Mike, Thanks.. Ya I thought about that.. The dents I have in the bumper and one fender on that truck were self inflicted so I got to beat on the guy that did it. But breaking into the cover is what I was worried about too, I'm in the same boat with being on the road and carrying stuff.

Robert, I am taking in what both you and Dave have put down and putting it up against what I can be comfortable with doing myself. I want to take care if it ASAP as its right down to the primer and possibly beyond. The other small dents and scrubs I should be able to take care of with some light rubbing compound and polish. If money wasn't an object the fix would be simple.

 

Hey Hey Hey.....





His 12V is a 97....

 

I wasn't gonna say anything...

 

Wow....Dave has some experience...

Give me a break...Seen a few back yard hobbyist that could kick any so called highend body shop..Show car quality work... not some splash job and run them out the door..

Show me some of your paint jobs..maybe I'm wrong..

 

I guess I have unintentionally offended you. I wasn't trying to take shots.

What I was trying to say was you seem confident you can blend it so that is an option, and if dabbing it in doesn't turn out, doing that doesn't prevent him from moving on to a more expensive repair. I was trying to say you seem confident it will look good, so with your help it is a reasonable option.

I don't think he should attempt to blend it himself.

I would love to show you some of my work, but except for the occasional spot in my own vehicles, trying to find something from from that long ago would be tough.

When my Rampage is done you can come pick holes in it. Based on my lack of time to spend working on it, that may be a while.

Anyway something got lost in the translation.

 

Sorry Rob...I got way to defensive...again..

Your way would be the best way..

 

Ok.. I got yet another opinion. Another trusted source, my Father-in-law. He worked in a paint shop for years as a top end body man doing custom work out in Ontario with award winning paint jobs. As luck would have it, he was up my way this weekend and we looked at it.

He was of the same opinion as you guys as far as getting rid of it. Shoot the panel if you want it to be completely gone and show room quality. Other than that, get some of the paint and clear and a very fine pin-line brush and try to fill it in very carefully with the wet sanding etc after to polish it out. The smallest brush you can get, probably from a hobby store. I happen to have some of those for my model car paint stuff.

I am going to the shop today to see if they can spare some paint and clear and see what they think too. After that I will have to roll up my sleeves and see if I can get steady enough to fill it in.

We all have to sit down for a after this is done!

 

Well when you take pride in your work that happens...

We've beat this to death and probably sent lil dog to Ponoka.

lil dog, hopefully it works out no matter how you choose to do it. Definatly the best of a bad situation.

Never did say sorry for your luck.

 

Robert, hey its all good. I wish everyone was as passionate about their work as both you and Dave are. Those people are few and far between. You can add one more to that list however. This morning I made my way around the city and worked my way down to my end point.

First, went to the MAACO shop where it was painted. No luck on touch up paint or clear as they "don't keep it as it hardens right away". They offered to shoot the panel to the tune of $400. There is a new GM there and he suggested using touch up paint from Can Tire to do the best you can. Not exactly what I wanted to hear.

Second, with that I went down to CAPS here in town that is the paint supplier for the shops around here. I thought I should get the good stuff from them instead of the cheap junk from Can Tire. Talked with them about it, they looked at it and one of the older gentlemen described how it would be difficult to blend, even with blending agents without edges. We were sourcing out some of the products when he pulled a card from the pile and told me to talk to another little shop in town and see what they think.

So off to the third shop, Color Tech. This is where the passion comes in. The owner looked it over and it was similar in that it would be the show condition repair of shooting the panel. However he could fill it in, with multiple coats with polishing and it would look "300% better" but never will be totally gone. We discussed air brushing and other techniques here and he was very passionate about his experience doing this and all the different techniques he has tried over the years. From coloring it with paint on a rag and sanding it down to clear it to everything under the sun. He was confident the fill is the best approach for what I want to spend. So for around the $125 mark they will fill and polish the mark to the best they can do.

To me that seems like a reasonable approach. I have not done this type of repair before and they have all the right tools, chemicals and know how as to me not waste time trying to learn how to do this. The way I look at it its a bit of money to do that repair, but I would probably spend that much in tools/paint just to try it myself. The base was cheap, I was surprised at the cost of the Clear..

I'll let you know how this progresses.

 

I think you should get two great big
B.O.M.B.

stickers and put one on each side. 50.00. Or get real fancy and put your avatar on both sides...yeah thats it!

Or order more DTR decals...uhhh hmmm nevermind.

 

DTR, not a problem. Something might be wrong about going to gas compressor sites and processing facilities with the word B.O.M.B. on your truck..

 

They don't notice much out there. Shouldn't be a problem. One place that word is a problem is at the border.