilled with the finished job. The paint isn't as smooth and perfect as a factory job, because it's damn near impossible to keep all dust and grit from falling into the paint (it was windy as hell today, too). Also, being that this was my first shot at something like this, I could have done a better job - there are are slight "orange peel" spots, but I should be able to buff them out with a little polishing compound in a few days. It's not perfect, but I could NOT have asked for a better paint match, honestly. Automotivetouchup.com NAILED it, and like I said, I highly recommend their product.
Here's the original condition of the hood. That's my grandfather next to the car - the painting legend himself.
Closeup of the mess:
Step 1: Wash and wet sand with 1000 grit sandpaper (hood) and 600 grit (bumper)
Step 2: Pull it into the painting bay (garage with tarps) and mask that sucker.
Step 3: Start the basecoat application. We used 3 total coats.
Step 4: Apply clearcoat. We used 2 total coats.
Step 5: Let it dry, unmask it, and enjoy.
The finished product:
