So I did a quickie repair to the roof of the Discovery, and it looks…ok, actually. It’s really hard to notice unless you know where it was, and even then it’s hard to spot. I suspect from directly overhead that might be a different story, but I’ve been up on a ladder and it’s fine.
Considering I did it all in about eight hours, using rattle cans, I think it turned out ok, so yay. The paint, primer and clear coat came from paintscratch.com, and considering the paint on this car is almost 20 years old, I’m pretty pleased by how closely it matches. This size repair essentially uses an entire can of color, a tenth of a can of primer, and maybe a third of a can of clear.
I started by feathering the edges of the damage as best I could, and removing most of the surface rust.Here is that area primed. I wet sanded this with 600 grit to remove nits. You may wish to be less casual with your masking!Here’s the first coat of color…And more color. I decided to wet sand the color coat and polish it…probably not the most amazing idea, but it turned out OK in the end.Here’s the clear coat applied. I tried not to spray heavily up to the side masks, I have them there to limit overspray. It sort of worked.Here’s the masking removed. I then wet-sanded this with 1500 and 2000 paper, and then polished with compound. I didn’t get all of the scratches out, but honestly it fits in better with the surrounding original paint in that state (there aren’t many scratches left, to be clear).And here’s the car after the sanding and polishing. I feathered the hard edges of the “gloss” into the existing paint on either side, and sanded out most of the orange peel before hitting it with some compound.
I’m pleased at how well this turned out, given the starting point, materials, and time invested. Would this work as well for a big spot in the middle of the bonnet? Probably not. But up where it is? It’s great and a lot better than staring at a huge blurp.
By the by, the roof damage was definitely something liquid spilled onto the roof which was not paint-friendly. Did someone dump something out of the sunroof? Did the world’s biggest seagull bomb the car after drinking brake fluid? Who knows.
I also notice signs that the windshield has leaked from that corner, there’s extra silicone around the seal and the headliner inside is stained. I’ll have to keep my eye on it.
By the by, the roof damage was definitely something liquid spilled onto the roof which was not paint-friendly. Did someone dump something out of the sunroof? Did the world’s biggest seagull bomb the car after drinking brake fluid? Who knows.
I also notice signs that the windshield has leaked from that corner, there’s extra silicone around the seal and the headliner inside is stained. I’ll have to keep my eye on it.