I have a 98 (darker, I guess) blue Expresso neon. It has tons and tons of scratches, most mild but some deeper. Non are really rusted, but I do have a few small rust spots as well as both undersides of the car. Whats my best method for fixing these. I know advanced has those little paint brush things that will prolly work for the scratches, but what about the rust spots that need sanded and painting? How can I find out what matches my stock blue color?

 

if the color is stock then you can get pretty close with spray cans. Technically, you should sand the scratches down too and paint those

 

Ok so I did a couple small spots. One spot in the door jam(1/4 inch chipped spot) I sanded, primered , and painted. Its fine except the crease. How do I get rid of the creases between the old/new paint??

Also, should I use a polisher/buffer before painting to try to get rid of some marks and spots,since some probably don't need to be painted?

 

getting a good paint job is all about prep. after you spray the primer on, you need to sand again w/ 400 grit then go to 600 grit. W/ the 600 grit, you also want to sand a little into the pannel you are working on. then, when you paint, you mask off the whole pannel, not just the one spot. spray the pannel blending into the old paint from the new. light strokes fading out. You won't end up w/ the bump in the paint that way.

 

Ok I hear you, I didn't sand the primer after. Problem is I'm doing parts that can't be removed so its not like taking the fender off priming spots then painting the whole thing..but my main problem now is the color seems slightly(but noticeably) darker then the original. I can guarantee the cars paint is not faded all over,especially in the door jams. I checked the cars paint code and match it to duplicolors paint and I do have one spot in the door jam that seems it matches(minus the primer crease) but the other two spots look darker and I don't know what to do about it??

 

that's what blending gets rid of.

 

Ok I did my trunk lid and I just need a bit more on the one side but it turned out great, don't see anymore streaks or bad spots with the blue coat. Two questions before the clear coat:

1. Should I sand the blue lightly(what grit?) before applying the clear coat?
2. Do I have to use duplicolor clear coat or can I use some Rustoleum 2X, cause the duplicolor is twice as much and mainly the coverage is crap. It takes two cans of duplicolor to match the rustoleum.


EDIT: I FOUND THIS:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AUTO-...3A1|240%3A1318

Its 1 gallon of Intense blue pearl for $175. The guy I talked to about painting my car said it would take about 2 quarts so thats plenty there, but I was wondering how good do you think the quality of this paint is, cause he said he bought 1 quart from the store for $105 of the same color for his dodge truck so I don't want to end up with crappy paint????






PS: Anyone doing a interior paint job, or any paint job, use Rustoleum 2X paint. There only 3.50 a can which is less then most paints(actually less then there basic enamel stuff,wtf??). The 2x technology allows it to completely cover the spot in one stroke and it amazed me the first time I used it. The also have like 75 colors to choose from.

 

1) don't sand. If you have a buffer/polisher and know how to properly use it, you can sand the clear coat w/ 1200 grit then buff it using progressively finer compounds. if not, don't worry.
2) check what kind of paint each is, ex...acrylic, gloss, enamel, etc. and what kind of base it has, oil or water based. as long as it's the same kind as the paint you used. you shouldn't have a problem.

 

Well its a stock paint job so how do I know what kind of paint Plymouth used?

 

they used a single stage paint on just about every neon. Oil based gloss paint. w/o a clear coat.