Ive got some massive clearcoat peel cropping up on one of my fenders... tired of looking at it.

Im thinking Im gonna either grab a gallon of Nason, paintforcars.com, or tcp global paint.

Ive done a little research but its hard to get specifics. Apparently people think black is better in single stage, and Ive heard people say two stage is a MUST for metallic paints. I'd rather spend less. I've also seen single stage jobs I thought looked great, but none in person.

Am I going to be disappointed down the road if I go with single stage in bright red? Is it going to fade or be dull? Is it possible to keep it polished to a nice sheen (I dont mind occasional elbow grease if it's effective and allows me to paint the car sooner rather than later)?

If I had a maroon or metallic blue etc car, I'd definitely bite the bullet and go for a base/clear. But my car is just solid red, and I would rather it look nice without having to freak out every time some hooligan with keys hanging off his belt loop walks near it to damage my expensive basecoat/clearcoat job.

Beyond that, I've got a lot of door dings and fender dings. Assuming I cant get to these dings from the backside to straighten them out, is it acceptable to use body filler for small/medium door dings? Will it hold long term? These are dimples, not huge craters, but I know body fillers dont tolerate being very thick. What really is the correct method to fix door dings? I figure it cant be possible to get to every single one from the backside of the panel.

 

Less filler the better, get to them from the back. If you don't have any experience, you may do more harm than good. Take it to a paintless dent removal dude. Try to resist the urge to fill them full of filler. Yes, it'll work, but there's possible drawbacks down the road, especially if you're unfamiliar with the process. Single or BC/CC is fine, provided they're a reputable brand. Try to steer clear of anything applied with your index finger or anything with a tractor on the label. If you have peeling paint, it's best to strip the panel, clean, primer, paint, etc. BC/CC is more forgiving but it costs more than single stage. Single stage solid colors are easier and less costly and yes, they stay shiny.

 

If dings are small you can block sand your paint that is on there now. Any peeling areas will have to be feather edged. After blocking you can fill any remaining dings (small) with glaze. I have had both single and bc/cc, and perfer bc/cc. Imo single stage requires maintenace to keep the shine "new".

 

use base/clear. dupont nason line is pretty inexpensive. you can spray a fender with 4-60z of base. then put 2 coats of very user friendly nason clear and never worry about it again. if you do red in single stage you will regret it cause it fades real fast.

as far as body filler goes, no more than a quarters thickes is good rule of thumb.

 

Black when done with single staged then buffed can pop a lot nicer than BC/CC and hours and hours of wet sanding.

Red, as mentioned, is a fail. It gets chaulky too quickly unless it's a garage queen.

I'd do black in single stage, everything else in BC/CC.


For door dings, you should talk to someone like Scott Moyer. If it's a door or quarter/sale, it has the potential to be pulled without a ripple in the sheet metal IF the metal did not stretch when it got dinged. If it's a front fender or hood I'd just replace the panel.

The less filler you have to use the better. Filler expands and contracts at a different rate than metal, and will almost always eventually crack or at least leave a hair line imprint after a while.

-- Joe

 

Completely agree. I've seen some amazing black paint jobs that were painted with single stage...sanded & buffed...and it looked just as good if not better then base/clear. I painted mine with single stage and not to many people believe me

I also do paintless dent repair. In some cases....I do what we call "push to paint". If some dents are to deep or to stretched (or if the paint is cracked)....I can get them out enough for a body man to skim coat the dent....block, prime, then paint. Good for me...and good for the body man

 

I don't do PDR, but I totally agree with the process - try to pop 'em while the car is shiny, then block and longboard only if needed. Less filler the better.

Have you had much success pulling dents caused by the rub rail? For example, on a car I'm doing right now it's had a few shopping karts hit the rub rail so it's got dents right there on the body line. I'm yanking the rub rail off and before sanding the car down was going to see if a PDR guy can pop those back.

-- Joe

 

I've got a similar dent right on the body line of the fender where something hit the body side molding pretty hard.

My car is relatively straight, but when you're talking about repainting it, it's amazing how terrible and awful all the panels start looking....

I think I may try the PDR method myself, so I'm curious to hear the answer to this.

 

I ended up with 7 total, after washing and buffing my car. (black car). I called a PDR guy because it would have been a gallon or more of filler. They all vanished.

$450

-- Joe

 

In 2003 I had a black 99 Ford Pickup that was subjected to golf ball size hail. I replaced the hood and had a PDR guy do the roof and other panels that weren't as bad. The roof had 36(I even remember the number) significant dents. When he was finished, there wasn't a dent in the truck. I was amazed. Totally worth the money.

 

I agree with everything except replacing the panels, you can get a brand new fender and it may have a ding. Remember if you are going to get to them brom the back to use the appropriate dolly in the front or you may create a high spot. It is good to practice on a old panel first if you have one, filler should only be used as a skim coat never as a dent filler.

 

For the guys in Macon, one of the best PDR guys in the country is in your back yard. His name is Troy Tarpley and he runs denttricks.com. Give him a chance on your cars and you will be happy. Tell him that Scott from DentWorks in Orlando sent you.

 

The guy I use, uses a series of bent rods and bars and carefully pushes them out from the backside, after tapping down the high spots around the dent.

What is your method?

I've heard that out west folks prefer the glue pads and pulling.

Most body shops and insurance companies still won't use PDR around here. It's mostly used for guys like me who want a straight(er) car for body prep, or lease/rental companies wanting to fix minor dings before auctions. Body shops USED to drill holes and use filler to fix dents, but then the insurance industry started requiring entire panels replaced instead. The average 'street rate' around here is $150 per panel minimum, so for quarters and other weld-on panels it's a good option. For things like fenders, and hoods that are cheaper sourced BOLT ON items, I just replace. Of course, I'm looking at it from the perspective of prior to paint, I imagine on a perfectly flawless paint job PDR would be effective for even bolt on panels.


-- Joe

 

I have a slight crease in the upper part of my driver door (looks like a shovel handle fell against it), but it's right over where the brace is, so you can't really get to it from the back. Could PDR help this?

 

as for tcpglobal single stage her is my car with hugger orange of tcpglobal paint it was painted 2 years ago by myself in my garage it also was my first attempt at painting.

 

They go in by the top of the door where the window is usually. They pulled everything on my doors.

-- Joe

 

Most independent techs will use both methods of rods and the glue. They are used for different things. You have more control over the dent with the rods because you control each and every push and exactly where the push happens. The glue works good in areas that a rod can't get to. Many national companies still publish that there are areas of a car that PDR can't be done because of the time required using the glue. I will use glue to pull large dents up and then finish the dent with glue. It all depends.

There are also special rods for getting under the braces. If the dent is on top of the door, it might be difficult getting under the bracing, but it can be done on some cars. I haven't tried it on a third gen. If there is no paint damage at this dent, then glue might also work if it's a minor dent. The metal is tight at the top of the door because of contours and such.

PDR is a must if you have a dent and the paint wasn't damaged and you are trying to maintain the finish. I work on retail cars only as rental facilities and used car dealers don't care about the car. They just want the dent done and any issues become the buyers problem. A retail customer usually wants the dent fixed on their new car or a specialty car and is willing to pay to have the job done right.