This is for my '89 Olds 88, it is silver, and has the problem that GM had in the late 80's when switching the base coat/clear coat paint.... the paint on all horizontal surfaces (hood, roof and trunk) is fadded, while the sides of the car look great...

... started to spary paint the hood, roof and trunk of the car, first I spend alot of money on Dupli-color (worked nice) now I just got a bunch of Rustolium cans...... Anyway, I did the trunk and finsihed the hood today (still have half the roof to do) and while in general it looks alot better then before, it has the lighter/darker areas that you get from spray paint.... I was wondering if I could get a rubbing compound to try and blend it in..... it is obvious I am not going for perfection, I just got tired of looking at the fade spots, and on the hood it was down to primer, so I figured if it was mostly one color, it would be better....

If I get rubbing compound and a rag, will that do the job? or do I need something more? after I am done with the paint, I am undecided if I should hit it with clear coat... it is very dull right now (I don't care) but from previous experience with the CC, it may make it look even worse.... I would be real happy if I can get it to look more solid instead of blotchy.... when it is done, I will try to get some pics up, or if anyone woudl like pics to see what I mean.

I would get a contasting color - spray some kind of durogatory names all over. Then, file a claim w/insurance... :drinker

rubbing compound will not help with the color changes.

Those 'duplicolor' cans, or even the rustoleum ones aren't made for 'large-area' painting - the nozzle is too narrow.

maybe you could use a slightly different color silver, then give the car a psuedo-camo look. :lildevil:

well, the nozzel on the Dupli-color can was a special fan-spray thing, it actually worked good....

.... eh, I guess I will live with it, the Olds started out as a winter car, but now I like it so much that I will keep it on the road year-round, it'll be my daily driver, bad weather, work, knock-around car..... so i don't need to look stylish in it... that's what the '79 and '93 DeVille's are for :D

this is what the Olds looked like before my custom paint....

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/367639/5

When you are spraying, use the proper technique as you probably know, but I"ll repeat for others.
Here's a little diagram.

o1, o2 = start spray, end spray
-> = direction of spray

->->->o1->->->->->->->->->o2->->->
<-<-<-o2<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-<-o1<-<-<-

That's two strokes of spray for one area.

Remember always to keep the spray parallel to the surface that you are painting, and never use a "fan" technique where near the edges of the spray the can is more distant than it is from the middle. This is sometimes good for small touch ups, but for larger areas it is not recommended.
If you spray in one direction on the car, do it throughout the entire car. When spraying you can lightly sand using water and fine grit sandpaper to go over very lightly areas that you've sprayed to give them a smoother surface to reduce that "orange peel" effect.
Leave each coat to dry for 20 min, and when the job is done, give it week. If you clear coat, it can dry in a day but ensure that you do NOT wax for at least a month, as the paint is still drying.

yeah, I was letting off when changing direction like you said..... I think the thing is, it seems like every other sweep is either darker or lighter.... perhaps I just need to go over the ligther areas? I have 3.5 cans left, and need to finish the hood and roof, I think it'll be enough, once I use them up though, that'll be it.... instead of saying to people.... yeah the paint looks crappy becuase of GM's paint problem, it fades, I can now say, yeah, that is a custom, spray-paint, paint job.... won't find that at Macco :D

Honestly, since the sides are still fine, it is mostly the hood (as I got the trunk pretty good) and the roof is higher, so if I can get the hood to be better, I think my $50 paint job will make the car look better.....