Unpopular opinion: blend lines on repainted panels are fine if you do it right

I keep seeing people say you gotta paint the whole panel or it'll look obvious, but I've been blending clear coats for 8 years in my shop in Portland and never had a come back. The trick is buffing the transition zone with 3000 grit before you spray, not after. Why does everyone act like blend lines are some kind of sin when they actually save the customer money on a 10 year old car?

3 comments

3 Comments

cole99421d ago

Laughing at myself here cause I've definitely screwed up a few blends before I got it down like @ryan369's buddy.

mary_martin2215d ago

Learned that lesson the hard way on my husband's truck last summer.

ryan36921d ago

Oh man that's such a good point! My buddy Jake tried to save a few bucks on his old Civic by only blending the clear on a fender repair and his shop told him it was impossible. He ended up doing it himself with some youtube videos and a harbor freight buffer, hit the blend zone with 2000 grit before spraying like you said, and you literally cannot tell where the repair ends. The original paint was already faded and the blend line matched perfectly where a full respray would've been way too glossy for a 2004 car. He saved like $300 and the car looked better than before.