Audi A3 acid damage repair

A

Apollo_Auto

New member
Hi all!



Here's an Audi A3 that I did over the holidays, but I'm just getting round to posting it. I've got a lot more to post but I thought I'd start with this one :). The manager of an apartment building called me up and I really didn't understand what he was trying to tell me about the damage on this car so I told him I would come and look at it. He said it had some "stuff" on the hood and windscreen that didn't want to come off. Hmm, when I translated "stuff" into "customer" language I knew I was in for a treat... When I arrived I was introduced to the owner who happened to be a really hot French chick... single too... :wall: (I'm married :)). Anyway, enough about the sexy French babe with an unbelievable body and big, brown, pouty eyes and... sorry.



Like I said, I knew I was in for a treat, but I wasn't expecting this >>



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I was thinking "Sweet jeebus, what the hell is that???"



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It was obviously some sort of salt and something else compound because it had dripped on her car from the ceiling in the garage. Whatever it was, it burned the paint and not a single chemical I had would even put a dent in it. I even used Super APC undiluted and still nothing. By the time I arrived this stuff had already set like cement. So the only choice I had was to wet sand it off. I wanted to take off as little paint as possible so I used 1500 grit to sand it off. Using 1500 sure took a lot longer, but I could monitor exactly when I was through the mystery mix and on the paint. After polishing I took paint readings again and on average only took off about 3-5 microns. Here's some during shots >>



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After being compounded with a wool pad and Insta Cut #2. Normally I would have used a lighter polish but Audo/VW have THE hardest paints in the world... well at least here in Europe anyway.



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The car got an ONR bath afterwards and was waxed with Insta Finish Premium Wax.



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Random shots of the hood after being polished out with Insta Cut #15 and a finishing pad.



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You can see here in the reflection where the paint is a bit wavy... this was the "burn" damage I was referring to. It burned little "valleys" into the paint!



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And NO, I didn't dress the arches :). Waste of product if you ask me.



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Thanks for reading and to all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!



- Jesse O'Connor
 
Nice work Jesse...most people would have run away from that one.



Now the next question is, would you have tackled this job if it hadn't been a hot, single, French chic? :)
 
Oh man, do I love these kinds of jobs!!!!! Great work. Looks like an electrical transformer exploded above where the car was parked?
 
LOL this is why I advise women to stay away from those special "bottomless male car washes". No, they're real not detailers, and no that's not wax!
 
Jesse, never mind about the car, we all know the car turned out killer. Where's the pics of the French Chic!!!!! Nice work Dude
 
maxepr1 said:
Jesse, never mind about the car, we all know the car turned out killer. Where's the pics of the French Chic!!!!! Nice work Dude
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You took pictures of everything EXCEPT the client ? Yet half your post is about the client herself.... :lol j/k j/k



Honestly, that is an amazing turn-around, and probably one of the strangest defects I've ever heard of or seen.
 
I was told this happens to EVERY guy! You mean she was lying?



Nice work, Jesse. I know this sounds crazy, but did you happen to try vinegar?
 
TSC17 said:
Nice work Jesse...most people would have run away from that one.



Now the next question is, would you have tackled this job if it hadn't been a hot, single, French chic? :)
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Thanks Todd! I know, I know... I should have tackled the chic instead :).



David Fermani said:
Oh man, do I love these kinds of jobs!!!!! Great work. Looks like an electrical transformer exploded above where the car was parked?
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Thanks David! No it was some salt and other chemical compound that etched the hell out of the paint... don't know exactly what it was, but nothing I had made a dent in it...



rcrobbins said:
LOL this is why I advise women to stay away from those special "bottomless male car washes". No, they're real not detailers, and no that's not wax!
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:D :D :D!



maxepr1 said:
Jesse, never mind about the car, we all know the car turned out killer. Where's the pics of the French Chic!!!!! Nice work Dude
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Thanks man! Yeah, I know I suck for not getting pics... please forgive me my brothers!! :)



WAS said:
You took pictures of everything EXCEPT the client ? Yet half your post is about the client herself.... :lol j/k j/k



Honestly, that is an amazing turn-around, and probably one of the strangest defects I've ever heard of or seen.
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I'll do better next time... :) Yeah, it surprised me too!



alloutdetailing said:
That turned out great!



Next question...... What did you use on the glass???
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Thanks mate! I used a razor and some window cleaner!



Superior__Shine said:
You beat me to it!
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:)



vtec92civic said:
wow. very nice work. I would have probably walked away from that job LoL.
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Thanks man!



EisenHulk said:
I was told this happens to EVERY guy! You mean she was lying?



Nice work, Jesse. I know this sounds crazy, but did you happen to try vinegar?
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:D Thanks! No I didn't try any vinegar. I tried soaking a rag in APC+water and letting it sit on the goop for a while and nothing... It was crystallized too, so I thought maybe letting it soak would work but, nope. At the time I didn't think about lime/calcium deposits because I'd never seen anything like it and didn't think that lime would come from freshly melted snow... I was stumped on this one so went for what I knew would work. I'll try some vinegar next time though! Though I think this concoction was a bit too tough to be budged by vinegar... like I said, it was "burnt" underneath.
 
paintxpert said:
It looks like lime from a parking garage. Nice work correcting that job. My hat is off! You saved this customer a couple of grand...I hope they know that.
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Thanks man! Know of any other ways to get that off other than wet sanding like I did? How did lime etch its way into the paint??
 
First, beautiful results!



What coincidence, I viewed this thread yesterday and when I got to my car from work (parked at a public indoor garage), I found the exact type of dirt (if you call it that) on the hood and roof of my ML350, but it was much smaller drops all over. When I got home, I wiped it off with a MF towel socked in QD and it was really tough to clean off, I was really surprised since it was only on the car for 6 hours at the most.



My wife thought I was crazy seeing me doing this in my suit, but she's not the one who has to repair the damage if it etched the paint.
 
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