John Boy,
Here is what I do when I have to blend a spot
First off, I mask the area around where I am going to spot. I make sure this is quite always from the actual blending area. I usually take a piece of masking paper from a paper machine, then I lay it on top of the area that I am spotting, then I roll the paper backwards, This helps "soften" the edge of the blend in case overspray gets that far out. You want to make sure you have the complete area masked off to prevent overspray on the rest of the panel. If you have an area that is about an 1" area to spot, I will usually mask about a foot away.
Okay...it's all masked up. Wetsand your area. I would say 1500 would be allright in your case.
Now mix up your base, since it is a "solid" color, you can simple start by putting a medium wet coat on the area to be spotted. Once you have it covered, you can over-reduce the paint, and blend it out a little farther (usually I do not do this step, but would be a good idea for the beginner). You also should tack off your area as well. This helps keep the edges from getting "grainy".
Keep working your way outwards, but yet keeping the are small as possible. You also want to make sure that you cannot see the blend and it is well "worked" into the original basecoat
Okay...now the base is done. For the clear, you basically do the same thing. I would suggest over-reducing the clear to start with. Once you get the clear blended out, I use a "blending reducer" that melts in the clear edges. You can also use a "hot" or slow reduce to do this.
Once you have your base blended, then your clear blended, let it dry very good, then you can lightly wetsand and buff the area. You will also need to "work" the area in with the buffer as you do not want to burn the area you just blending.
*be sure and stay within your sanded area*. You don't want to spray over non sanded paint.
The main thing you want to try to avoid is the edges to become grainy or "dry".
Blending solid colors are easier then metallics, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem.
