Recently, I sprayed the inside of the doors and underside of the hood of my 1986 F150 project truck. It's shadow blue metallic, ford paint code 7B. Back in 2013, I took it to a guy who was going to paint it for me, but he wound not being able to finish the project. I had forgotten that he had purchased paint for the project, and after 13 years, I had forgotten about it, too. It's been in a climate controlled environment since the truck came home, back in 2014. Recently, in preparation for paint the truck myself, I purchased 2 gallons of paint and reducer (same brand as before) and sprayed the underside of the hood and inside of the doors. I know it's just paint, but I was overthinking, and wondered if the older paint was still any good if I ran short, so I put it on the paint shaker for a while and then popped the clips off and opened the first can. There was no sludge in the bottom, so this morning, I sprayed a test panel with the same black sealer as the doors and hood, and then a couple coats of clear. Soooo.... My question for the group, should I mix the 2 older gallons with the 2 newer gallons, or just a couple quarts of older paint with the new paint to make sure I have plenty in case of having to respray something? Would the color change between the inside of the doors and the rest of the truck be noticeable enough to require those to be scuffed and resprayed? I am going to have to fix a screwup on one door anyway, so respraying it wouldn't be any more trouble. What do you guys think? Opinions, advice, suggestions welcome.

My project truck, El Guapo, is a 1986 F150 that was started back in 2010 and has been in pieces for the last 16 yrs. I took it to a guy who was going to paint it, but things happened, and after it was stripped and sprayed with primer, he moved back to California. I was left with a truck in primer, and no good way to finish it. That was 2014. Fast forward 12 yrs and I have it ready for paint. I built a paint booth and I'm now ready to get it done. A couple days ago, I finished the interior with epoxy and a couple coats of a single stage hot rod black. The next day, I did the inside of the cowl, hit it with seam sealer, and a couple coats of hot rod black. This morning, I sprayed the underside of the hood and the inside of the doors with black SPI Epoxy sealer followed by Tamco Shadow blue metallic (code 7B) and Tamco clearcoat. It's not perfect, but it came out pretty decent, and for my first attempt at painting a vehicle, I'll take it.

Aaron, Wanted to share pics and extend many thanks for your help and advice on all the processes!! Thank you for all you do!! I finished spraying the 65 Mustang on Saturday!! As you may recall, it’s Sherwin William’s “Ford Poppy Red” base and their DC5020 clear. Spraying the clear was tricky with the back to back “wet on wet” coats with no flash time - per the TDS. I’m letting it cure, and will begin the cut and buff process this upcoming weekend. I had some dust that settled on the clear and two small runs (wet on wet clear was tricky to spray - finished a panel and then resprayed the same panel again). Next project is the Mini-Bus in “Hawaiian purple pearl”. Will be diving into it as soon as this one is reassembled. Thanks again!! Talk to you on Saturday!! Bill

I’ve always worked in high volume shop, so I do my best to be efficient. This was my solution for addressing any finish Issues. I intended it to be as mobile as possible with the need for airlines or extension cords so all my polishers and sanders are battery operated. I was hoping to see anyone else’s to see if I’m missing some great ideas.

This is a mini hood that I got at an airbrush workshop several years ago. it's an aluminum panel stamped into a hood shape but it's about half size. Think the actual width is 28" or so. Mainly did this panel to keep me motivated while I slog through the body work and mechanical issues on a build I'm doing for the wife - A fiberglass bodied dune buggy. Wanted to see if I liked the main blue color (and I do). The base is Tamco's slick silver coarse metallic silver. The darker blue is Tamco' SoCal Candy. The lighter tealish blue is Tamco Monaco candy. This hasn't been cleared yet and it may never get that far- I'm gonna experiment a bit with some interference pearls in hopes of a ghost effect of flowing water. - Anyway, I thought I'd share. Apologies for the crap photo.