I am new here and it has been 30+ years since I painted a car. A lot has changed. So I have some questions on door edge prep.

But before I get to the questions here is a little back ground on my situation.

2003 BMW station wagon (touring as they are called), with some bad rot on front door bottom edges. Actually where the outer skin folds over the inner skin is rotting away. So I went and found used doors that the junk yard told me were in great condition and were the correct paint code I was looking for. I drove 67 miles one way to get there to find that the doors were actually in great condition but "not" the correct paint code. So the door are metallic blue but not the right metallic blue, much darker.

There is also a fender (black), front hood (white) and a rear rear hatch (black) that are being replaced as well.

The body shop that is painting the car for me is telling me it will be an extra $2k, on top of the $2500 if they have to prep and paint the door and hatch edges and the underside of the hood. Seems a bit over the top to me. Now I don't really care if the entire underside of the hood is painted as after the heat shield goes back on you cant see under it so there is only a small 3" wide area that needs paint. My felling is that most of the extra cost will be in labor time.

So I am looking to do the prep and paint on the door edges and underside of the hood myself. Paint match does not have to be "exact" just rather close.

So my questions are as follows:

1. what is the easiest way to prep the door edges (part that has the latch in it and is between the outer skin and the inner trim panel?

2. What is the best primer to use?

3. Will a mixed paint in a spray can from a auto paint supply house be close?

4. Or should I just prep by what ever is the best answer to question 1 and then let the body shop spray it?

Any other suggestions will be certainly reviewed and taken into consideration as well.

Thanks Eric

Estimates are free, have you checked with another shop?

And you have to make sure what ever you do is OK with the shop that will be doing the work. If you explain your planned methods, they are not likely to be agreeable. You just don't have the required equipment to start a job that they would be willing to guarantee.

In the future its important to keep all the drain holes open on doors and such. It doesn't prevent rust, but it does slow it down.

To be fair to the shop, it takes a LOT of work to prep and paint door jambs and trunk/hood edges. I'd rather do the body, than all the edges! ( I am a serious hobbyist, don't work for a bodyshop)
Yes, you can prep and paint them yourself, but the problem with doing this, is that you will be using inferior materials, unless you use a compressor and spray gun, and buy the same primer and paint the shop uses.
If you use 'spray can' stuff, most likely it will all lift or wrinkle at the edges, where paint and overspray from shooting the exterior infiltrate. The solvents used in the "real" paints will lift the cheaper spray can paint. If you are real serious about doing this, you might want to tell the shop not to shoot the jambs, let the paint dry well, and then "backtape" the body, and shoot the Jambs later. The only problem with this approach, is that the spray can stuff may be lacquer based, and IT might attack any paint that crept inside the jambs, and wrinkle it.
this happens a lot with different, or incompatible types of paint.

chevman wrote:Estimates are free, have you checked with another shop?

This is the only shop within an 80 mile radius of my home in Massachusetts that will even touch the car. There is some other rust on the car and no other shop will even give me an estimate. They response is always "we dont do rust work". I have checked with over 150 shops.

chevman wrote:And you have to make sure what ever you do is OK with the shop that will be doing the work. If you explain your planned methods, they are not likely to be agreeable. You just don't have the required equipment to start a job that they would be willing to guarantee.

This was part of our more than 1 hour conversation about the work that needed to be done. He was okay with me doing the door jambs.

chevman wrote:In the future its important to keep all the drain holes open on doors and such. It doesn't prevent rust, but it does slow it down.

Not to sound mean and nasty here but i know how to take care of a car. Drain holes are clear and the problem is NOT from water inside the doors it is from the sand/salt/calcium cloride they use on the roads during the winter up here in Massachusetts.

So my questions in my first post still stand.

chopolds wrote:To be fair to the shop, it takes a LOT of work to prep and paint door jambs and trunk/hood edges. I'd rather do the body, than all the edges! ( I am a serious hobbyist, don't work for a bodyshop)
Yes, you can prep and paint them yourself, but the problem with doing this, is that you will be using inferior materials, unless you use a compressor and spray gun, and buy the same primer and paint the shop uses.

