Tri-Coat Procedure

The car shown recieved new front sheet metal and the door has original undamaged paint. The entire door was prepped for paint as usual. Removing the molding would have been best but I didn't want to.

The new sheetmetal was sealed using a white sealer that is close to the base color. Sealing at this stage is optional but I had a couple cut throughs and it will save on base.

Now we start the application of the base coat keeping in mind the blend. The front sheet metal was based to full coverage. In this case one coat of DeBeer 500 series base. The base was continued into the first few inches of the door.

At this stage we started our first blend. One part of base was mixed with 4 parts of clear binder (DeBeer #577) to make the base transparent. A couple of coats were blended onto the door fading out about center as shown.

After adequate flash time, the intermediate or pearl coats were started. Each coat was applied evenly with a light and short blend in the door.

When color match was close, the pearl coat was again mixed with binder at a ratio of 4:1. This results in a very transparent paint. This was used to extend the blend further into the door. Two coats were applied which aid in the blend but have virtually no effect on the previously applied pearl coats.

A couple coats of urethane clear (Valspar 200MS) and the blend is undetectable. This job was completed without the aid of a let-down panel as it's easy to see the color match. However, if you find it easier to use one or if you need to verify the accuracy of the color making the panel could be helpful.