View Full Version : Fisheye Repair
I recently had my car painted by a shop, the paint is developing fisheyes all over the hood, what is the proper way of fixing this? I took it by today and they said they would wetsand it, is it possible to fix this by wetsanding the whole hood? should i let them fix it that way? i thought the only way to get rid of fisheyes was to repaint, they are definately below the clear, so if they wetsand it, wouldnt it need to be re-cleared? Thanks for the help
00z71sierra
09-30-2003, 03:30 PM
I had this problem when I had an aftermaket cowl hood painted and afterwards I got fisheyes around the perimeter of the hood mostly. The guy buffed and compunded them out and they still came back. He blamed the electro primer that had been on the hood. What he should have done was sand that primer down because it had a chemical reaction with his clear coat.
You really have to have the hood painted if you want it to go away for good.
00z71sierra
Preachers Sheets
09-30-2003, 03:48 PM
Alot of compounding and polishing could fix it.
Jake11375
09-30-2003, 04:45 PM
Have them repaint it. Don`t let them wetsand it! It would take too much paint to level the rest of the car down to the fisheyes anyway. You risk taking off too much of your clear coat and in turn, premature fading. (especially on the hood) I would not advise wetsanding for that. You paid them to paint it, so they should have no problem refinishing it. They are obligated to do so. :xyxthumbs
johnnygee3
09-30-2003, 05:30 PM
What are fisheyes?? What do they look like? anybody got a [pic??
jr weeks
09-30-2003, 05:36 PM
See pic in attatched link. Tiny craters that extend down to the substrate. They generally can`t be sanded out due to their depth.
http://www.fitz-coatings.com/coat_defect_result.php?pic_num=4&ID=14
well, i stopped by the shop today, after touching my hood, and getting smudges on it, he said they would try wet sanding first, im suppose to bring it in on thursday, what should i do? i know that i dont want to lose any paint, and me being only 20, they probably dont think i have a clue about paint or anything, do they have to repaint it? Thanks for all the input, this situation has been so frustrating. one other question, my car is a 96 cougar, i of course like perfection, but how perfect should i expect this paint job to be realistically, i know they probably dont care too much about my vehicle, so how perfect should i expect it to be? Thanks again
imported_f150smith
09-30-2003, 10:55 PM
Fisheyes are caused my silicones soaking down thru the clearcoat, paint and primer til they reach the bare metal where they attach themselves. The only way to eliminate them is to have the entire area sanded down to bare metal then cleaned with a solvent(forget what they use). Then it has to be totally repainted from the bare metal up. This is the reason that body shops hate silicon products.
so if they know it has to be repainted, why are they telling me they can just westand it? maybe i need to understand wetsanding more, im going to research
SickOfItAll
10-01-2003, 02:11 AM
They`re trying to half *** it and get out of it while going through as little extra expense as possible.
You`re the customer. You paid for a perfect paintjob - not a half assed one. Remember that.
SP 325i
10-01-2003, 04:48 AM
READ the link posted by Guitarman - this explains all you need to know about fisheyes and what needs to be done to repair them.
Wetsanding (without repainting) will not get rid of fisheyes as it is an actual "hole" in the paint surface and you need to sand down to the next level of unaffected paint.
By the way you say the hood "developed" fisheyes. Usually fisheyes are there straight away.
Steve
jeremyp111
10-01-2003, 06:29 AM
Originally posted by SP 325i
By the way you say the hood "developed" fisheyes. Usually fisheyes are there straight away.
Steve
Not true. Fisheyes can show up as the paint cures. It takes about a month for the paint to fully cure so fisheyes can show up during that time. I had the hood on my old BMW 328i repainted and it looked perfect the day I picked it up, but 2 weeks later when washing it I noticed a few fisheyes in the paint. I brought it back and had them repaint it again. This time they sandblasted the hood and prepped it correctly and it came out perfect with no fisheyes developing after.
Don`t accept them wetsanding the hood. Tell them you want it repainted, no exceptions. You paid for a repaint, not half of one. Wetsanding may remove it temporarily, but it will come back.
Good luck,
JP
Jake11375
10-01-2003, 07:55 AM
You would be best off just putting your foot down and telling them you want it repainted. Tell them you paid for a "new" paint job, not a thin coat of sanded down paint, and that you don`t want to lose the extra protection of the clear they will taking away. This will not result in a "new" paint job, which you paid for in the first place. Let them know you are hip to the impossibility of "fixing" fisheyes. They will only lessen the ugly sight of them and expect you to settle for it. Lots of times body shops will try to pull the wool over your eyes if they don`t think you have a lot of knowledge about paint. Either repaint, or give me my money back so I can get it painted elsewhere the right way.
Thanks for all your help, im going to print this off and show it to them tomorow, i will tell them it needs to be at least stripped of all paint, prepped the right way and resprayed, ill let them try it or ask for my money back. Thanks again
SP 325i
10-01-2003, 10:22 AM
Not true. Fisheyes can show up as the paint cures. It takes about a month for the paint to fully cure so fisheyes can show up during that time. I had the hood on my old BMW 328i repainted and it looked perfect the day I picked it up, but 2 weeks later when washing it I noticed a few fisheyes in the paint. I brought it back and had them repaint it again. This time they sandblasted the hood and prepped it correctly and it came out perfect with no fisheyes developing after.
What paint are you getting your cars resprayed with ????? A decent UK bodyshop will use 2K paint ie it is crosslinked under low bake conditions and will be ready for abuse 24hrs later. PPG Deltron is common (a US company). If you are having resprays done using cellulose paints why ? These paints do take time to cure and if fisheyes are appearing after time then I would say it is more down to solvent composition than grease / bad prep.
Also please explain to me how a continuous dry film is effected by something that changes surface tension. While the paint is wet, yes, when it is dry I can`t see how. By this logic you would need to keep the car out of the rain as it would wash the paint off !!
A fisheye is a physical reaction to a product that has a lower surface tension than the paint. The paint can therefore not wet it out ie cover this particle (gease, silicon etc). Once the paint is dry and a continuous film is formed this physical process cannot occur as there is no "flow" in the paint.
Try this at home :
Using a std spray paint from the local motor factors any colour will do (solid colour is probably best). Clean and degrease a piece of tin plate (or something similar) spray half with your paint. After 24hrs spray the whole panel with furniture polish and then spray unpainted half with the same paint being careful not to get overspray on the first half. Inspect and report back
Steve