Tailgate paint repair write up w/ pics.

[jroyster06]

I put this on another forum but figured y'all would enjoy my misery just as much.


Here is my previous tailgate and why it needed to be replaced.
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I bought a Tailgate off of craigslist the other day, bought it at night was in a hurry looked great..... Untill the next day when i went to debadge the tailgate as my truck is not 4x4 and my entire truck is debagged.

This is the HORROR that i found...
Looks like the tailgate had been repainted and instead of removing the decals, they just taped them off and sprayed over them. Hence, i was left with the 2 layers of paint that looked like chicken poo. .

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I thought that maybe i could just wet sand and buff it and it would blend find, well it didnt. I ended up having to go to the stearlership and buy factory match paint in a can. I wet sanded the area's to be repainted with 800 grit. and sanded... . and sanded... . then a little more sanding.


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I then painted the areas and realized after doing one side NOT TO TAPE OFF WHERE YOUR GOING TO PAINT!!!!! You end up with a thick line that is a bear to sand off. After several coats and the paint was nice and dry. I wet sanded with 2000 grit. Then rubbed it and polished it with a random buffer. It got dark on me so i couldn't tell what it looks like in the sun. All and all it cost me 45 dollars to do the repairs myself. I think im going to do a little more sanding and buffing this weekend to make it perfect. As it sits right now im the only one that will probably notice.


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[MLee]

Power Block had a program last week that dealt with this subject on a hood that would stand out like a poo house in the fog. He started small and by the time he was done he had masked and sprayed and redefined the painted area 3-4 times, larger each time to where he didn't have a lot to sand but still had to blend a little. But his secret was to to back tape the edge so that he did NOT have a edge to deal with when he srayed the paint. By back tapping you don't have a tape edge against the area your working.

 

[jroyster06]

ON the 4x4 i taped and had to sand my line. On the other side where the emblem said dodge and heavy duty. I did not tape anything on this side. i just sprayed and wet sanded and it came out almost perfect. i will say though clean the entire tailgate before you spray. i used Acetone. This way your "over spray" will stick and when you wet sand it all ends up blending very well.