Burned the paint

[SATracker]

Hey Mike, guess I need to return my cool Detailing 102 certificate or come back for a refresher course; I "burned" some paint on a 1997 BMW. I saw a spot on the hood that I thought I could wetsand. After the Detailing 102 session I've wetsanded a half a dozen vehicles with no problems, no issues. The wetsanding this time did not buff out and instead the buffing, with Megs 102 on a blue hydro pad, burned through the paint. I followed the rules on wetsanding and buffing; being careful & no excessive force on either.
I went to be consoled by the Anthony & Ron over at Concours. It was suggested that the hood had been repainted once before- badly. It was also suggested that the paint has been "buffed" to death. I just want to learn what happened. If a person "follows the rules" and the paint burns anyway, are there like the top 10 reasons paint burns? Is there something I could have done (besides leave the spot alone) or should have noticed before hand? Given it's a 1997 car, are their questions I should have asked the owner? Or is it a given that screw-ups happen?
When I see the guy Sunday, I plan on showing him the mistake and asking him if he has a body shop he's like for me to take it to, or I'll take it to my favorite body shop and I'm paying to have the burned section fixed.
Totally bummed, man.

[slickooz]

Damn that really sucks..... What kind of polisher did you use? Also do you have a PTG? I have read if your wetsanding and working with a rotary, you should always use PTG to see how much paint your working with.

I hope everything works out for you and that your client won't get too mad.

[Setec Astronomy]

Um...you've been to the 102 class and I haven't, and I realize this was probably a repaint (although apparently you didn't at the time you sanded it)...but doesn't Mike P. always advise against wetsanding factory paint jobs??

[AeroCleanse]

If your going to wet sand, you need to know the thickness of paint left (PTG). If you don't have a PTG, don't wet sand!

[Bates Detailing]

Sorry to hear this man..... A gentleman asked me how much to 3 step his Lincoln recently - I saw that it had been repainted in certain spots and asked how much he got it repainted for?!?!??! 1,000! - well between my eye and the price I told the gentleman that I don't feel comfortable polishing his ride..... he completely understood and got a drywash instead! No paint thickness doohicky, just very careful. Hope all goes well man - please let us know how it goes.

[slickooz]

So working on a painted panel is more difficult then factory paint?

[C. Charles Hahn]

So working on a painted panel is more difficult then factory paint?

More difficult? No. However, it does require a bit different approach and care should be used when you don't know what paint system was used, who applied it, and how it was applied.

[Kristopher1129]

So working on a painted panel is more difficult then factory paint?

That really depends on the paint job. A good paint job will leave a nice layer of clear so you can wet sand sufficiently. Factory paint tends to be thin regardless. But if you brought your car to Maaco...then it could be a problem when it comes to wet sanding.

[93fox]

There are some hacks out there who literally put just one coat of clear on their "paintjob"... I always putn 3 coats to have material to work with incase correction needs to be done! But like kristopher said, maaco is the worst place you can take your car to get fixed!

[Bates Detailing]

So working on a painted panel is more difficult then factory paint?

You also have to remember that people get touch up paint on rides that is very crappy..... A LONG time ago I was going to polish a buddies ride and as soon as my rotary and compound got to work - I noticed chips all over his door! Shocked the crap out of me! Luckily this was my buddy and he didn't mind, but it did teach me at the time to be very careful and look very closely at the paint before applying any machine polish to it!

[ExoticAutoDetai]

How can you notice different spot have been repaint instead of the whole car?

Exotic Auto Detail via tapatalk

[slickooz]

Most of the time you can tell by the color of the panel if you got good eyes. Or you can use a PTG (paint thickness gauge).

[Kristopher1129]

How can you notice different spot have been repaint instead of the whole car?

Exotic Auto Detail via tapatalk

After a while, it's dead obvious. I've seen so many repainted vehicles by now...that I can spot the panels even when the vehicle is dirty, ha. Not really, but I have spotted it before without cleaning the vehicle first.

Usually there's two common give aways. One, is the orange peel is typically never sanded down correctly. I see that a LOT. It's either not sanded at all, or not sanded flush.

Two, is usually the color isn't matched correctly. A lot of body shops know that most people don't have an eye for color, or details. For example...you need a panel painted on your black vehicle, but your factory paint has flakes. They'll just hit the panel with gloss black...and the customer will never know, cause they won't even notice the flakes missing. But I'll see it!

The most common mistake I see...is in the primer work if a repair was done. Usually the primer sanding is never done efficiently. You can literally see the sanding marks through the paint and the clear. If you don't do the primer right...the rest will just follow suit. :xyxthumbs:

[ExoticAutoDetai]

After a while, it's dead obvious. I've seen so many repainted vehicles by now...that I can spot the panels even when the vehicle is dirty, ha. Not really, but I have spotted it before without cleaning the vehicle first.

Usually there's two common give aways. One, is the orange peel is typically never sanded down correctly. I see that a LOT. It's either not sanded at all, or not sanded flush.

Two, is usually the color isn't matched correctly. A lot of body shops know that most people don't have an eye for color, or details. For example...you need a panel painted on your black vehicle, but your factory paint has flakes. They'll just hit the panel with gloss black...and the customer will never know, cause they won't even notice the flakes missing. But I'll see it!

The most common mistake I see...is in the primer work if a repair was done. Usually the primer sanding is never done efficiently. You can literally see the sanding marks through the paint and the clear. If you don't do the primer right...the rest will just follow suit. :xyxthumbs:

Exactly what I was looking for thanks.

Exotic Auto Detail via tapatalk

[jto667]

I am not a body man or painter by any means, just an auto enthusiast. I have seen all of the above at nationwide car shows for years, Super Chevy shows, Car Craft etc. High end restos with poor paint jobs. On daily drivers one of the things I notice ALOT is terrible tape jobs from body shops! They might get the paint real close or dead on depending on the color, but I see alot of tape lines on the trim, especially around windows. Obviously a dead give away to being repainted. To the OP...sorry to hear about what happened.