When to apply intercoat on a tri coat spot repair?
- Thread starter CK-2
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I sometimes use intercoat before spraying the base. Just spray it past where your blends will be. The key to the pearl white is to get the white base blended out where it is unnoticeable. The midcoat spray as you would a light metallic like silver, medium light to medium coats. The first should go just past your white blend, and the second out a little farther. If the midcoat blend looks a little funny, you can mix the midcoat 50/50 with reduced intercoat and blend out a little farther. The midcoat can really help as a first coat under a light metallic color, especially if your helper sands with 600 and doesn't get the 320 scratches all the way out 
Do you mean the intercoat can really help as a first coat?The midcoat can really help as a first coat under a light metallic color, especially if your helper sands with 600 and doesn't get the 320 scratches all the way out
My take.......If you didn't sand it properly.....meaning used too coarse of a grit or didn't get out all of previous grit scratches. For example final wet with 600 but not enough to get out the 320 dry scratches where you sanded the primer over the repair area. Then it is useful. But if you prepped it right not necessary.
Personally I always discourage painters with limited experience from using it as if you prep it right it is not necessary. Especially on a bumper cover. You don't want to blend on a BC either unless you have too. Fix the repair areas, if priming dry sand 320 then wet sand 600 in the primed areas. After that you can either sand lightly (remove texture) with 800 over the entire cover. (Useful if you do not intend to seal the repair areas) After 800, grey scotchbrite and sanding paste (Presta Suff Stuff). Or you can skip the 800 (with the exception) of your already sanded areas and go directly to the grey scotchbrite and scuff stuff.
Then after W&G remover and ready to spray either seal or not. Base, then midcoat (pearl-coat) and clear. No need for intercoat especially if you are not blending. You could use inter like TK said above if you are having issues with the pearl but pearl mids are generally pretty easy to spray. Especially OEM type stuff. Follow TK's advice above as to spraying it.
Think TK said it but two coats of mid (pearl) is generally all that's necessary to match OEM.
Thanks for the replies. After washing the bumper cover with dawn I cleaned with wax and grease remover. Then I wet sanded with 800 wet followed by prep paste and gray scotchbrite.
Then any shiny spots I could see I hit again with 800. I fixed the repair area, sealed with epoxy, and then 2k turbo. Sanded turbo with 320 dry, then 600 wet and sealed.
The rock chips were sanded out and sealed. I was planning on spotting in the white base just in the repair area and the spots where I had repaired small rock chips. Then spotting in Pearl over those same areas using technique TK mentioned, then reduce the mid coat Pearl 50/50 with reduced intercoat and give the whole area a coat of that just to blend, then clear. Sound ok?
Just wasn’t sure how the Pearl would lay down over my spotted bass areas where I fixed the rock chips vs over intercoat. Sorry for the rehash just wanted to tell you all what I’ve done up to this point.
Then any shiny spots I could see I hit again with 800. I fixed the repair area, sealed with epoxy, and then 2k turbo. Sanded turbo with 320 dry, then 600 wet and sealed.
The rock chips were sanded out and sealed. I was planning on spotting in the white base just in the repair area and the spots where I had repaired small rock chips. Then spotting in Pearl over those same areas using technique TK mentioned, then reduce the mid coat Pearl 50/50 with reduced intercoat and give the whole area a coat of that just to blend, then clear. Sound ok?
Just wasn’t sure how the Pearl would lay down over my spotted bass areas where I fixed the rock chips vs over intercoat. Sorry for the rehash just wanted to tell you all what I’ve done up to this point.
As long as the spotted base areas are blended out and don't look like "spots", you will be fine. If all the damage is on the front of the cover, I would shoot base on the whole front, then go past that with the midcoat. No reason to make multiple blends, unless you just want to practice
Trying to do more than one blend on something like a bumper cover gets complicated and you'll find yourself overlapping each blend area most likely. Hard enough to do with a base/clear, harder still to get it to look right with a three stage. Do as Texas said or repaint the entire cover. Those are the only two ways any Shop would do it. Not criticizing you, but your plan is waaaay more work than necessary. Keep it simple.
As Chris mentioned above, most of the time bumper covers are refinished complete for a couple reasons. First they normally have more damage than any panel on the car. Second, sanding them enough for good adhesion usually results in sand throughs on any edges. Bumpers usually don't match well anyway, so blending to keep color away from the edges where the hood and fender meet the cover is a waste of time unless your color is farther off than the factory match was. I have blended covers many times to keep the color away from edges, only to say to myself "why did you even bother?" after putting the cover back on and it still didn't match.
