'08 Tundra paint burn

M

mose

New member
I can't f*$%king believe that I did this!! I don't have pics cuz I was busy throwing up from stress but I will give you the details about it.



A buddy of mine jsut bought an '08 white Tundra and wanted it debadged. I told him to come over Saturday and we could tag team it to save time. The badges came off fine with a blow drier, fishing line and mineral spirits to remove the adhesive.



The first badge came off a littel harder and had left a coupld scratches in the paint. So I was working the paint to try and get them out. Starting with a white pad and 106FF I worked the polish in and it had diminished them but they weren't gone. Now if he hadn't have been there I would have stopped and he never would have seen them. But I wanted to make the paint as perfect as it was on the rest of the truck and I got a little more aggresive with an orange pad and SSR 3. When I pulled the pad away after a few passes I noticed that, on the bady line from the top of the fender to the bottom, I had burned through the paint.



He wasn't upset and asked me if I could fix it. I told him that, one way or another, I could fix it. I have fixed rock chips before with great success but this is about a three inch long burn on the body line. With it being a brand new truck I am not sure that I want to take a chance on f'ing it up any more than it already is.



So I am looking for suggestions. I thought about gettings some touch up paint in a spray can and misting it over the area and seeing how that works. I also got in touch with a guy from Aero Colors that said he could fix it for $80 but that the paint wouldn't be as thick as the original and that I wouldn't ever be able to polish over that area again.



I am really looking for some help here guys!! Could someone please chime in with any ideas or experiences? Thanks in advance!!
 
I feel your pain, been there done that. Orange pads, in particular, have been nasty little paint burners on me.



I haven't had good luck with rattle can touchups (match is *always* pretty off), your best bet is probably the Aero Colors guy. The repair area will be small, and although you won't be able to polish it, if you tape off the area and glaze it, it should pretty much match the rest of the panel in terms of gloss and marring. See if someone can hook you up with a little Product-X, that'll hide *anything*.



I would look at this as an opportunity to explore some new polishes and techniques - I have switched away from both SSR3 and orange pads for heavy compounding, due to various problems. Pick up some Super Intensive, 3000 grit sandpaper, and a green Presta wool pad, and I guarantee that your next deep scratch experience will go smoother and easier.
 
I Was using my new Flex to polish with. I typicall stay with the Menz products....not really sure why I grabbed the SSR3.....I think I will go with the Aero Colors guy and just hope for the best.
 
Compound + orange pad is an almost guaranteed paint burn. I hope it all comes out ok in the end. Let us know the end result of this.
 
I too have had problems with orange pads, I feel they're just too stiff. Stick with more aggressive polishes and white or green polishing pads, those are as aggressive as I'll go with a PC/UDM. Break out the rotary if those won't rid the scratches, and as a member above said, just lightly wetsand out the defect, and then rotary the sanding scratches out. Good luck getting it fixed in a cost effective manner.
 
This was a PC/UDM right?



Aside from being very aggressive, would a RO/orange pad/SSR3 combo be able to burn paint? Especially Toyota paint which I have found to be decently hard..



I think some pics would be helpful.
 
He said he was using the Flex I believe. But, I do have some experience with low profile LC orange pads and a PC, I got out some bad scratches on a Lexus with IP, but I was very surprised how HOT the paint got. I've never seen that before with a PC, but I checked it every 10-15 seconds so I wouldn't have that awful OMG moment. I imagine with a much more powerful machine you really could do some nasty damage.



To the OP, I feel your pain bro, like someone said, been there -done that, except mine was with a rotary on a piece of trim - rolled the paint right off!
 
JuneBug said:
He said he was using the Flex I believe. But, I do have some experience with low profile LC orange pads and a PC, I got out some bad scratches on a Lexus with IP, but I was very surprised how HOT the paint got. I've never seen that before with a PC, but I checked it every 10-15 seconds so I wouldn't have that awful OMG moment. I imagine with a much more powerful machine you really could do some nasty damage.
Click to expand...



Lexus has ultra soft paint. Using IP with an orange pad, especially a low profile pad could be very risky even with a PC. I have a Lexus, and I never use anything stronger than Sonus SFX 2 on it with a white pad and an orange pad (only to spot treat) and it gets the job done.



SCutchins said:
pay to have the tailgate resprayed (correctly.)
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I agree!
 
The Lexus I worked on just got orange/IP in one spot -the rest was FFII on white pad. I recently traded a Toyota Rav4 - 2007 model, I wouldn't say the paint was all that soft.
 
