On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:20:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Nov 24, 3:01Â*pm, "Karl Townsend"
wrote:
A while back, I was dragging a culvert behind my tractor. It caught on a
concrete lip, stood straight up, then tipped over on my better half's car
hood.
She was not impressed.

OK, now I've bought a like new hood from the salvage yard, and she just got
a quote for $500 to paint it. That ain't gonna happen.

I'm pretty good at painting tractors and other equipment. Enough to know the
key is preparation. What steps should be taken to paint this hood? (I know
it has a clear coat over the white color, I need red with a clear coat) If I
don't get it right, the boss will just take it in.

Karl

When a panel is painted by itself the likelihood of it matching the
adjacent panels is nil. The typical method is to blend into the
surrounding panels, hence the $500.

And blended paint jobs look like crap 6 months later. For a full
panel, like a hood, I say paint it OFF THE CAR, and install it after
the paint is fully hardened. Wet sand with 2500 grit and polish and if
you got the right paint it will match. Use a slow reducer on metalics
to let the flake lie down.