# Sticky  Smart repair tutorial and products used.



## Andyb0127

I thought this may be useful to members as a guide to refer to, to show how smart repairs are actually done and the process involved, techniques, products used. I would ask from the start that we keep this friendly as its for the members not a topic to slate smart repairers which has happened in the past.

This audi came into work only light damage, to o/s/f wing and bumper. id been asked about a write up for members as a guide and thought this would be ideal, i will add others that i think are suitable as a guide so it builds up more of a library for members.

Below are pictures of the damage, very minor.




To start this damage was flatted with P800, using a 3M rubber squeegy reason being that it will follow the contours of the area you are wet flatting, and where the edge are flatted back it will keep them flat and help to feather them. Dont be tempted to use your fingers as all this will do is create a groove in the paint which will show when its painted. so always use a rubber block where possible to keep it flat and smooth. As always the prep is key to any successful paint work. You will see below that we use 3M goldflex but wet&dry paper will do the same job. The suurounding area will be grey scothched as a key for the primer to stick. grey scotchbrite can be found at paint suppliers.



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Below it is all prepped and masked, in the first pic you will see where a plastic primer has been applied it looks like a wet area. Dont forget plastic primer as this is the adhesion promoter for primer it needs one light coat over any bare plastic, if you forget this stage your primer will not adhere to the plastic.. Next you will see a primer applied over it, as we use spies hecker products, this is a wash primer in aerosol form which is a 1k wash primer, an aerosol high build will be of the same quality. Upol aerosol primers will do the same job.


Above spies hecker plastic primer.

above spies hecker wash primer, this was used to seal the plastic of as prep work was done using fine finishing paper. if any filler was used then a 2k primer would be used. but if your filler has been finished with as finer paper as possible then you could use an aerosol primer. Which should end up looking like the picture below. Two coats have been applied in the picture. You may need to apply three to four coats if any filler has been used. but always remember to leave ten or fifteen mins between coats.

Prepping wise this will all be done wet using P1000 and P2000 abralon pads, again the same grade flatting paper will do the same job. Primer should be ideally left over night to fully cure thishad an infa red lamp on it for ten mins and allowed to cool. If i had filled this i would leave it till the next day to flat.


Once prepped this is how it should look, lighlty flatted with 1000, 2000, any areas where im going to fade laquer out will be prepped with P3000 ill get to that later why we do that.




Above is how it should look when line masked, this means you have just taped where the area is your going to paint. With smart repairs you need to look at the damage first then decide how far this is actually going to go and where you need to prep to, its mostly about looking and seeing what body you can mask to so its kept to a minimum. if you look at the picture above you will see its masked to a swage line on the wing, and contour lines on the bumper. the car will then have a masking sheet over the whole car. then cut out where i have line masked this will stop the car getting covered in overspray.
Below is how the colour is chosen, this is audi LZ7S Daytona gray, colour was shade was chosen using spectro. scan the colour then it is plugged into our computer. You have to manually enter the car make, and colour code, shade is chosen by spectro which in this case was GN shade


Colour has to be as close to ten as you can get it, this is the part you wont see if a paint supplier is matching your colour via spectro.


Closest to ten was 9.41 which is the shade we will be using.




Above shows traffic light system for colour match and how good it is and if spectro and colour dialog can shade it for you.

Below is all sheeted and masked ready for paint. At this stage dont forget to, solvent degrease, and water base degrease it to remove any contaminents prior to painting.


Above spies hecker anti-silcon, and water base degreaser. obviously there are cheaper versions which will do the same job. After this it will be blown off and a tack cloth will be used to remove any dust particles, when using a tack cloth dont push on it just go over the area very gently.

Below is first coat of colour, one very light coat then dried, with spies hecker after this all the colour is applied in one application covering coat and blending coat, known in the trade as a drop coat. if using aerosol cans it apply a coat dry it, apply a coat dry it leaving 10-15 between coats, obviously im using a spraygun as its more controlled we use iwata lph80 sprayguns for this.



Spraying pressure is one bar as above.
Below is all base colour application done this is how it should look with colour blended aswell. blending colours in takes alot of practice and technique, specially with repairs like this where your trying to keep colour to a minimum. obviuosly with an aerosol can it will be alot more difficult.

Below is the laquer we will be using smart express hs clear mixed 2:1 with no thinners, this is specially for smart repairs. dried via infa-red lamp for fifteen mins, cooled down then polished.

Smart express magic blend is what we will using as a fade out. I said earlier that we use P3000 where fade out is applied. as this fade out will be applied over that 25% clear, then 75% magic blend mixed with it.