The wife's 03 toyota matrix finish is hard to me. I had to use OC orange LC CCS then with SIP orange and to finish 106FF white. It took me about 10 hrs with the UDM. I first started with 106FF with a white pad and it just laughed at me so i had to step it up with a compound & orange pad to see results. But with a Flex i think one should treat it like a mini rotary, you have to be a little more careful with it because it's not a PC. Just my 2 cents.......
 
zoomzoom mazda5 said:
The wife's 03 toyota matrix finish is hard to me. I had to use OC orange LC CCS then with SIP orange and to finish 106FF white. It took me about 10 hrs with the UDM. I first started with 106FF with a white pad and it just laughed at me so i had to step it up with a compound & orange pad to see results. But with a Flex i think one should treat it like a mini rotary, you have to be a little more careful with it because it's not a PC. Just my 2 cents.......
Click to expand...

Toyotas have a harder clearcoat than their Lexus line. I tried 2x to polish my wife's 03 Toyota Highlander with my UDM, SFX 2 and the orange pad and I barely touched those swirls. Next weekend I am going to hit it with the Flex, Menzerna IP, and the white pad. I think that will do it, if not, I will move on to the orange pad. I would never even think about hitting my ES350 with that combo. :xyxthumbs.
 
The Lexus I did was a RX300, a 2001, so maybe the paint changed -I don't know, all I do is be really careful and do a little area to start and see how she reacts. I don't know about ya'll, but if I can get by withdoing a one step with 106 or 87, I will. I hate those major turds that you have to compound with wool just to get to a layer that isn't "FUBAR" then go back with 106 and foam, my penny pinching customers aren't too thrilled with the diagnosis at times, but shucks, time is money and I ain't working for 5 bucks a hour!
 
My buddy called me last night to check on me. The phone rang, I picked it up and said "Hello" and his first line to me was "Are you still out in the garage breakin' ****?" LOL!! I told him that I had found someone to fix it, (AeroColors) gave him the details on what they do and all that and he was fine with it. He told me, again, not to worry about it and that it would all be fine in the end.



So......lesson learned. I have just never had paint react like that so fast. I have used orange pads and yellow pads on paint before but never with this result. You have seen my CnB's and know that I have had pretty good results. The only thing I can come up with is that the body line has thinner paint and the Flex is more powerful than the PC I am used to. I think those two things led to my demise.
 
No pics yet but they are comming!! I set the customer up to get the burned part repsrayed through AeroColors on Saturday. It's now been resprayed and will be buffed out in a few days. My customer says that it looks like brand new. He says he can feel the difference cuz the new paint and clear is rougher than the rest of the truck though. He is taking pictures through the whole process and will get them to me when it's finished. I can't wait for this to be over. My confidence level has gone right down the toilet.
 
I'm 90% sure that if it's white, and it's a tunda...it's single stage paint fellas...I know for a fact all the previous years are...I just don't know about the 2008. Of course, if you see metallic, then it's got a clear coat. Man, I just detailed a brand new 2008 white Tacoma...I was supposed to wax it, but noticed that the paint was a little chaulky looking, and the owner agreed, so we buffed it and it got noticably glossier - I've seen it a 100 times, it was single stage paint already starting the oxidation process in our nasty salt air.



gonna have to get it repainted IMO.
 
themightytimmah said:
I feel your pain, been there done that. Orange pads, in particular, have been nasty little paint burners on me.



I haven't had good luck with rattle can touchups (match is *always* pretty off), your best bet is probably the Aero Colors guy. The repair area will be small, and although you won't be able to polish it, if you tape off the area and glaze it, it should pretty much match the rest of the panel in terms of gloss and marring. See if someone can hook you up with a little Product-X, that'll hide *anything*.



I would look at this as an opportunity to explore some new polishes and techniques - I have switched away from both SSR3 and orange pads for heavy compounding, due to various problems. Pick up some Super Intensive, 3000 grit sandpaper, and a green Presta wool pad, and I guarantee that your next deep scratch experience will go smoother and easier.
Click to expand...



I agree about wet sanding and cleaning that up with wool.





Brother you will bounce back from this.



Not sure how wool pads would work with the flex, but wool does run cooler with the rotary. I can compound the hell out of some paint with some black wool and strada 1000 polish at 1800, the paint at the most is warm to the touch. Note that this combo should only be used in extreme cases and can still wreak havoc on a finish.



Instead of an orange foam pad, I use a green or yellow wool pad with something like Presta 1500.
 
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