This is exactly why I have asked questions. The fact is that he actually mentioned the prep to me not me asking him.

chopolds wrote:If you use 'spray can' stuff, most likely it will all lift or wrinkle at the edges, where paint and overspray from shooting the exterior infiltrate. The solvents used in the "real" paints will lift the cheaper spray can paint. If you are real serious about doing this, you might want to tell the shop not to shoot the jambs, let the paint dry well, and then "backtape" the body, and shoot the Jambs later. The only problem with this approach, is that the spray can stuff may be lacquer based, and IT might attack any paint that crept inside the jambs, and wrinkle it.
this happens a lot with different, or incompatible types of paint.

After another conversation today i know what primer will be used so that will not be a problem. And as for the "paint" it will be "Exactly" the same that is used on the body and all come from the same supply shop. Only difference there is that they put it in a spray can for easier use.

Thanks for the suggestion on painting it after the rest of the car is done and dried for a few weeks and go back and tape off and spray the jambs.

What I may do is just the prep on them to save them on the labor time and have the paint them.

I am also doing all the PDR on the car and yes i have been to a formal in person class. So although I am not an expert but I really do have good instructions and practice on doing it.


So maybe I should modify my questions.

1. What is the best way to Prep the door jambs?

2. Color match from a spray can to compressor/spray gun, using the same paint, how close will it be?

Prep the jambs exactly like you'd prep the body for paint. Super clean, sanded to a 400 or 500 grit surface. Primer (sanded) over any bare spots. If changing colors, you can probable sand with a slightly rougher paper, as it may need a coat of sealer, before color. Same color, finer paper.
Color match? Maybe. If a pearl or metallic, probably not, unless you practice, and are good, and are lucky. Solid color, probably match, but sometimes spray technique, and temperature/humidity/ dry time can affect solids when spraying. But then again, in the jambs, a slight mismatch won't be very noticeable.

chopolds wrote:Prep the jambs exactly like you'd prep the body for paint. Super clean, sanded to a 400 or 500 grit surface. Primer (sanded) over any bare spots. If changing colors, you can probable sand with a slightly rougher paper, as it may need a coat of sealer, before color. Same color, finer paper.
Color match? Maybe. If a pearl or metallic, probably not, unless you practice, and are good, and are lucky. Solid color, probably match, but sometimes spray technique, and temperature/humidity/ dry time can affect solids when spraying. But then again, in the jambs, a slight mismatch won't be very noticeable.

Thanks for the information. Color on the car is reaming the same. The color on the car is rare for these models so it is extremely difficult to find things like front hood and doors in that color. So the replacement parts are mostly black except for the front hood which is white.

A slight mismatch would be okay as it is only the door jambs on two front doors and rear hatch, and underside of front hood that will only be seen when open and not near the body obviously when open so it would be hard to tell as long as they are somewhat close.

I do a lot of interior house painting and 30 years ago best practice for excellent adhesion was to sand the walls especially for gloss and semi gloss. But now a days there are de-glossers that work very well just by using a a rag. Super easy. Wash the walls with deglosser then wash walls with plain water and paint. Takes less than 1/4 of the time of sanding.

I was kinda hoping there was something like that for automotive paint.

To assist on some of the labor time I will be removing bumpers, side moldings, door handles, roof rails etc.

I would really love to do this job myself but unfortunately i don't have a large enough garage to paint in. I only have about 3 feet on one side and 2 feet on the other when this car is in the garage, and that is with everything moved out that is stored along the walls.

Again Thanks for the info.

To make things go quicker, there is a product you can use. It's called Sanding compound. A fine abrasive paste that you can 'scrub' the jambs with, using a fine Scotchbrite pad. It will clean and 'sand' at the same time. Usually used to prep E coated new panels for paint.
In the jambs it will be a good product to use, to get in corners and such.

chopolds,

Thanks, after searching on Sanding Compound and a few other terms I finally came across 2 products and just don't know which to get. thought maybe you might have some insight.

the two products are as follows:

3M Scuff It - http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Scuff-It-Paint-Prep-Gel?N=5002385+3293193987&rt=rud

Presta Scuff Stuff - http://www.prestaproducts.com/Scuff_Stuff__Surface_Prep-details.aspx

Both sound promising and 3M is a quality company so cudo's there and I have never heard of Presta but from reviews it seems like good products.

If you have any insight or opinions about either of these I would be grateful if you could share.

Thanks

3M maroon scotch brite pads and comet cleanser, at your local supermarket. be sure to wash with soap and water when done.
Jay D.