After 7 years.... had my first burn through

[smbstyle]

So just some background about myself; I have been using a rotary for the past 7 years, heavy paint correction including aggressive compounds, wool pads, etc. without issue for the past 6 years, and have used my rotary on hundreds of vehicles, probably the wool pad for serious paint correction on at least 30 vehicles, all with no issue.



Last weekend, I purchased a brand new 2013 Subaru BRZ in Satin White Pearl, 5 miles on the odometer. About two days later, the car now having 130 miles on it, I found some fairly deep imperfections on the front bumper. I have heard from others that the paint on these cars is considered brittle, and the location of the imperfections worried me, as it was close to an edge on the front bumper. I was pretty sure I would need a respray with how deep they looked, but before doing that, I wanted to give it a try with the rotary.



Here is what it looked like:

Before working on this spot, I wanted the best angle I could, so I jacked up the front of the car to bring it closer to body level. I pulled out my DeWalt rotary with a Malco cutting pad and medium compound, which didn't really do much, so I stepped up to the wool pad with the Malco HD Compound. I had about three or four passes on the flat area of the front bumper, no pressure applied, just letting the pad do the work, and noticed a fairly significant difference.

I sat and stared at it for a while, and still noticed the deep imperfection was fairly visible still along the crease of the front bumper, which I was making sure to stay away from with the wool pad and compound. Against my better judgment and knowing it was my own car to risk, I thought "let me get one pass along the edge", and literally, one pass on the crease, with no pressure applied, this is the result. Knowing that this spot was going to have to be resprayed anyways, I wasn't devastated, but still upset with myself that I pushed it further than I was comfortable with, and pretty much told myself "told you so" afterwards.

So, lesson here is stick with your instinct and what you've learned over the years, and stay away from creases with a rotary/wool pad/compound combo, especially on a plastic bumper.



I guess the next step is a bumper respray, unless anyone else has any other ideas on correcting this?





Here's a shot of the car out in the sun even after the "oopsie", the Satin White Pearl is an incredible color. Luckily the burn through isn't that noticeable, and I only really see it at certain angles in the garage.

 

[Richard Grasa]

The only correct fix is an edge to edge respray of the entire bumper. At least it's your own car and not someone else's. Sucks that it's so new, but sh!t happens. My rule is if you can catch a fingernail on the defect, it's not gonna safely buff out and I'd say you could definitely catch a fingernail on those gouges. I've found that out the hard way myself, luckily on my own car way back when. Find a REAL good painter to take care of that.

 

[Nth Degree]

I would have tried MF pad with DA and accepted what it could/couldn't do. Depending on how much it bothers you, I would probably wait a few months so that any respray will erase any other pitting/chips that occur, as they are sure to. Sucks, for sure.

 

[smbstyle]

The only correct fix is an edge to edge respray of the entire bumper. At least it's your own car and not someone else's. Sucks that it's so new, but sh!t happens. My rule is if you can catch a fingernail on the defect, it's not gonna safely buff out and I'd say you could definitely catch a fingernail on those gouges. I've found that out the hard way myself, luckily on my own car way back when. Find a REAL good painter to take care of that.

Yeah, that's a very good rule of thumb.



I've heard that with the pearls, they can be very difficult to respray and blend, so the entire panel will need to be done. I'm going to look around at body shops associated with Subaru dealers in the area; someone that is experienced with this color and wont have a tough time matching it. Not in any rush though, and may just wait a while, because I'd hate to respray it just to get some rock chips on it a month later.

 

[smbstyle]

I would have tried MF pad with DA and accepted what it could/couldn't do. Depending on how much it bothers you, I would probably wait a few months so that any respray will erase any other pitting/chips that occur, as they are sure to. Sucks, for sure.

Yeah I started with a less aggressive setup, then moved up, and even after I got DECENT results out of it, I KNEW I should have stopped. Just dissapointed with myself for ignoring my judgment.



That's exactly my plan! Honestly I'm not going to sweat it, apparently this paint chips like crazy, so I'm going to give it a while and see how the paint is holding up, then get the bumper resprayed and have the entire front end clear-bra'ed.



