Info on Body Shop Repair and Clear Coat Swirl Lock-in

[BlackCoupe]

As noted in another thread, somebody side-swiped my rear quarter panel, but real issue is as follows: There is not enough damage to warrant a new quarterpanel, but they are going to make the repair, shoot just the area they have repaired with black (the car's color) then shoot the WHOLE panel with clear. Is this going to lock in any pre-existing swirls in clear coat?

[greg'sgoat]

They will probably wet sand the whole area first so the CC goes on even. You would really need to talk to the shop about what process they are going to use.

Edit: I had a repair done to my rear fender not to long ago. It was between polishes and my clear coat is super soft so it was a little swirled when it went into the shop. The whole panel was wet sanded before it was sprayed. They will prob wet sand the existing area and blend the black into it, and then clear over that, that is what my shop did. It was only a small area to repair, but a majority of the panel was resprayed just so everything matched.

Talking to the shop that will do the work is your best bet.

[BILL]

As noted in another thread, somebody side-swiped my rear quarter panel, but real issue is as follows: There is not enough damage to warrant a new quarter panel, but they are going to make the repair, shoot just the area they have repaired with black (the car's color) then shoot the WHOLE panel with clear. Is this going to lock in any Prue-existing swirls in clear coat?

Depending on what make? and year? the car is, the clear coat prepped correctely would have no lock in on swirls.
just don't understand the clear over black.....usually clear is over metallics to bring up the flake from the base coat...black acrylic is wet sanded and compounded then polished.........

[BlackCoupe]

They will probably wet sand the whole area first so the CC goes on even. You would really need to talk to the shop about what process they are going to use.

Edit: I had a repair done to my rear fender not to long ago. It was between polishes and my clear coat is super soft so it was a little swirled when it went into the shop. The whole panel was wet sanded before it was sprayed. They will prob wet sand the existing area and blend the black into it, and then clear over that, that is what my shop did. It was only a small area to repair, but a majority of the panel was resprayed just so everything matched.

Talking to the shop that will do the work is your best bet.

2006 Lexus SC430 the hardtop convertible

Greg'sGoat--Thank you. I did speak to the shop before posting. He did not mention wetsanding of the entire quarterpanel. As you say, they are repairing just the small area of the quarterpanel (crease and scuffs), blending the black in to the surrounding area (but still less than the entire quarterpanel), then re-shooting the entire quarter panel with clear coat. As in your case, the quarter panels were "between" polishes (I confess I focus on the hood, roof and trunk lid), so there is some swirling.

SO HOW DID IT LOOK? If they do wetsand the entire quarter panel, my fear would be that they would instill swirls if they did the usual "body shop" job. However, what I was thinking was that the new clear coat would "fill in" any swirls. I guess it may be that they have to wetsand the entire quarterpanel or the new CC will not adhere/blend properly.

BILL--to answer your question, according to the body shop guy, this is CC over black. This is consistent with what I was told on another occasion by another body shop guy, and he was using a paint thickness gauge.

[greg'sgoat]

When I mean it was between polishes, it did have swirls on it. It turned out fine (actually looks better than the rest of the car, no oranage peel) and no swirls were locked in it. When you get it back it might have some buffer trails from what ever wool pad they used (mine had light swirling since the clear coat was still soft when they polished out the wetsand markings) but that is all correctable by you. They have to wetsand down to the paint coat, CC will have a hard time bonding on a non-ruffed surface.

[BILL]

When I mean it was between polishes, it did have swirls on it. It turned out fine (actually looks better than the rest of the car, no oranage peel) and no swirls were locked in it. When you get it back it might have some buffer trails from what ever wool pad they used (mine had light swirling since the clear coat was still soft when they polished out the wet sand markings) but that is all correctable by you. They have to wet sand down to the paint coat, CC will have a hard time bonding on a non-ruffed surface.

I agree............if there going to C.C.the entire panel then for adhesion i'd say they have to wet sand the panel thus taking swirls originally in bedded along with it, as said above you may also have some new minor buffer trails from the new application.

Good Luck with it anyway..

[BlackCoupe]

When I mean it was between polishes, it did have swirls on it. It turned out fine (actually looks better than the rest of the car, no oranage peel) and no swirls were locked in it. When you get it back it might have some buffer trails from what ever wool pad they used (mine had light swirling since the clear coat was still soft when they polished out the wetsand markings) but that is all correctable by you. They have to wetsand down to the paint coat, CC will have a hard time bonding on a non-ruffed surface.

BILL and Greg (my name, too)--Thank you. I will sleep better tonight.

[Tropicality]

I just got my car back today, there were 2 stress cracks at the top corners of the trunk from when I got rear ended that the paint flaked off on the right corner so I had to take it back to get repaired again.

It looks brand new so far, there are some swirls around the area that they redid, there are also minor swirl scratchs on the trim around the window right there, I wiped them and some of them did come off (it must have been polish or whatever they used) but in a small spot (1-2 inches) there are very fine scratches that remain, if you have any trim around where your repair is getting done, I'd recommend making sure they tape it off or taping it off yourself...

[BlackCoupe]

I just got my car back today, there were 2 stress cracks at the top corners of the trunk from when I got rear ended that the paint flaked off on the right corner so I had to take it back to get repaired again.

It looks brand new so far, there are some swirls around the area that they redid, there are also minor swirl scratchs on the trim around the window right there, I wiped them and some of them did come off (it must have been polish or whatever they used) but in a small spot (1-2 inches) there are very fine scratches that remain, if you have any trim around where your repair is getting done, I'd recommend making sure they tape it off or taping it off yourself...

Thank you for your update. I feel your pain, even though my "event" was much smaller in comparison. I know it is silly and materialistic, but I drove SUVs for 15 years while my kids were growing up, and finally bough my "perfect" sporty convertible, and treated it like a baby, walking from the far end of every parking lot. I feel like I parked too close this time, against my inner voice, out of not wanting my fiance to be pissed off at my obsession. If I had parked where instinct told me, this would not have happened. She didn't say "park closer", I just felt the silent pressure, because I know I am a whack job about my car.

[BILL]

BLACK COUPE QUOTE::
because I know I am a whack job about my car

Me too .big time wacko. .I park far away from others..when my wife complains about the distance from the store entrance, i just drop her there and park where i want

but on return........she walks the distance with me