primer over some sanded clear coat, or (b) block out remaining paint and spray primer

  • Thread starter FortMyersSteve2
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FortMyersSteve2

My 2005 Prius had a lot of stone chips (not 3-4, 25 - 50), some 1 mm or less, some larger chips, and scratches, on the hood, with some small rust specs. I figure the car is too old to be worth getting the panel professionally repainted, but the problems too extensive to touch up with a paint pen. So I have sanded all of the damaged areas. There are probably 20 + places where this took me down to bare metal, 1 mm diameter spots at the smallest and 1 sq. centimeter of bare metal at the largest. Everything is sanded and compounded very smooth now, but of course the areas that needed the most sanding are lower than the areas I barely touched. First question is can I just spray primer over everything, thus covering the bare metal but also spraying over lightly sanded clear coat in some places? Then just add color and clear and quit? But at minimum that will leave the level uneven, I guess - does it really matter that much? If that's a bad idea, do I have to now sand the entire panel to bare metal and start from scratch with primer? Or could I block off as much of the clear coat as feasible and start covering the bare metal with primer, using a spray can for larger areas and toothpick / mini brush dabs for areas smaller than the size of a pencil eraser? Second question is, if I can avoid having to sand down everything down to bare metal, what's the best way to build up the level of areas that are just slightly lower due to absence of clear coat, color and primer, so that they are pretty even in height with the original finish? These are not dents, for the most part, just dings, and to my eye I don't even see the difference in level, but know it must be there. Do I use multiple coats of each (primer, color and clear) with other areas masked, using spray for larger areas and toothpick / mini brush dabs for smaller areas, applying coats until I have it leveled? My goal is not a perfect car. My goal is that the hood panel looks as good as the other car panels, without spending money or the next 6 months of weekends. The rest of the car exterior is 15 years old but without significant damage. Car is unlikely to last more than 2 - 5 more years from now. I have a touch-up kit with a can of primer, one of matching color and one of clear coat, and also have a touch up pen I could use on the very small dings. I don't think this site enables uploading photos. If there is a better place to post this, send me a link. Thanks.
 
Any of the build primers available here would work ..they can be applied over any existing clear coat that is stable. They can be rolled on if necessary..not ideal,but can be done. I would use epoxy then block sand to level. Spray a reduced coat of epoxy when done, then topcoat
 
the big point is defining stable, if you were sanding a rock chip and the paint around it ended up lifting when you were sanding off the spot, then you might want to look deeper or create larger areas of bare metal to be sure. Main point is finding your first coat that is happy bonding to bare metal and over painted surfaces. If you are going to spot prime, make sure you are scuffed everywhere you are priming. As far as being uneven, its still a pretty decent place to be with paint still on the surface since you will block the primer off and you should be able to see paint where its good and leave the primer on the low spots. Think of is as a reverse guidecoat to let you know when its flat again.
 
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