Car in Body Shop

[ObiRedKenobi]

Hello! Stumbled accross this site and have enjoyed pouring through it.



A few weeks ago my prize stallion was backed into in McDonalds parking lot. I put it in the Body Shop this morning but the insurance company is only paying to have the back half of the car painted. The paint is in great condition but I am a little concerned about the paint matching up.



What I am really wanting to know is how to treat the fresh paint. I would like to wet sand the car because of the excessive orange peel after I get some more practice on junk doors and fenders. How long should I wait before taking on a project like this with the new paint? What would be a good plan for making the old paint match the new and how long should I wait before doing this? Thanks for your time and help.

[C. Charles Hahn]

The general rule I`ve always heard is no wax for 90 days after painting, but you`re free to wetsand and polish. It also is advisable to put a glaze on it for at least SOME protection during that time. If it were me, I`d just wait on the whole process until that 90 days is up. :xyxthumbs



Welcome to Autopia, BTW. What year/type of stang is this? :wavey

[ObiRedKenobi]

Thanks for your quick response its been a pretty boring day at work so I need something to occupy my mind :)



At any rate it is just a mostly stock 97 Mustang GT but it holds a special place with me after all the adventures I`ve been through with it. Originally bought it Texas it has gone to PN WI all spots in between even accross the pond to Germany, and France. Army was kind enough to transport it for me :p. Survived all that beautiflly to be backed into by a soccer mom. Ah well such is life.



It will be hard to wait that long before getting my hands dirty but I`d rather do it once and do it right.

[paco]

Obi,



Depends on how much the vehicle will be exposed to the elements.



Is it a garage queen or heavily driven?

Do you park indoors or out?

Does it see rain?



If it`s mainly a garage queen and only driven on nice days for the first 90-days, I`d mainly apply a pure glaze every week for the first 3-months.



If it`s going to be parked outdoors or driven in rainy conditions, definitely put a coat a wax on it every 4-weeks. From what I`ve read, today`s paints cure much faster then days gone by and it`s fine to wax your vehicle right away. The paint isn`t equivalent to an OEM baked finish but it does cure much faster than just 5 years ago.



If it`s a garage queen, I`d still er on the side of caution as there`s no issue in doing so.



If it`s outdoors a lot, the threat of acid rain, industrial fallout, road grime, bird droppings, UV etc are much of problem than putting a coat of wax on it.



I`d shy away from sealants though until about 90 - 120days, just to be safe.



As for the wetsanding thing, almost all OEM finishes today have orange peel. What you`ll find is that if you wetsand just a one part of the car (repainted), that will look awesome but then the rest of the orange peel will stand out soo much more as it will become that much more evident.



Wetsanding (carefully) repainted isn`t that difficult as the risk of burn through is minimal if you know what you are doing. However, matching the "finish" by wetsanding the OEM paint is highly risky as the film build on OE`s is very little. Normally, the process of feathering is done to minimize it.



Feathering is simply going out a fair bit in radius from the corrected paint and doing less repair work the more you go out so that it`s very difficult to tell where the repair starts and ends.



Wetsand feathering isn`t exactly easy!



Personally, if you just had the repaint done and you are not happy with the level of orange peel, the body shop should be taking care of it for you.



I won`t go as far as to say free of charge as that really depends on what was discussed on what scope was contracted for. If you got a discount or bare bones price, then wetsanding the final finish wasn`t included. Especially if the shop was trying to match the finish on the rest of the car to minimize the appearance of the repair. However, if you discussed it and specifically stated you wanted a glass smooth finish, then it should have been completed as such.



During your practice of wetsanding, pay very close attention to edges as they are typically much much thinner then flat areas on panels. Plus, practice with OEM paint and Repainted panels so that you develop a feel for the difference.



Don`t forget as well, the initial compounding step can take a fair bit of paint off as well.



Lastly, it`s generally accepted that if more then 50% of the clear is removed, you`ll probably end up with clear failure eventually if it`s a daily driver as it simply does not have enough capacity to protect.



Paco

[Accumulator]

ObiRedKenobi- Welcome to Autopia!



The new paint matching the old should be the responsibility of the paint shop. Make sure they get it right before you take the car back. Even the orangepeel of the repaint should be the same as that on the rest of the car. You really shouldn`t be able to tell what they painted and what they didn`t.



If it were mine I`d *not* wetsand it. I`d rather have thick but imperfect clear. Wetsanding takes a bit of skill and afterwards you`ll have to do a *major* polishing of the car.



