I have done the driver's front half of my 1998 Camry with Spray Duplicolor Touch Up Paint. I was complemented for a good month after I did it(it didn't fade or get messed at all, but people forgot it was crap before). It cost me about $20 to do everything with the proper number of coats and get it to the factory shine it once had.
Here's a tutorial I have written about the subject:
bought a 1998 Camry LE for $500 and am currently fixing it to give it to my mom. I don't want to add a ton of details, so below are the tips I bring. They were first posted by me in the Camry Forums of Toyota Nation.(Now at
http://gt6.u69.us/ have a resolution of 1024 x 768 or it looks like crap as the tables are misaligned)
-=Procedure=-
Step 1
Sanding off the old crap paint and surrounding area with 180 grit at first to get the paint off.
Step 2
Sand with 320 grit to get a finer edge to the paint.
Step 3
Sand with 600 grit to get the edge of where the bare surface is to be flush with the old paint.
Step 4
Clean any scratches up with 800 grit then proceed to spot putty if necessary. (assuming there is no actual damage, as mine just had bad paint)
Step 5
Prime with primer. Wait a day or so. The paint has to fully dry.
Step 6
Sand the primer with 800 grit until its nice and smooth.
Step 7
Prime it again, then wait yet another day for it to cure.
Step 8
Sand with 800 grit to get the spot nice and smooth. Then sand it again with the 1500 grit till its very very smooth.
Step 9
Shake the heck out of your can of touch up paint for a good 2 minutes. This is to make sure that you get a nice even flow of the metallic paint flakes.
Step 10
Paint at an acceptable distance at a temp of about 72 - 80ºF. Paint evenly and feather it in with the old paint. Let it dry for a day. Don't sand it.
Step 11
Do the same as in Step 10, and let that dry for at least 36 hours. When its dry and cured, sand it very lightly and not very long with the 2000 grit paper. If you sand it too much, the metallic part won't be even. Or worse yet, you'll get down to just the flakes and have it look silver.
Step 12
Make sure its nice out and not too humid. Shake the crap out of your can of clearcoat for a minute or two. Make sure the nozzle's clean and then spray it evenly with the can level over the top of the basecoat. Feather that even farther out than you did with the basecoat.
Step 13
Wait a day or two and then sand with the 2000 grit paper. Do it very lightly and briefly. It's only to make the final coat adhere that much better.
Step 14
Paint it with the clear coat again. Wait a day or two, then wet sand (sanding while making sure the paper is always wet) with 2000 grit paper. Sand until the clearcoat has a dull finish, but is very smooth to the touch.
Step 15
Wet sand with the 2500 grit paper a little while, remembering not to do it to much and eat through the clear coat.
Step 16
Wash the area with water. Get a buffer, not an orbital grinder, but a $30 buffer easily obtained at Meijer's or Wal-Mart. Put the Turtle Wax Buffing Compound on the buffing pad. Make sure to keep the buffing pad wet at all time, otherwise it can be too rough on the finish.
Step 17
Buff for a good minute for each square foot of painted area. Then remove the pad, wash the rubbing compount off of that and the car.
Step 18
If you did it right, the paint should be scratch free and smooth. Now you use the polishing compound the same way.
Step 19
Wash the polishing compound off.
Step 20
Hand wax the area with a wet rag and Turtle Wax Platinum Series Ultra Gloss Liquid or Paste Wax. Remove with a dry towel. Now your finish will shine like new.
It sounds like a lot of work, but for the most part, you're just waiting for paint to cure or bondo to dry. There are ways to cut steps out of the process, but I found this is the way I have been taught, and it seems the best way, how to get a factory shine out of touch up paint.
I have been complemented countless times for the paint job I did on my Triumph. I spent about $150 to paint the whole car, but I used a spray gun. All the steps still apply, but you have to use a gun instead of a can and that's about it.
-=Parts=-
-Cheap Regular Gray Primer @ 1.19 a 12oz. can
-Duplicolor Cashmere Beige Touch Up Paint @ 4.49 a 5oz. can
-Duplicolor Clear Top Coat Clearcoat @ 5.49 a 12oz. can
-3M Sandpaper in the following grades:
---180 Grit for sanding bondo.
---320 Grit for sanding bondo and sanding glazing and spot putty
---600 Grit for sanding before primer
---800 Grit for the sanding of primer
---1500 Grit for sanding before basecoat
---2000 Grit for sanding between base coats, but I don't sand the final coat
---2500 Grit for sanding the clearcoat.
-Turtle Wax Products:
---Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound for buffing out the clear coat scratches.
---Polishing Compound for good measure
---Turtle Wax Platinum Series High Gloss Liquid Wax for that showroom shine.
GOOD LUCK,
GT6