You can use an aerosol fade out like above spies speed blender, but i prefer spraygun for more control.
Below first coat of clear applied just over the area where basecoat has been applied, this is just a three quarter coat, as with most modern hs clears there just 1.5 coats, as in one light coat, followed by one full wet coat. dont panic if your laquer seems to have a yellow tint to it, that is just the uv filters in it.

Second coat applied just past where first coat of clear was applied, then straight away fade out is applied over edges of clear, this is an aggresive type of thinner which will dissolve the laquer edges, but be carefull as this is practically neat thinners so will run very easily again it takes pracrice.





Above being dried via infa-red lamp for fifteen mins, no diffrerent to it being dried in a spray booth as it the panels temp that cures the paint.
Once dried below it has been wet flatted with P1500 to remove any imperfections, after this it will be P2000, followed by P3000 trizact, any type of finishing paper will do the same job. just remember not to flat the fade out as you will strike through this very easily.
3M compounds will used to polish this first fast cut plus, followed by extra fine plus. an ac delco cordless polisher will be used.

When polishing the fade out be very gentle and take your time, make sure its properly cooled down if possible leave over night polish it to soon and it will not polish in properly.
Below wing all flatted and ready to be polished using the polishing system mentioned above, just keep it to a light pressure with the polisher and be aware of the edges as these will strike through very easily.
Below are pictures of the end result of what can be achieved.








Any questions members may have just ask im sure other painters would also help with advice.


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## Fastidious

so clever!


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## Bill58

Thanks for posting Andy.


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## rookie7

Nice job, if you use a mini gun what size compressor would you need if that is a mini gun in the picture cheers


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## Andyb0127

rookie7 said:


> Nice job, if you use a mini gun what size compressor would you need if that is a mini gun in the picture cheers


Thanks:thumb:
Yes that is a mini gun in picture, obviously i wouldnt expect a beginner/novice to buy these type of guns, as there are cheaper versions which would be better to start off with and practice with which are available on ebay. The compressor i have at home is a small 50 litre tank oil less 2hp which plugs straight into the mains, some thing like that would be ample for small paint jobs as it done at a low pressure.:thumb:


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## enc

Brilliant :thumb: I look forward to more installments 

Obviously this is the 'top end' of smart repair work. 
If you dont mind me asking Andy, roughly how much would this cost?


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## Goodfella36

Great work what distance and temp are you using the IR lights at :thumb:


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## Andyb0127

enc said:


> Brilliant :thumb: I look forward to more installments
> 
> Obviously this is the 'top end' of smart repair work.
> If you dont mind me asking Andy, roughly how much would this cost?


Thanks mate. :thumb:
I think my manager charged around £220+vat to do this job. :thumb:


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## Andyb0127

Goodfella36 said:


> Great work what distance and temp are you using the IR lights at :thumb:


Thanks :thumb
These infa-red lamps these distance should be around three feet away from the panel. :thumb:


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## supernova-dw

Very nice job indeed!!!

Not a criticisation at all but a genuine question.... When doing a repair like this myself I would lacquer the entire panel. What in your opinion is the advantage of fading out the lacquer over doing the whole panel? Sorry just a bit stuck in the past when it comes to my techniques.


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## ted11

Great thread Andy, you have given a great understanding of how a local repair should be done properly, unfortunately most smart repairers do not repair to this standard. 
Well done mate.


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## steveo3002

please understand folks , this is a world away from what some of these bandits will do to your car for £50 on the driveway under a unbrella in the drizzle on a winters day

nice job there , looks a treat


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## enc

Andyb0127 said:


> Thanks mate. :thumb:
> I think my manager charged around £220+vat to do this job. :thumb:


Not bad considering what's gone into this !!!


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## squiggs

steveo3002 said:


> please understand folks , this is a world away from what some of these bandits will do to your car for £50 on the driveway under a unbrella in the drizzle on a winters day
> 
> nice job there , looks a treat


Agreed - but with the correct equipment (I carry a large marquee) it can be done.
I know price isn't always a sign of quality but £50 quid wouldn't cover the price of decent products - and as we can see to produce a well turned out job the process isn't something that's can be rushed.
If you're quoted to cheap you have to ask yourself how much care and attention is going to be taken and what quality of products will be used - both of which will effect the quality and longevity of the repair.


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## gatecrasher3

Fascinating guide and a great insight as to what can be achieved by a professional smart repair.