While fresh paint is curing, I use Meg`s #5 New Car Glaze. Very user-friendly and it provides a little protection. Slick enough that stuff doesn`t stick to it the way it would to bare paint. Other choices are Meg`s #3/#7/#81, Mother`s glaze, 3M IHG, and others I`m not thinking of.

[paco]

One thing, prior to starting; make sure you visit a body shop that has a paint thickness gauge and take measurements of each panel in multiple locations so that you what thickness is there to start with.



Flat panels are typically a 1 or 2 mils more than then vertical panels due to the robotic spray technique. However, that isn`t always the case.



1 ml = 1/1000th of an inch!



Typically, OEM paint is between 4-7 mils so that`s only ~ 5,000ths of an inch. Wetsanding with something like 1500 will make mince meat of that in no time. I`d recommend only using 2500 grit or even 3000 to provide yourself with a safety margin!



It`s like the wood workers saying "Measure twice, cut once since you can undo a cut!".



Once you burn through, it`s repaint time.



Go slow.

Check your work often (every 3-5 passes).

Work only in one direction.

Go slow.



Paco

[paco]

Originally posted by Accumulator

ObiRedKenobi- Welcome to Autopia!



While fresh paint is curing, I use Meg`s #5 New Car Glaze. Very user-friendly and it provides a little protection. Slick enough that stuff doesn`t stick to it the way it would to bare paint. Other choices are Meg`s #3/#7/#81, Mother`s glaze, 3M IHG, and others I`m not thinking of.



Isn`t #3 is meant to be applied with machine (rotary or DA). For a fresh repaint, it`s probably wise to avoid taking a machine to it.



#81 hand polish I believe may have some chemical cleaners in it as well. I do not believe it is a straight glaze as #5 and #7. I also believe it has some minor protectation abilities as well (at least that`s my experience with it).



During this weekend`s Meguiar`s clinic in Mississauga, one of the workers highlighted to me that #5 is basically the same as #7, except that it is easier to work with in humid conditions. Therefore, I`d recommend going with #5 as a pure glaze.



Do you have any experience with No. 5? I have a bottle at my parents home and haven`t used it a lot in a couple of years but the little I did, I seem to recall it being a bit easier to use then No. 7. However, I didn`t try Mike P.`s technique at the time for appling and removing Meguiar`s glazes.



Paco

[ObiRedKenobi]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice.



Right now my main concern is keeping it clean and maintained. This car is a semi daily driver and my condo doesn`t have garages so it will be exposed pretty much 24/7. I may just have to accept it the way it is and not go nuts. I am crazy enough to do this myself but not dumb enough to do the procedure unless I am confident in the results. I have a few friends that drift and are always screwing up something that I can practice on and will find a way to get hold of the gaget to keep an eye on paint thickness. I don`t like to comprimise and "good enough" is well its just not good enough but better that than having to send it back to the body shop because I screwed it up.

[Accumulator]

ObiRedKenobi- Sounds like you oughta keep that clearcoat as thick as you can. Yeah, it`s a pain when you have to compromise due to the practical reality of the situation, huh :D






Originally posted by paco

Do you have any experience with No. 5?



Yeah, actually I have rather extensive experience with it (I`ve been using it since the mid 1970s). I find it very easy to use as it actually "dries" as opposed to the sorta-dries/skinning that you get with the #7. No need for any special techniques at all with #5. This is what makes it easier to use in high-humidity conditions too. 99.9% of the time it`s the glaze I reach for.




Isn`t #3 is meant to be applied with machine (rotary or DA). For a fresh repaint, it`s probably wise to avoid taking a machine to it.



Opinions vary about taking a machine to fresh paint. In my experience, often the paint shop has already done so, and as long as you use common sense (perhaps "uncommon" sense, I`ve deal with a lot of repaints) it`s OK to do such things to the somewhat-soft fresh paint.



#3 is *easier* to use by machine as it has different oils/lube in it so it can be worked longer/more aggressively without problems, but it works fine by hand too. It`s sorta in between #7 and #5, to put it simplistically.




#81 hand polish I believe may have some chemical cleaners in it as well. I do not believe it is a straight glaze as #5 and #7. I also believe it has some minor protectation abilities as well (at least that`s my experience with it).



You got me on the chemical cleaners, I truly dunno. I`ve used #81 far less than the others under discussion. Mike P. has said it`s another Meg`s "pure polish", FWIW.



FWIW, I also find the #5 to have decent protective qualities for what it is, similar to the protection the #80 leaves behind. I`ve even had #5 continue to bead after a very gentle wash, but yeah, I put some more on anyhow.