Repairing paint may have been a stop-gap measure in our case, but the resulting glass-like finish is worth it. The car has a totally renewed look. Since the paint was so flawed to begin with, the repairs took three days to complete. It isn't a Saturday afternoon's work, but it's a lot quicker than a respray. The larger panel blends with our solid color are no less than perfect, with not even a haze of an edge visible where it meets the old paint. This was partly because we still had a half-quart of the paint used the last time the car was shot. It had been on the shelf for ten years, but still worked fine and matched perfectly. Some of the smaller repairs weren't quite invisible, but much less apparent than the original flaw, while others blended perfectly. Going down the road, the 'Cuda looks red-hot.
On the repaired quarter-panel,...
On the repaired quarter-panel, the paint is blended into the adjacent panel using the same technique as on the door.
Once all of the paint repairs...
Once all of the paint repairs are completed, the spots are wet sanded with 1500-grit paper until evenly flat. The whole car is then given a quick, light sanding with the 1500 grit to eliminate any overspray and in preparation for the final buffing.
Apply the cutting compound,...
Apply the cutting compound, which removes the sanding scratches and brings a dull shine to the surface.
Once the first cut is completed,...
Once the first cut is completed, the car is thoroughly washed. The cutting pad is swapped for a polishing pad, and the job is gone over with the finishing glaze to remove the swirl marks and bring up the final gloss. Man, does it look good.
Here's the repaired area of...
Here's the repaired area of the door. Even up close, not a hint of a blend line. The deep gouge shown earlier is in here somewhere, but we couldn't find the spot to take a photo. Likewise, the blend at the quarter repair is perfect, the fixed chips on the trunk extension panel are basically gone, and the highly oxidized hood and fender tops gleam like fresh paint.