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## Andyb0127

supernova-dw said:


> Very nice job indeed!!!
> 
> Not a criticisation at all but a genuine question.... When doing a repair like this myself I would lacquer the entire panel. What in your opinion is the advantage of fading out the lacquer over doing the whole panel? Sorry just a bit stuck in the past when it comes to my techniques.


Thanks mate. :thumb:
Alot probably would just clear the whole panel. The only real advantage to this really, is that if it went to a body shop the price would most likely be alot more. As they would remove the bumper, headlight, and so on and prob want the car for 3-4 days where this was done in a day.:thumb:


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## Gaz|

I've just had some numpty scrape the back of my brand New Audi... It's in the very centre of my rear bumper.. Couple spots gone back to base, the rest look maybe like a polish out.. I've been told by 2 Audi spray garages it's a bumper off complete re spray of the bumper, as unable to "blend the clear coat in"... Would this be true? As I don't want to take it to a smart repair if its going to look odd, I might have to coff up the £350 + VAT at Audi.. ;/ I'll try edit this with photos in a min.

Edit: some pics:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/h17ilxfgm5dsbfm/20141103_100427.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1ha7knsfkjviuo/20141103_100432.jpg?dl=0


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## squiggs

Gaz| said:


> I've just had some numpty scrape the back of my brand New Audi... It's in the very centre of my rear bumper.. Couple spots gone back to base, the rest look maybe like a polish out.. I've been told by 2 Audi spray garages it's a bumper off complete re spray of the bumper, as unable to "blend the clear coat in"... Would this be true? As I don't want to take it to a smart repair if its going to look odd, I might have to coff up the £350 + VAT at Audi.. ;/ I'll try edit this with photos in a min.
> 
> Edit: some pics:
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/h17ilxfgm5dsbfm/20141103_100427.jpg?dl=0
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1ha7knsfkjviuo/20141103_100432.jpg?dl=0


That can easily be done Smart - but as with bodyshops, you've got to find someone who knows how to get good & lasting results.
Their time established in the trade is usually a good indicator :thumb:


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## Andyb0127

Gaz| said:


> I've just had some numpty scrape the back of my brand New Audi... It's in the very centre of my rear bumper.. Couple spots gone back to base, the rest look maybe like a polish out.. I've been told by 2 Audi spray garages it's a bumper off complete re spray of the bumper, as unable to "blend the clear coat in"... Would this be true? As I don't want to take it to a smart repair if its going to look odd, I might have to coff up the £350 + VAT at Audi.. ;/ I'll try edit this with photos in a min.
> 
> Edit: some pics:
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/h17ilxfgm5dsbfm/20141103_100427.jpg?dl=0
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/b1ha7knsfkjviuo/20141103_100432.jpg?dl=0


It wont be audi that did the work it would go to there approved bodyshop. But there is no reason why it cannot be done by smart repair. It wont look odd at all or out of place. As squiggs has said time established will give you a good idea. If your in the Essex area we work with audi in Harold wood. :thumb:


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## Gaz|

Awesome.. yeah i was referred to an audi approved body shop.. it was them that said it would be a bumper off respray job, and when i mentioned about blowing it in.. he said theres not a right "line" to blow into.. and would leave a lacquer line?


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## mr paint

Ask other body shops you will be able to get a cheaper quote than that!


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## dhali

Amazing work. And an incredible amount of work gone into it. But the results speak for themselves.


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## James_R

Very informative write up Andy.
Thanks for sharing - just goes to show the care and time some repairers put into giving the customer a proper job.

Enjoyed reading this


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## Graeme1

Looks a nice job, can I ask why you didn't either a) do the whole wing or b) do all the wing upto the swage?

Had a job pretty similar to this in today for the day and it was quicker to paint the whole wing rather than time to polish the blend in and obviously no risk of it ever reappearing.


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## TonyH38

A superb job thank you for the post.


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## CD Cornwall

Graeme1 said:


> Looks a nice job, can I ask why you didn't either a) do the whole wing or b) do all the wing upto the swage?
> 
> Had a job pretty similar to this in today for the day and it was quicker to paint the whole wing rather than time to polish the blend in and obviously no risk of it ever reappearing.


The whole point of SMART is to keep it small. Our skills in blending paint and fading out lacquer seamlessly are what it's all about. Traditional bodyshops paint large areas because it's easier. We use fewer materials and take less time with less impact on the environment and done correctly, an invisible repair that WILL last despite some perceptions.

