3 Attachment(s)
What is this and what do I do to fix it?
Hi Mike,
Lifelong car nut here and definitely done my fair share of compound, polish, wax arm work that I don't consider myself a newbie but this week I decided to try my hand at color sanding and clear coat repair since our Dodge Challenger has had some clear coat issues and I pretty much figured I could probably take care of them quickly. While working on the back deck lid which is where most of the flaking had occurred before I even had a couple of passes with some 2000 grit wetted down sandpaper this large white wound on the trunk lid appeared. I didn't attack it I don't know what happened if I uncovered it or what but I'm pretty much at the point that I'm going to try and spray it with paint because I don't want to do anything to it if it's through and will make it grow. I have a feeling that while we were having a motor swapped in this car they had a detailer hit it for us and they went crazy because when I got it back I noticed some places the clear coat was extremely thin if not all the way through when it wasn't like that when we gave it to them. Please help, is this through to the paint or is it clear coat? Should I paint over it or is it something I can buff out? Seems like anytime I touched it, it just was deep and all the way through so I've left it alone. Any info would be great. Thanks so much.
Dan
San Bernardino, CA
Re: What is this and what do I do to fix it?
That looks like the clear and paint are gone in that area. Appears to be primer...that panel will need to be repainted.
Re: What is this and what do I do to fix it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Yotamaster
Hi Mike,
Lifelong car nut here and definitely done my fair share of compound, polish, wax arm work that I don't consider myself a newbie but this week I decided to try my hand at color sanding and clear coat repair since our Dodge Challenger has had some clear coat issues and I pretty much figured I could probably take care of them quickly. While working on the back deck lid which is where most of the flaking had occurred before I even had a couple of passes with some 2000 grit wetted down sandpaper this large white wound on the trunk lid appeared.
Here's the white spot you're referring to,
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum..._optimized-jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Yotamaster
I didn't attack it I don't know what happened if I uncovered it or what but I'm pretty much at the point that I'm going to try and spray it with paint because I don't want to do anything to it if it's through and will make it grow.
Yeah.... this looks like white primer to me...
https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum..._optimized-jpg
[QUOTE=Yotamaster;1694613]
I have a feeling that while we were having a motor swapped in this car they had a detailer hit it for us and they went crazy because when I got it back I noticed some places the clear coat was extremely thin if not all the way through when it wasn't like that when we gave it to them.
[/quoate]
I'm not sure we can call this person a "detailer" if they hacked-up your car and buffed through the clearcoat.
The problem in the detailing world is anyone with a buffer can call themselves a "Detailer" but we on this forum know this isn't so. And you standing in front of your Dodge Challenger can see this isn't so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Yotamaster
Please help, is this through to the paint or is it clear coat? Should I paint over it or is it something I can buff out? Seems like anytime I touched it, it just was deep and all the way through so I've left it alone. Any info would be great. Thanks so much.
Dan
San Bernardino, CA
Hi Dan,
I always hate to be the bearer of bad news but here's the deal - the ONLY way to fix the problem I see in the picture is to RE-PAINT the affected panel or panels. If there are more areas of burn-through then to do the job right - you might have to re-paint the entire car.
I would put the blame on the shop that did your engine swap. They had no right to let some hack run a buffer over your car.
It's kind of late for this, but here's an article I wrote and I'm sad to say it's probably the article I share the MOST. I would say that most of the time I'm sharing it is to EDUCATE people "thinking" about wet sanding their car and my goal is to let them know the factory paint is so thin - that 99.9% of the population should not undertake wetsanding the paint on their car.
Bummer man...
:dunno:
Re: What is this and what do I do to fix it?
Here's my article. Next time you see a Post-it Note, do like I show in the pictures.
It makes how thin factory paint is very real very fast.
Clearcoats are thin by Mike Phillips
The majority of cars being manufactured today and starting since the 1980's use what's called a basecoat/clearcoat paint system. With this system, a clear layer of paint is sprayed over the top of the basecoat which is also the color coat or the layer of paint that has pigment in it. If the car has a metallic finish then the metallic flakes are also in the basecoat.
The basecoat doesn't offer any gloss or shine and in fact it's dull or matte looking after it's sprayed. The basecoat gets it's gloss, shine, depth and reflectivity by the spraying of the clearcoat layer of paint over the top of it. This is why if a person removes too much clearcoat when buffing and they expose the basecoat it will appear to be a dull round or oval spot on a body panel. The part of the paint system that adds beauty has been removed revealing the dull or matte basecoat layer of paint.
Just how thin is the clear layer of paint on a factory paint job?
The factory clearcoat on a new or modern car measures approximately 2 mils thin.
The average Post-it Note is around 3 mils thin.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...php?file=68387
What does this mean?
This means the factory clearcoat on a new or modern car is thinner than a post-it note. The next time you have a post-it note in front of you, feel a single post-it note between your fingers. Like this...
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...php?file=68388
This experience will drive home the point as to just how thin the clear layer of paint is on modern car with a factory paint job.
It should also drive home the importance of using the least aggressive pad, product and even tools to get the job done.
When I say, get the job done, the context of this usually means someone is buffing out a car to remove paint defects like swirls, scratches, water spots and oxidation to make the paint and thus the car look better.
By using the least aggressive products you "get the job done" while leaving the most paint on the car to it will last over the mechanical service life of the car.
If you're working on your own cars and you're reading this you're already ahead of the game by reading the AGO forum and probably being a member so you can ask questions and get help.
If you're working on customer's cars take a professional approach as a service to your customers.
If you're reading this and you're going to do the work yourself or hire a detailer then do some research and make sure you hire a detailer that knows this type of stuff because the factory clearcoat on your car is thin.
:)
Re: What is this and what do I do to fix it?
And moving forward, for you or anyone reading this into the future,
If you have ANY questions about ANY car or even boat detailing topic - you >click< over to Skynet and choose a few words related to the topic and add my name Mike Phillips - Skynet is very good at finding and displaying my articles in the search results.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/galler...Skynet_001.JPG
Sometimes I find it easier to search IMAGES on Skynet as the pictures actually also come up and you can tell by the pictures if it relates to the topic you're researching.
:)
