REALLY NEED HELP

slammed57

Newbie
well after months and months of body work, paint and color sanding. my son comes by today to borrow a bottle jack. as he walks by the truck cab he turned and hit the rear of the cab....I about died!!!!! which now i have to body work that area. pictured below is the opposite side of the damaged one ( Iam to sick to post the damaged one!) once I body work it back into shape do i have to respray the whole cab or can I spray in the area highlighted below? it is a show truck. Respraying the cab will encompass the firewall, door jambs as well and a complete cutting and buffing 800-5000 grit by hand which was a tremendous amount of time. please tell me if can just cut this in the area below and how do i go about doing this? can I stop at the body line and spray in? I used universal clear on this. please help, I am in complete panic mode here
 

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Try searching using "Blending" in the search box and Chris_Hamilton in the by box.

Him and others gave me some excellent advice on blending.

Just my .02 worth

John
 
I bet the dent in your son's forehead is bigger than the dent on the cab. Man do I feel for you, it's not even mine and it's breaking my heart. It'll all work out for you.

My only suggestion besides panel blending is maybe using a professional paintless dent removal company.
 
Sucks that it happened. If you don't want to re-clear everything that you have too to not have a open edge, you can try this. Get some 2" tape. Practice laying it halfway on the panel and then turning the other half back on itself.
Once you can do that smoothly try this. Regular 3/4" tape above that bodyline. Extend it out to the rear of the cab where you have the large depression area. Continue down and around the edge (inside) of that depression onto the bottom. There should be a break line in the door jamb and on the bottom of the rocker. If you have clean break lines anywhere tape them off directly. No 2" tape on them. See the pic for clarity.

When you tape go at least 1/2-3/4" outside of the crease/body lines. Then mask everything off outside the tape line. Then you would take the 2" tape and lay it so only 1/2 of it is on the body. Position it so that it is close to the edge. It may take a few tries to get it positioned correctly. Flip it up and back on itself. This will give you a soft line that will buff easily. It works better than using the foam tape. Do this all around the perimeter. Use some 3/4" tape to hold the 2"tape in place if necessary. Don't try to tape it in one piece. Do the curve area (top line), then connect the sides. Hope that makes sense.

As for prep, after repairing the damage, wet sand with 600. Only enough to remove the gloss. Do the repair, prime it and sand. Make sure you have no sandthroughs. Don't seal the repair, Use some epoxy for primer and paint it within the window to ensure adhesion. In the one open area on the bottom just clear to the tape and go over it. Don't hose your coats on.

For your blend itself, keep it contained. As small as possible. First pass cover the actual repair area. 2nd pass extend out slightly. 3rd pass extend out slightly past your second coat. Once you can't see the repair area you are done.

Ask questions if you have them.

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Thanks so much Chris for the response. to clarify to see if Iam understanding correctly. once I finish the damaged area with filler work, primer, feathered out and taped off the area thats highlighted in yellow, I then wet sand the complete area in yellow in 600 to take gloss off, then don't reduce epoxy as sealer, but use regular epoxy ( a very light coat) just to the area where the filler work was done then base a few inches past the damaged area and then clear going further away from each coat?

I always put 5 coats of clear on because i sand 800-5000 then buff also, i can never lay universal out like glass , hence another reason i start with 800. Iam afraid only 3 coats wont be enough with out fear of sanding through. is it ok to go 5 coats?

also when rolling the 2" tape on to itself where that body line is at. Do I lay it right on that body line?
 
this is the good side the other side is where the damage is damage. Iam to sick to my stomach to show it!
That’s kind of like going to the doctor with a broken leg and saying you’re only going to let him see the good leg to figure out what’s wrong. Just post the pics so you can get accurate advice.

Putting epoxy over filler leaves a rough spot where the epoxy is as the filler soaks it up. It takes 2-3 coats of epoxy or a coat of 2k.
 
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