June 7, 2022 Videos

What Happens If You Paint Your Car The Wrong Color?

Intro

In this video, we’re going to show you how to fix a mismatched color. While we always recommend doing a test card, sometimes accidents happen.

In this case, this color does not match the original color. This can happen for a number of reasons. Maybe we made a mistake and sent you the wrong thing. Maybe someone ordered the wrong thing. Regardless, we’re gonna show you how to fix it.

Scuffing Up The Area

In this case the Entire Mirror was Clearcoated. We’re not going to be concerned with removing the paint, we’re only going to scuff it up, and respray it with the correct color. The easiest way to do that is by using 1000 grit sandpaper, a cup of water, and wet sand it.

What we’re doing here, is just removing the gloss. You just want to scuff it up, you DO NOT want to get into the white Basecoat. We’re going to paint over the current Clearcoat.

We’ve scuffed the entire area and there’s no need to re-prime. This is perfectly fine to paint color directly on this scuffed surface. We are going to use a Tack Cloth to clean it off then we will apply our color.

Applying Colorcoat

Now we’re ready for our first coat of color. The entire area has been scuffed up. Scuffed up means that the gloss is gone. We’ve also added a roll of tape underneath the mirror. This will allow for smooth even coverage all the way around the mirror. This mirror cap happens to be Tesla Catalina White. The entire mirror will be a solid white color when we’re done.

Now let’s apply our first coat. We want to hold the can of paint around 8-12 inches from the object. Even strokes all the way around. I like to do the edges first, then come back to thoroughly coat the entire area. Now we let the first coat dry. One thing you want to remember, you always want to carry the can beyond the area your painting. Start before the area and end after it. That will ensure the fan spray is even anacross the entire piece. Once the first coat is dry, which is usually around 15 – 20 minutes or you have a uniform matte finish we’re ready for the next coat. (A matte uniform finish is a good indication that the paint is dry.)

Applying Clearcoat

Now that we have good coverage and you can see both sides are the correct color, we’re ready to add our Clearcoat (execute the same painting techniques used when applying Colorcoat). And we let it dry (apply 2-3 coats). While it can be frustrating when you finish your paint job and the color comes out incorrectly, you can see its easy to repair.