Can a reapint really be so hard?

[Roger V]

Been working on a 66 El Camino for the last day. Went over the whole car twice with SSR 2.5 and a LC Orange pad. Which was a pain because it left quite a bit of micromarring I had to clean up. Would say only about 75% defect removal. Are repaints really that hard? :scared: I really need to hone my rotary skills.



What have been your guys` experiences with repaints?

[imported_GregCavi]

Here is my experience with my repainted panels.



First off, they were badly hologramed. I figured I could just hit up the panels with a finishing polish and be done with it. It turned out that my paint was butter soft and had some very DEEP defects from the shops buffing. Just the hood took me about 2 hours to perfect. I ended up having to hit up the paint with HTEC/OPT polish @1500 rpm > Blackfire SRC polish @1500 > ZPC on PC - finishing pad @ 6. My paint was soft that I had trouble getting menzerna po85rd to finish down perfect. :(



Sadly, most repaints will need some rotary work to bring them back up to par.



Greg

[Roger V]

Here is my experience with my repainted panels.



First off, they were badly hologramed. I figured I could just hit up the panels with a finishing polish and be done with it. It turned out that my paint was butter soft and had some very DEEP defects from the shops buffing. Just the hood took me about 2 hours to perfect. I ended up having to hit up the paint with HTEC/OPT polish @1500 rpm > Blackfire SRC polish @1500 > ZPC on PC - finishing pad @ 6. My paint was soft that I had trouble getting menzerna po85rd to finish down perfect. :(



Sadly, most repaints will need some rotary work to bring them back up to par.



Greg



Ya. I am just scared to go to town because I have nothing to measure paint depth. The owner was thrilled with what I had corrected tho. Apparently the last person who worked on his car ripped off portions of the repaint and left it in bad shape. :wall . Anyone have success with a PC?

[velobard]

Earlier this week I was polishing one paint sprayed in early November. There were a couple of sections with marring where it surprised me just how much work it took to do any correction. I was working with a Metabo at 3 - 3.5, an orange LC pad, and IP.



The paint is Sikkens and about 3 weeks after it was painted I put on 3 layers of 2180 because I wanted some protection before we were hit with a major winter storm.

[BMW335i]

Question - is it ok to wash and wax fresh paint? What should one NOT do to freshly painted panels?

[velobard]

Only got a second for now, but #1 rule is to not wax until it`s finished outgassing and curing. Most recommended time for a fresh repaint is 3 months.

[David Fermani]

Repaints can be hard or soft. Things like baking or the amount of hardener used can play into things.

[coupe]

They probably didnt use any hardner at all on my aftermarket hood.

Its so soft there isnt a microfiber towel in this world that wont scratch it. Polishing it to perfection is impossible. There isnt a pad or polish light enough to get a perfect finish.

[Accumulator]

Repaints can be hard or soft. Things like baking or the amount of hardener used can play into things.



Absolutely correct :xyxthumbs This is one of those things where it`s risky to generalize...but if I *had* to, I`d say that most repaints are softer than most factory paint (just my experience and YMMV). This is the sort of thing that oughta get discussed with the painter before he does the job, so you get what you want.



Coupe- That`d absolutely drive me nuts. Sounds to me like he messed up, as even the old-school-tech black lacquers (as soft as paint oughta be) were hard enough that you could touch them with buffing/drying/etc. media without any marring. I couldn`t live with a finish that was that fragile.



If it`s just one panel (let alone the hood), I`d spend a bit and get it reshot. I gotta get the hood of my M3 redone because the previous owner`s painter messed it up...having a crappy-looking hood is, for me, a real :grinno:

[SpoiledMan]

I remember a story about a repaint that Mike Phillips once(many times:)) told. The painter made the paint so hard that the sanding marks couldn`t be removed to restore gloss. Had to repaint the whole car again.

[BMW335i]

So to be safe, only wash the effected panel for the first 3 months? no wax/no polish, correct?

[coupe]

Coupe- That`d absolutely drive me nuts. Sounds to me like he messed up, as even the old-school-tech black lacquers (as soft as paint oughta be) were hard enough that you could touch them with buffing/drying/etc. media without any marring. I couldn`t live with a finish that was that fragile.



If it`s just one panel (let alone the hood), I`d spend a bit and get it reshot. I gotta get the hood of my M3 redone because the previous owner`s painter messed it up...having a crappy-looking hood is, for me, a real :grinno:





It sucks big time. My hood has its own wash/drying/polishing system and tools that i have that is completely different than the rest of the car. I want to have it repainted but i cant afford it yet :mad:

[velobard]

So to be safe, only wash the effected panel for the first 3 months? no wax/no polish, correct?

You`re perfectly safe using a body shop safe glaze, such as Megs #5.

[Accumulator]

Man, I love that #5 for this application...



BMW335i- You might want to do some polishing some time before the paint cures all the way as it oughta be softer (and thus easier to correct). But unless there`s something that *really* bugs me, I usually just wait and correct it once after it`s cured. Sometimes the fresh paint is so soft that even mild stuff like #80 mars it up...and I don`t mean "micro"marring either!

[awahl63]

So to be safe, only wash the effected panel for the first 3 months? no wax/no polish, correct?

You can put on a glaze...