Bought some Omni U-Pol base and clear from local supplier. Counter guy ex-painter I have known for years. He talked me into painting on pin stripes with 3M Fine Line blue vinyl tape. Anyway, painted the junk fender today.

Three coats base with 90977 Harbor Freight gun; 30 PSI at the gun (trigger pulled). Then two coats Medium Solids Clear with DevilBis Plus (bought from this site) set to 34 PSI at the gun (trigger pulled). 80 degrees out I let the white coat set up for two hours then masked and shot bronze. Pulled tape after 25 minutes or so. Shot clear couple hours later cause I was tied up with other stuff. I Think orange peel minimum like a factory paint job. I will be happy if bed looks like the fender.

I have some 3/16" fine line tape coming tomorrow, that will help me get the stripes more accurate (only had 1/8" and 1/4" on hand not the right widths). If the 3/16" tape comes in I'll shoot the tail gate tomorrow.

Other note is the DevilBiss gun spit two small black specs out into the clear. Its a brand new gun and I only wiped out cup and ran some thinner through it. Should have disassembled and cleaned it before use. Oh well thats what a test panel is for....

Tail gate access panel painted next to the truck. I think the white is too far off to move forward with painting. I will contact local supplier on Monday.

Splash shield test fit. I took a rubber bucket bought from Walmart and cut the sides out of it to use to join the factory splash shields. The rubber bucket pieces are glued to original shields with 3M Super Weatherstrip Adhesive in black. Also fastened with self tapping screws to whats left of the inner wheel wells:

After a lot of running around I found another store location that was known for paint matching. Had them mix up an extra quart so I will have some extra:

Did some cleaning in the garage, hosed it out, trying to keep dirt/dust out of paint.

Masked off front of tail gate and painted jab area and back side. Couple specs of dust/dirt, no runs, coverage good, orange peel not too bad, overall pretty good. I sprayed the clear at 35 PSI I think I will back it down just a tad next time I see a little more texture in the surface then I think should be there.

I will have to get the environment much cleaner prior to painting bed sides. Also have a Motor Guard filter on the way.

Also sanded tail gate access panel down and painted again; while sanding previous paint I burned through clear on access panel in a couple areas and that caused bubbling when new base was applied. I will have to go back and sand and prime and base the bad areas then re-clear; I'll let it sit a couple days first . Leaned the hard way on that one...

I think the match is pretty good.

Are those cat paws in the new paint?

Just kidding. I read the other post about color matching and I agree with Bondo Merchant. Assemble it and see if it doesn't look better when there is more of it to fool the eye.

Tail gate hardware painted and bed back on saw horses. Ready to press forward....

Unless a color is dramatically off in hue or value, the difference between panels cannot be detected on the screen. So asking on the internet if a color is off does little good. It's no different that asking what a color is based on a screen representation. As far as your paint lifting on re-application of color on a burn through: This could have been avoided if basecoat hardener was added. Time and time again I see novices sanding through clear. Adding hardener to your base will stop lifting.

Sanded the frame, rear axle, leaf springs, drive shaft with 80 grit then two coats of rust converter. Ran new brake line all the way from the front to the back and replaced the axle brake lines too. All the brake lines in the front of the truck were replaced last year.

Sanded gas doors down front and back with 320 grit then epoxy prime.