How To Blend Touchup Paint Onto Your Vehicle

Blending is the technique of gradually building up new paint and making it fade into the existing paint. Done correctly, it is the secret to a nearly invisible touchup paint repair! By following the simple techniques we show in the video, you can easily blend your touchup paint so it virtually disappears into the surrounding paint like a pro.

[jonnyl]

Wow that little square is exactly what I did, thanks for the video. Also will the colour coat stick to existing clear coated surfaces if I didn't sand it? E.g. the zone where you did the blending, it wasn't full sanded.

[Automotivetouchup]

I am pleased that this video helped save you so much money.

[Automotivetouchup]

It depends on the sanding done. Normally there is a break through the clear and into the base. I often break into or through the primer too.

[Automotivetouchup]

Yes, you can basecoat over clearcoat sanded with 1000 or finer.

[insaneapples]

You need to clear the entire fender though. Blending a clearcoat is extremely difficult and almost always leaves a line.

[HydrogenHealth]

Thanks for the video. I will try this technique on my Audi s4.

[Automotivetouchup]

I have no promises that the finish will be fine. I think it will be ok for a while but the non sanded area will be the first to chip away. The clearcoat blending area should be lightly scuffed with 1000-1500 so the new clear coat has something to bite into.

[Automotivetouchup]

I don't recomend painting singlestage over base/clear, which is why we sell a basecoat/clearcoat aerosol can system.

[bigjallday]

was a blender used for the clear coat? Or can you also fan out the clear coat to eliminate the edge.

[Automotivetouchup]

You simply tape off the adjacent panels and wheel. You will get some overspray on the banel you are blending on, use some fine rubbing compound to buff it right off.

[blackyiechan]

After sanding, if there still clearcoat left or is just the base color exposed??

[hyboost]

I just bought a used buick Grand National that was repainted, base/clear 3 years ago. There is a large run on the rear "C" panel. The car looks great except this small (approx 4"x4" run). Do you think this method would work for a run on a black car? Thanks.

[hondamxbmx]

if you get a paint line like the square, how to you get rid of it and blend it? i did that by accident and now i have a line like that.

[creamtube]

What do u do with solid colours without clearcoat then?

[Automotivetouchup]

It is better to blend the basecoat and then clearcoat the whole panel. Sometimes this isn't practical like where the sail panel (or where the rear quarter panel matches the roof) is the most common place a bodyshop will blend. Specialists that touch up cars at dealerships just blend the clearcoat on bumpers.

[bigjallday]

Can we use that "gradient" technique for the clear coat, instead of clearing the whole fender?

[Automotivetouchup]

It may look fine for a while but will it should easily chip where you did not sand the existing paint.

[crispyspa]

How would someone blend one step enamel into base/clear effectively?

[Automotivetouchup]

You can either scrub it off with lacquer thinner and start over which is the easy way, or you can try to sand it out and repaint it. It is unlikely that you will sand or buff out the edge.

[loupelez]

He did a ok job here but needed to backtape  and mask areas off to prevent overspay everywhere. When you Backtape you don't get the hard edge but a diffused edge you can wetsand to blend with. He never explained the color sanding process after this. That's step 2. If you did the square edge (bad) one you might get away with wet sanding inside the square outward but don't sand the original paint till the hard edge is gone (flush). Or you can burn through the original paint here. This kinda works with darker paints (exact match really) and one must have good control with wet sanding and fine grit selection at the end. I have pulled it off before using a single stage paint process. Its tedious but not recommended.