calling all paint gurus

[The motor guy]

So I was thinking of getting my truck fixed since I ran over a boulder in a parking lot and it bent up the very bottom edge of my truck bed right in front of the passenger side rear tire. i've talked to a few body shops and one said they can just paint that one area and another wants to paint that whole side of the truck bed. I have a few questions.

1. Can they paint that one section without leaving a paint line?

2. My truck has virtually no orange peel from the factory can they repaint vehicles these days with no orange peel?

3. Also if the color doesn't match can I have them repaint it again until it does or do I have to pay them again?

4. One last question, is there going to be a bunch of overspray on the inside of the panel where you can tell they repainted it? Thanks guys!

 

[NHGUY]

Orange peel is because the paint/clear dried too fast and wasnt allowed to "flow out".A good painter should be able to avoid this.I see way too many new vehicles that have no shine but just horrid orange peel.I wouldnt buy a new vehicle like that.Period.

Yes they can match paint using a scanning camera (Dupont ChromaVision/Aquire RX) and then blend the color/clear into your old finish.

 

[The motor guy]

So instead of painting that entire side of the truck bed they can just blend in that little 12" area without any kind of paint lines or anything?

 

[LeakySeals]

Need pictures to say definitively. But yes, they can either blend or paint to a seam. Then clear the entire quarter.

 

[The motor guy]

http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x328/bigoledodge07/DSC00592.jpg

http://i1176.photobucket.com/albums/x328/bigoledodge07/DSC00591.jpg

 

[LeakySeals]

The hard part will be pulling out that crush, a tough spot to work on. I would take it off, bang it out, fill it, paint it, put it back. If thats white, its an easy match. Top picture link, see that indent in the mold of the fender? Mask directly above it so the paint seam is hidden in the top of that indent.

 

[LeakySeals]

A dent puller would not be able to pull that out. The fender/quarter needs to be placed on a hard surface to bang out and reshape. If the fender is welded substantially they may opt to cut that off, use new sheet metal. I would just cut that off, reshape, weld it back on, fill and paint. That indent in the mold of the fender provides a place to hide a weld.

If I looked at it in person maybe I could get behind it, and with a hard surface in front bang it out while its on. Bottom line is this should not be hugely expensive, $500 or so

 

[The motor guy]

There is tons of room to get at it from behind.

 

[The motor guy]

most places want 7-800 to fix this. That doesn't even include the money for the side step which is another 800 for a set. It's really tough metal at that part. Surprising since the rest of the truck you can ding by just flicking your finger at the sheet metal.

 

[LeakySeals]

I was at $500, prices on supplies have likely gone up so its about right. The molded edge is in some cases stronger because it may have a thicker lip, a weld, or a support structure of some sort. If there is access I would try a large hammer on dolly but I get the feeling it will have to be removed to do it on a much larger scale closer to sledgehammer.

 

[mechtech2]

It is not hard to paint the whole panel.
The repair is the major amount of work.
Spraying is fast and easy - big deal if the whole panel is sprayed.
A bit more paint and some surface prep sanding, but hat is all.

Sure, a patch can blend in well, at least initially, but a whole panel repair is almost always best down the road.