Aerosol paint question

Angus · Post by **Angus** » 10 Apr 2007, 18:51

Hi All,

I have some bodywork dents to sort out on my Xsara estate.
The front wing has had a bash and the rear quarter panel has a crease that has dented the metal.
So far I have removed the front wing and bashed it back to shape and also bashed the crease from within the rear wheel arch. Its all back together now and the metal is within 2 or 3mm of where it should be, but I will need some filler and paint to finish it.

The color is Poseidon blue KMH and is a mid blue metalic.

What are my options with this, I have a touch up gun and compressor, but I have never sprayed metalic paint before. Can I touch up the middle of a panel or do I have to spray the whole thing? The paint has a lacquer on it, so could I spray the damage with an acrilic aerosol or aerosols then use some in a tin type laquer to give it a good finish? It doesent have to be perfect but I can see it looking like a dogs dinner.... I am also very unsure about using modern and toxic 2K paint, hence my thoughts on doing it with an aerosol. What do you think?

Angus

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 10 Apr 2007, 19:38

1) the correct paint code is found in the engine bay
2) be sure to use a zinc based primer to avoid breakthrough of the brown devil
3) paint the complete panel
4) blank off rest of the car - dried paint will cost you blood, sweat & tears to remove

You can use the cheap plastic foil used for blanking off floors when doing housework paintjobs.
5) do it inside your garage - never outdoors

Be patient : let the paint harden at least as recommanded by the paint manufacturer. Then polish the complete car.

Angus · Post by **Angus** » 10 Apr 2007, 20:01

Cheers Anders, Would you use aerosol paint or should I use 2K paint?
Strangly enough the paint has chipped back to the bare metal on the wing and no rust has appered, but it has a white powdery corrosion.... Are the wings galvanized on Xsaras?

Regards Angus

Post by **xantia_v6** » 10 Apr 2007, 21:08

Be a bit careful if buying paint by paint code. Citroen changed the paint formulation sometime in the early/mid 90s, but kept the same codes, so for many codes there are 2 "correct" shades. If you get touchup paint from Citroen, they need to know the year/model as well as the code for this reason, but most motor factors only know the one shown on thier catalogue.

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 10 Apr 2007, 22:24

Aerosol is the easy way. No messy spray tools.
Be sure to have the correct thinner handy for cleaning.

Last time we did a home spray job was on a BX front wing. This was galvanised.
The job was done outdoors (summertime)

What a mess

Half the paint flew away with the light wind and settled all over

Any nearby winged small insect decided to inspect the odd smell (or nice red colour) of the wet paint

But next time !

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 10 Apr 2007, 23:26

Metallic will be very hard to match from a spraycan, and any repair will always be noticeable- it's down to the way the flakes lay; when it was painted in the factory it was done to a set pattern, but an aerosol can just won't be able to replicate the flake pattern-spraycans work at such a low pressure they just chuck gobs of semi atomised paint at the panel, and with a metallic finish you would need to do the whole panel at least which won't be cheap or very successful from cans.

The best thing to do would be to take a bit of the car (or the whole car) to a paint factor, and get an exact as possible match made up, if you have a compressor and gun half a litre will do-it will probably be the smallest amount they will sell you, anyway.....and clear lacquer over it.

Last time we did a home spray job was on a BX front wing. This was galvanised.

Mine certainly aren't!! I didn't think there was anything galvanised on a BX, not that Ive seen on my one, anyway..I'm not so sure about the Xsara, but I wouldn't have thought that would have much in the way of galvanised outer panels either.

One word of warning, don't even think about using 2K without a properly force ventilated spraybooth and extractor mask: breathe it in and it'll at the minimum have you in hospital or the morgue- a chap on one of the classic forums I frequent tried using 2K at home, and ended up in casualty and spent a couple of days on oxygen with a REALLY bad headache and a lesson learned: you will come across people who claim to have used it on their driveway with no ill effects, but they'll have just been lucky....

Angus · Post by **Angus** » 13 Apr 2007, 14:28

Well, I have checked out the options and also bought a cheap Hycote aerosol in the correct colour....... I have tried this on a piece of spare metal... The finish I can obtain is not good, the colour match isnt bad but the metalic element of the paint is slightly different and would stick out like a sore thumb. I have also costed the materials to do the job properly from the local paint supplier and compairing that with the cost of having it done at the local bodyshop, its not realy worth the grief!!! The body shop mix the paint themselves to a paint match for the car and obviously only mix what they need, I guess they also pay less for the paint etc. So thats that!
Thanks for all the advice!!

Regards Angus