Cheers
David


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## marc147

That was a really good read, good to see it done step by step and the work that goes into it


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## Graeme1

CD Cornwall said:


> The whole point of SMART is to keep it small. Our skills in blending paint and fading out lacquer seamlessly are what it's all about. Traditional bodyshops paint large areas because it's easier. We use fewer materials and take less time with less impact on the environment and done correctly, an invisible repair that WILL last despite some perceptions.
> 
> Cheers
> David


Can see your point about less materials but the others I'm sorry but don't agree with at all. Less time, not really with having to blend and also a lot more time in polishing. Less impact on the environment, Most "smart" repairs are done out of a booth so allowing all of the fumes escape into the environment as opposed to in a controlled booth with proper extraction filters. There was a big thread on the abp about it.

And you can not 100% guarantee you will never be able to see the line over many years to come unless full panels are done.


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## Sicskate

I 100% guarantee I'd spot it 

But that's my job, joe blogs might never notice.


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## Andyb0127

Graeme1 said:


> Looks a nice job, can I ask why you didn't either a) do the whole wing or b) do all the wing upto the swage?
> 
> Had a job pretty similar to this in today for the day and it was quicker to paint the whole wing rather than time to polish the blend in and obviously no risk of it ever reappearing.


Then as David has said, going down that route is not a smart repair. You say its quicker, but I think you would be surprised how long this took. Probably no longer than the job you've mentioned if not quicker. There's no risk of this appearing as its done correctly. We have returning customers that we've done smart repairs for, some over a year ago and there's no signs of any laquer fade out appearing. People just have the wrong understanding or or don't know how to do a smart repair correctly.


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## Rammy

So you could get all those products in aerosol if you was going to have a go at DIY ?


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## President Swirl

Text book mate.


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## squiggs

Sicskate said:


> I 100% guarantee I'd spot it
> 
> But that's my job, joe blogs might never notice.


I repaired my old Dads car about 4 years ago - and I can 100% say I can't see it today.


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## squiggs

Graeme1 said:


> Can see your point about less materials but the others I'm sorry but don't agree with at all. *Less time, not really with having to blend and also a lot more time in polishing*.


If the panel's prepped properly and blended properly then it really shouldn't take much more time polishing the blend than the rest of the repair. 
If it takes a long time to polish in then yes I agree with you that you're wasting time blending - but it will down to either bad prep or bad gun technique. 
A competent smart repairer will carry out blending on almost every job he does - therefore it stands to reason he will better at it than someone who prefers to go edge to edge.



Graeme1 said:


> And you can not 100% guarantee you will never be able to see the line over many years to come unless full panels are done.


See my previous post


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## Sicskate

He has done an excellent job, no doubt about that 

I was just stating that it's my job to pick up on previous repairs, good ones and bad ones. 

I can tell you for a fact that my car has been repaired 5 times.

1 door skin
Both bumpers (separate jobs)
A dog leg
And I have painted the spoiler and bumper trims. 

All have been done well, but all had different finishes, blending marks and prep marks.


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## waqasr

Andy, that is an amazing job, you'd never be able to tell it was done.

Could a similar process be done to this damage on my car? Its a pearl colour vw LC7V, its the dent only not the scratch, I diy'd the scratch and i can live with how that looks but the dent is still there.


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## squiggs

PDR (Paintless Dent Removal) is the way to go for dents that don't require painting.


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## Andyb0127

Rammy said:


> So you could get all those products in aerosol if you was going to have a go at DIY ?


Yes you can get these in aerosols, but the lacquer will be 1k product. As would the primer, any decent paint supplier will be able to mix the paint, and advise you on products you need.


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## Andyb0127

waqasr said:


> Andy, that is an amazing job, you'd never be able to tell it was done.
> 
> Could a similar process be done to this damage on my car? Its a pearl colour vw LC7V, its the dent only not the scratch, I diy'd the scratch and i can live with how that looks but the dent is still there.


Thanks mate.
Yes as squiggs has suggested pdr would be the route to take. If your in Essex j can give you the number of a reliable and very good pdr guy. :thumb:


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## waqasr

Im not far from essex so that number might be whats needed!


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## enc

@mods, can this be made a sticky please.


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## Andyb0127

waqasr said:


> Im not far from essex so that number might be whats needed!


Pm sent. :thumb:


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## SilentJB

Really good write up and something I need to think about.

Question I have is what would you do with a Pearl white paint?

My Father-In-Law has an Orchid Pearl White Honda Civic - He's getting on a bit and backed into another car. So he's left a scuff on the rear bumper. Is there a different technique for pearl colours. I said I would take a look at it for him.

Thanks.

Chris.


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## SamD

Silent, the only thing different will be applying the base coat then the pearl coat.


