I think I'm a new candidate for "Horrendous"

[Hoytman]

To me, if a detailer checks your paint with a meter that is a good thing. If the next detailer doesn't at least ask what those readings were, that's a bad thing. Then if that detailer goes on to use 2500 (or any grit) paper then starts buffing with a rotary without remeasuring the paint himself, or at the least asking what the measurements were, then there's a red flag for me.

Typically, a repaint will show paint guage readings much thicker than factory readings. That's a good thing and you'd probably be okay, but why risk it? You have no way of now knowing how much paint was removed after your initial paint readings were taken because additional paint was removed via sanding. That is, if I understand how you've described it correctly. Please don't take this as me bustin' your chops...I'm concerned and would like for this to get resolved.

If the hood is having its own issues because of another repaint, I can except that. It might require anothe repaint. However, the rest of the car should be fixed by now and it isn't. You certainly do have an issue and I wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

I think getting in contact with Laura again is a great idea.

[J S Machine]

To me, if I still see some of the swirls that were there before, I doubt the last detailer did anything much more to the paint. Honestly, I don't think he was aggressive enough.

Bryan charged me $50 to check it, and that is fair. I am not going to drive (2.5 hours one way) all the way back to Atlanta to get him to check it again. I'm already out about $70 of my own money for a problem that was not my fault to begin with.

That being said, I feel like there is plenty left on the car to work with, especially if I use the least aggressive method in my approach to fix it.

I appreciate your concer though and thanks.

[J S Machine]

Here are the updated pics. It seems that he did get some of the swirls out, but not all of them. He put some of his own in..Notice the small 3" or 4" pad trails. Also prevalent are small scratches (circled in red in some pictures). I guess he got a piece of sand in his sandpaper or something, and dragged it into the paint while wet sanding..who knows... Probably the most alarming of the pics is the last one. He actually burned through the paint Look near the bottom of tha halo behind the window (Circled in red).

[J S Machine]

The red circles didn;t show up well, but if you look close you can see them in a couple pics.

There were also noticeable swirls on the top, but I was unable to get those in pics. It would take parking it under a light again.

[vegas911gts]

Don't take shortcuts this time. Take it to someone who you know will get it done right even if it will cost you more.

[Hoytman]

He didn't remove much, yet he instilled swirls on his own? He (they) didn't have enough knowledge and skill to remove the swirls and holograms they made...even burned through the paint? Do you still think the last detailer didn't do that much damage? Honestly, I hope you're re-assessing what these guys have done to your car, and the advice I've tried so desparately to give you...all with good intentions and legitimate concern.

If this were my car and I wanted it fixed right I'd bite the bullet for the $50 and another 2 1/2 hour trip for paint measurements, OR find a detailer who has a paint guage and the knowledge to remedy this for you. To me, it's you're only way out unless you decide to fix it yourself, which you still can. However, there's no way I'd proceed without first remeasuring this paint. No way!

It would seem to me that if the detailers messed it up worse then they should be responsible and the insurance should go after them.

If you're honest with yourself there is absolutely know way to know how much clear is left on the paint of this car. The more posts you make about it, the more information you reveal about it and it only confirms my original statements.

Please, I'm not trying to be rude, but you need to be honest with yourself. This paint has been hacked up twice since your initial paint readings and there is no way in this world to know how much real damage has been done after all of this. What are you going to do if another detailer makes another mistake? What if you make a mistake? I think I'd put my money on remeasuring to get a baseline of what might be left and go from there. It's simply not worth the risk in my mind. Beside it's cheap peace-of-mind and won't even cost you what your own tools and products will cost you. That's a $50,000 dollar car, or more...I'm just floored that you're in this predicament and even moreso that you'd take yet another risk with your car. It simply isn't worth it in my mind to put yourself through all of that.

The reality is I can't make you do what I'm suggesting. However, if you approached me with this job, and knowing what I know about it, there is no way I'd touch this car without taking more paint measurements. No way! As a detailer it wouldn't be worth the risk for me without knowing what I'm up against.

Mr. Phillips has stated many times that the best detailers frequent forums and are typically more detailing savvy, or up-to-date on information regarding detailing. Why don't you ask your next detailer if they frequent forums. If they don't, red flag. Ask a detailer to take a look at this thread before commiting to "try" and fix your car. If they're smart they'll take more paint film measurements.

I hope you're able to get this resolved. Let us know what happens and show us some picutures of how it turned out.

[Hoytman]

J S Machine...

Good to talk with you this morning. Sounds like you have a plan in place and you certainly have a unique situation on your hands. However, I'm confident you'll get this resolved and get your car back where it should be.

By the way, the car show was great today.

[Mike Phillips]

I just looked at the pictures the OP posted to this thread and man... the paint on this Corvette is really hacked up... it looks horrible. Any Newbie with a quality one-step cleaner/wax and a basic DA Polisher and a simple foam polishing pad could have made it look better than it is and still could.


I took this one photo and cropped out the pertinent portion to 800 pixels wide, (which is good netiquette), and uploaded it into the OP's free gallery here on AGO because Photobucket pictures tend to disappear over time...

To me, these look like holograms inflicted by a rotary buffer.






The lines of shimmer are the give away...


At this point I personally wouldn't touch this car with a 10 foot pole because if the unknown hack work performed by the other two detailers.

Swirls are scratches, that is voids in the paint where paint is now missing. The two detailers that have buffed on this car have swirled it out or in other words removed paint. How much? Doesn't matter at this point.

A more knowledgeable and more careful detailer could work on this car now and still burn through what's left of the clear coat. Not because they don't know what they are doing but because chances are too good the clear layer is now what I call,


Whisper Thin


I previously recommended letting Laura help you with it and I documented her ability to do professional grade work in this thread. Now I'm going to recommend to her to let someone else have the blessing. This type of job isn't worth risking a good reputation.


To the OP, at this point you can consider doing something very simple,

1. Hand apply a light polish or a light cleaner/wax and live with what you get and drive the car.

2. Purchase a DA Polisher like the Porter Cable along with a medium to light cut polish and a few 5.5" flat pad pads and buff it out yourself. The Pinnacle Advanced and Finishing Polishes can probably undo the damage safely. Key word being safely.


If you or anyone burns through, or as some say, "strike-through" the clear layer of paint it's not going to be their fault it's because there's too little clear paint left to start with.


So take the least aggressive approach practice and then just drive it...

[J S Machine]

Mike, and anyone else who would like to reply-

Can you please reply in the thread I started in the cutting and buffing section? Thanks

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-products.html