OK, I finished appyling all of the coats of base. My problem is that the paint doesn't exactly match the rest of the door. The paint I have is supposed to be customized to match exactly. I understand that it can't be totally exact but I would expect it to be at least close.

Once I add the coats of clear, will that lighten the color a little bit? Also, I have paint lines where the tape was surrounding the damaged area on the door. Will these blend in once I sand and buff after applying the coats of clear?

Also, when applying the clear, should I protect the surrounding good paint from clear overspray? Or does that really matter considering the buffing process should blend it all in?

I have to admit that the paint covered the damaged are very well though.

Also, how long should I wait to apply the clearcoat? I don't want to do it too soon because I know that the clear can make the base run if it isn't dry enough yet.

Thanks!

It will look different with clear but chances are good it won't match. Paint oxidizes, and it's never mixed to match perfectly no matter what they tell you. You don't want paint edges in your base, you'll have to sand them down and repaint, blend or paint to an edge. Yes cover stuff from overspray, your car will feel like sandpaper if you dont. Wait 30 minutes and apply your first light coat of clear.