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## Andyb0127

Depends on your mixing scheme some come up as three stage perl some don't. Would be the experience of the person doing and if they've done let down sprayouts for it to give a more precise colum match.


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## Mr.Buff

Great rightup mate and a lovely finish!

I did an almost exact job to this with reguards to the vehicle type, colour and damage area except I had a decent dent to contend with.

This was a trade job so I wasnt as precise as you with my methods but the repair turned out nice. I opted to not do any fadeouts with this repair but youve done a cracking job of keeping the repair "smart". Lovely work.

Heres my attempt:


















































































Thanks for the post.

Martin


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## shepbomb

Excellent informative read that, cheers


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## pdrpaul

mr buff did you base and laquer the whole wing on this? or fade out base then laquer whole wing. looks good


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## REVERSiN

pdrpaul said:


> mr buff did you base and laquer the whole wing on this? or fade out base then laquer whole wing. looks good


From what it looks like he blended half wing and quarter bumber then laquered all. Nice finish well done.


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## dhali

Excellent work and very informative. Do you work mobile as well ?


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## Mr.Buff

REVERSiN said:


> From what it looks like he blended half wing and quarter bumber then laquered all. Nice finish well done.


Hi, I painted the whole wing and bumper corner (to the grill) where as the Original Poster faded the wing half way.

I was just showing a slightly different way of doing the same job in a more bodyshop approach. Smart repair is to try and keep the repair small and is very effective as you can see from the original post his blend is seemless. I would usually smart repair the above damage and blend in the same area he did but I lacquered the whole wing on this occasion as i wasnt sure how far i would need to apply the basecoat with it being a dint on the front wing.

Thanks
Martin


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## Andyb0127

Nice job there mate. Specially with daytona grey sometimes you do need a bigger area to loose that colour because of the coarse met it has in it. The one I did in this right was only a sales job so has to be kept to a minimum.


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## SamD

Just read this artical and it's spot on, great break down and a very nice end product.


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## H-M3

anyone please recommend a decent PDR person near east london? some Txxxxr of a cyclist decided to go into my side!!! now he denies any wrong.
thanks


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## robertdon777

Great job, obviously a much better job than many smart repairs.

One question though...not aimed specific at the thread.

When you get a stone chip, the colour underneath 90% of the time is White. Now 90% of all body repairs use a Grey primer, is there any reason for this?


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## Andyb0127

robertdon777 said:


> Great job, obviously a much better job than many smart repairs.
> 
> One question though...not aimed specific at the thread.
> 
> When you get a stone chip, the colour underneath 90% of the time is White. Now 90% of all body repairs use a Grey primer, is there any reason for this?


Sometimes depends on the colour, manufacturers will mostly use a primer that's shaded to what the colour is ie for lighter colours will be light primers, and then darker colours will be darker shade of primer it just helps with coverage of the base colour. Apart from some solid colours like red which primer shade will mostly be white, but our mixing scheme and computer system will tell us which shade the primer should be. But most primers will be grey it's just the standard shade of primer.


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## maxpayne

Hi,

Great job. I'd love to do this as a DIY project someday. For now I'm looking at repairs for A3 and given the damages (see below) do you think a smart repair would be worth it over taking to a body shop? I've had one quote so far of £650 from a body shop.


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## nam1989

top work on the audi a4 Andyb0127 
i was just wondering do you not buff the blend area before starting the repair?


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## enc

Just re read through your guide. Excellent stuff. 
Any chance of some more examples ?


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## Andyb0127

enc said:


> Just re read through your guide. Excellent stuff.
> Any chance of some more examples ?


A lot of the stuff I have now is full panels being painted but I can post them up if people would be interested.


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## enc

Andyb0127 said:


> A lot of the stuff I have now is full panels being painted but I can post them up if people would be interested.


Go for it Andy :thumb:


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## Jack R

Any chance of the photos being restored on the first page


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## charlie20vt

Hi Andy do you use 1000 then 2000 grit sandpaper to flat after primer ?

Thanks Charlie


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## bighead

hi Andy , just one question ... why are the pressure so low on the mini gun(1 bar ), I thought to get a good atomisation you need around 1.9 bar of pressure at the gun ?


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## Andyb0127

bighead said:


> hi Andy , just one question ... why are the pressure so low on the mini gun(1 bar ), I thought to get a good atomisation you need around 1.9 bar of pressure at the gun ?


Hi mate because there smaller with a 1.0 set up they don't require a higher pressure as with a full size gun i run sata 5000s which i run at two bar for base and two point two for clear.:thumb:


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## bighead

Thanks for the insight Andy


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