8 replies to this topic

[new_van_man]

Hi,

I recently got my rolling shell back from the sprayers, ready to reassemble. They had suggested that they would polish the car after I had finished putting back together. This seemed sensible and so i agreed.

As I have been putting back together i have noticed more andf more imperfections in the finish. So my question is how much can be solved by simply polishing?

The car is painted in 2k and has pearlesent paint and has been lacquered and generally looks good from a distance.

However, there are two main areas of concern:

a.) A number of panels have areas where the filler has not been sufficently sanded down with little use of any stopper. I take these panels will have to be completely resprayed or will a touch up suffice? Max size of areas in question is 2cm square, but the majority are very small, but still noticable. However there are approx 7 or so hot spots all on different panels.

b.) Almost every panel has some form and amount of depressions or dimples. It looks like a pin head has been placed in the paint. This is only visible up close and they are not very deep, but still there and i would like them not to be. So how easy is it to resolve these? They are not raised but actually look like indentations in the paint. Some appear to have a whiteish base and looks a bit like the paint hasnt properly adhered to a specific part of the shell.

Sorry i dont have any pictures so have tried to describe as best i could in words.

Any help would be much appreciated,

[midridge2]

if the garage/bodyshop did the repair work before painting then they need to re do the filler marks and repaint, because the marks are in the base coat then flatting/buffing up the laquer will not remove them.
the pin holes if in the laquer can be flatted down and buffed up, but if in the base coat then it again needs re painting.
if as you say its pearlesent then a full respray is needed.

[new_van_man]

thats what i feared. I offered to do the prep but they refused and said they only paint cars they prep themselves. Which i suppose is fair enough. Luckily the filler areas arent too bad so may get away with re-spraying just affected panels. Luckily they still have half of the paint left so colour match should be ok.

Is there an easy way to tellif the dimples / depressions are in the base coat or lacquer. I spoke to another guy who seemed to think tehy were caused by damp.

Is pearlesecent paint more complicated to repair / touch up?

cheers

[new_zealand _minis]

some pin hole looking holes in the paint may also be silicone in the paint .. if you can see down to the primer throught the top colour it will have to be snaded back and re sprayed

if they are deep in the base then cleared over .. then you cant really get them out with out burning throught the clear .. then having to re clear it

[new_van_man]

I am meeting with the sprayer this week to discuss and just want to get a handle on how much work is likley to be involved to sort out all the issues and how best to approach it.

Will the dimples get worse, if left over time? They appear to be about 0.25 - 0.5mm deep. What causes the silicone in the paint to do that? Is it poor prep, mixing or spraying in damp conditions? Or just a feature / problem with pearlescent paint?

I dont think they going to be up for fully respraying the car..... Plus respraying will be a lot more complex as now fully fitted out with all parts. But saying that it could take just as much time to solve the issues on each panel individually.

In hindsight i should have taken it back when i took collection, but thats the benfit of hindsight. I have spent a whole year doing this and am pretty annoyed they done what appears to be a bit of a shoddy job.

[new_van_man]

Also is it possible to touch up the base coat? Can teh clear coat be removed in patches and re cleared or will this lead to furtehr problems down teh line like bubbling and cracking of clear coat as not a seamless appllication of lacquer?

[midridge2]

if the dots look like fish eyes then its silicone, but dont really leave white dimples, sounds like water to me.
silicone is when you have some thing in the area around the car or on the car that contains silicone in it and it reacts with the paint.

with base coat you need to flatten it down and repaint the panel in base etc then laquer, with pearl paint it will/can show up from the original paint work unless a very good experienced painter.

[firstforward]

Take your parts off, give it back and ask for it to be put right, don't bother getting into why, that is the paint shops concern not yours, that said if it was a cheap job or part favour you must use your discretion as to what is fair to them. If it was top money for a top job don't accept anything less. Just my opinion that's all.

[new_van_man]

ok guys, will let you know how i get on, thanks alot for all your inputs and comments much appreciated.

Taken me 4 weeks to put it all together so dont really want to take it all apart again but like you say it may be best option for all concerned.

p.s one final question assuming they have to fully respray, how long would it take to completely rub down just the outside of saloon, assuming average body condition. The reason i ask is so i can gauge how much work is involved in completely redoing.

I guess approx 20 hrs from start to finish asssuming rubbing down, primer, base and lacquer? Is this right or too optimistic. Bonnet and boot lid fine so thankfully these wont need re doing!