Help regarding touch up painting

[87DXHatch]

Well, I went to Napa and ordered some NH-512 Honda White paint yesterday and clearcoat. I went and picked it up today with some primer.

I have a bunch of tiny rust spots and 2 bigger areas (approx. fist sized, spread out). So I sprayed primer into the cap, used a brush and primed the rust spots.

Two hours later I went out and touched them up with the touch up paint.

Heres my plan: Tomorrow I am going to go to Ace and get their finest grit sandpaper. I plan to sand the paint spots down a little bit before clear coating them because they look pretty poor.

Is that the right strategy? Has anyone done this before and can give me some tips (even though its pretty much said and done?)

Thanks

(Ps, sorry for all the back ground information. If you notice I do that a lot; it's just my style ;) )

[Jims 86LXI HB]

The only thing I can say is for you to make double sure that the paint really is a match, before you use it. I matched my some paint using the factory color code. I had pulled a headlight eyelid from a junked accord. I painted it and put it on the car to see how it looked. Right away I noticed that it was darker than the rest of the car. I was really glad I used a part off a junk car instead of using the one off my car. It was close, but not close enough. Just be carefull.

Oh, btw the whole time I was painting it, I was thinking it looked like a good match. It wasn't until I put it on the car that I noticed it wasn't a match. Just my 2 cents.

[87DXHatch]

But is there anything wrong with my sanding down plan? I guess the color is a tiny bit off but the Napa people said putting clear coat on would make it a perfect match.

But there's also the fact that my paintjob is 15 years old and probably faded...

[Jims 86LXI HB]

Originally posted by 87DXHatch
But is there anything wrong with my sanding down plan? I guess the color is a tiny bit off but the Napa people said putting clear coat on would make it a perfect match.

But there's also the fact that my paintjob is 15 years old and probably faded...

I'd paint a piece of something or other and clear coat it, before I'd trust that advice. BTW, I aslo put 4 coats of clear on, so in my case they are dead wrong, the clear didn't change things.

As far as your plan goes, go ahead and sand those spots, but you'll need to spray the spots somehow. If you sand the spots, you won't have a proper look to the finish, even once the clear is applied over it. I guess you could try it on one spot and see if I'm right or not. But that has never worked for me.

I'd sand the spots and then place a piece of newspaper over the spot and draw a close circle around that spot and cut out that hole in the newspaper. then I'd mask a whole bunch around it with a bunch of newspaper. Then I'd very carefully make a couple of real light passes with the white. Carefully remove the mask, let it dry for a couple of days then re apply a new mask and apply a clear coat. That's what I'd do, but it's allot of work to say the least. And it's just my 2 cents. And sorry if it makes a complete repaint sound like a better idea
;)

[87DXHatch]

Well, I pretty much did all the painting yesterday, before getting any advice. Even now, the paint spots look pretty doggone close but I can't go back and undo it. I want to sand it because they look almost exact in color, but the bumps and ridges that I put in spots make them stand out if you look for them. The spots are pretty small.

Thanks for all the help, Jim