A strange end to a strange week (you think you`ve seen overspray?!)

[Brenton]

So I started the week off with a Maxima that had dissappearing paint--paint that washed off, obviously recent, uncured touch ups.
Then I had the guy with "no clearcoat".

On Friday morning, a man came in looking quite sheepish in little, aqua-green domestic sedan. The hood looks awful. He comes into the shop, cigarette in hand (while I set down my bottle of solvent), and says, "can you do anything about this?"
I go out to look. I rub my hand over the roughest, most uneven texture I`ve seen since the guy came in with the car he painted with a brush. The man described the story:
"The hood was faded more than the rest of the paint so I wanted to fix it. I used to do body shop, so I figured I knew what I was doing. I taped off the fenders and ordered a factory coloured paint bomb from an auto body place. Unfortunately, as I got ready to spray the hood down, the wind picked up (yeah, that`s right, outside) and blew the newspaper up. I figured I could aim well and just tore off the paper.
"As I began to spray according to the instructions, the paint went into the air and on all the neighbour`s cars. I decided I couldn`t let that happen, so I moved closer, moving faster.
"But now, the car isn`t shiny at all! It is all uneven, and the fenders are coated. The colour is awful. They want $1000 at the body shop and I can`t pay that. Can you fix it?"

:gun_banda

Yeah.

I grabbed a clay bar, which turned green with 3-4 rubs in a small area. I then grabbed some compound and a cloth, which was coated in WET green paint in 5 seconds. That was three inches on a hood. Add the fenders and you have a day methinks.

So what would you do?

I told him that he could spray a $10 can of clear coat over it to keep it the way it was, but it would still look awful, but with an etchy shine to bring out the putrid, uneven colour. He said "no, that`s okay."

I then said, "or, you can refinish the three panels, and I can renew the paint on the rest of the car, making it look new like the newly finished panels." He thought that was okay, but really doesn`t want to spend the money ($1000 + $200 for me).

So, then I said, "ok, let me have it for a couple of hours. I will try some things. That will be enough time to let you know whether we can get this half decent." I said I`d charge an hourly rate, and let him know how long we were looking at after that.

What could I do. He looked so sad, and talked about his wife dying. I gave him a cut rate of $25/hour. It`ll cost me a few dollars in thinners/reducers, solvents, and compound. But half of it was I wanted to know what I can get away with. This is like get a free hood from the junker to mess around with.

Finally, I said, "I wish you came to me first. For a coupla hundred bucks I could have made your paint like new again." He nodded, and said, "yeah, that`s the last time I pretend to be a refinisher."

What would you have done? And any tips for me?
b

[PapiJ]

Yeah spend $40 and respray theentire hood out of the wind with OEM matched color spray and U-pol UV clear . The 2 cans + shipping will be under $40 from levineautoparts.com or just the can of color if its not bc/cc
Sand all the spraying he did off with 400 grit wet/dry ( you wont know what he did - just sand it all level ) wrapped around a 3m or meg`s foam sanding pad , wash it down . Then go over it in one direction with 600 grit wet /dry wash it again , let it dry and tape and mask off everything but the hood .
Then degrease , tack spray color , flash and clear
Wet sand it with 1500 if needed for orange peel , 2000 if not and buff it out with a yellow foam or meg`s compounding pad .
then aggressively clay all the overspray off everything else and etc etc ..
$40 + an hour or so painting + an hour or so wet sanding + your buffing time + your claying to remove other overspray and fenders time should be under $200 still ..

Great !

P.S. The cans actually turn out great if you have knowledge of how to spray a nice wet even coat and proper flash procedure and mix the cans proper

[Brenton]

PapiJ, you are actually suggesting I re-paint, this time 1) inside, 2) with a properly prepared surface, 3) and with clear coat. Is that right?

I`m actually just a detailer, not an autobody guy. I was thinking of thinning/reducing the paint, claying, compounding, and see where we get.

[Brenton]

Anybody else have ideas?

[PapiJ]

yes PEI thats what I was suggesting :whistling
It`s easy though honestly .