And the car is going to primarily be a track car, not a show car, so I'm expecting a few dings here and there...

 

[Dan]

I'd seal it with 4-5 layers of OC (yes just that spot), it'll slightly lessen how apparent the strike through is, and protect it . Then just sit back and wait for the next big ooopsie.



And since while we're kicking you while you are down ....



-Rotary on plastic isn't ideal, plastic doesn't dissipate heat well, much easier to burn through already thin paint

-I know those marks would have caught a finger nail, so no point in trying to make them disappear, aint gonna happen

-Cleaning the black out and filling and sanding with clear might have been the best route to go

 

[smbstyle]

I'd seal it with 4-5 layers of OC (yes just that spot), it'll slightly lessen how apparent the strike through is, and protect it . Then just sit back and wait for the next big ooopsie.



And since while we're kicking you while you are down ....



-Rotary on plastic isn't ideal, plastic doesn't dissipate heat well, much easier to burn through already thin paint

-I know those marks would have caught a finger nail, so no point in trying to make them disappear, aint gonna happen

-Cleaning the black out and filling and sanding with clear might have been the best route to go

Thanks!



Yeah, and I knew I wouldn't get them to completely dissapear in the back of my mind; I should have been satisfied with how I got them after 3 passes, which was pretty good considering the location and depth of the imperfections.



Again, I'm just frustrated for second guessing myself and going further than I was comfortable with. I've had great success with the rotary on plastics, even with the wool pad and heavy compound and being very careful, but I would consider this a reckless mistake. Live and learn!

 

[Barry Theal]

Congrats on the new car. Sucks about the burn threw. I personally think everyone should burn a car omce so they can see just how far to push paint. **** happens and you did nothing wrong repaint the ***** and enjoy it. Nice car for sure!

 

[smbstyle]

Congrats on the new car. Sucks about the burn threw. I personally think everyone should burn a car omce so they can see just how far to push paint. **** happens and you did nothing wrong repaint the ***** and enjoy it. Nice car for sure!

Thanks! I'm absolutely loving the car. I was actually torn between a 2013 Mustang GT track pack and the BRZ after selling my Miata race car, and found the BRZ just to be such an incredible car all around, especially for the price.



Yeah, that was definitely a lesson learned!

 

[SVR]

I call that clear coat failure not a burn through - burn is either delamination of the paint or pad burn but a pad burn can be polished or sanded out



Well that's what happens when you work with painted plastic bars which have usually only half as much paint on them as the rest of the car and also by using compounds/polishes that gouge the paint to correct instead of rolling/tumbling over the paint which the better ones do.



a vast majority gouge but very few roll. The ones that roll might take a little longer to correct the damage but almost never take the paint off panel edges and can be a much better formulation so pad caused paint burns are nearly impossible to do at any speed on a rotary.



Wool on bumpers aint a problem, just don't rotary bumpers - Random orbital only, 15mm throw will take care of anything usually



If that was my car I would of sanded that, starting with 4000 grit and going up the grit scale as needed, checking every few swipes by hand to see my progress.

You'll remove far less by sanding then using a rotary and any compound or polish with a wool pad, especially if working on a small area. Renny Doyle first told me that and some time testing proved it

 

[smbstyle]

I call that clear coat failure not a burn through - burn is either delamination of the paint or pad burn but a pad burn can be polished or sanded out



Well that's what happens when you work with painted plastic bars which have usually only half as much paint on them as the rest of the car and also by using compounds/polishes that gouge the paint to correct instead of rolling/tumbling over the paint which the better ones do.



a vast majority gouge but very few roll. The ones that roll might take a little longer to correct the damage but almost never take the paint off panel edges and can be a much better formulation so pad caused paint burns are nearly impossible to do at any speed on a rotary.



Wool on bumpers aint a problem, just don't rotary bumpers - Random orbital only, 15mm throw will take care of anything usually



If that was my car I would of sanded that, starting with 4000 grit and going up the grit scale as needed, checking every few swipes by hand to see my progress.

You'll remove far less by sanding then using a rotary and any compound or polish with a wool pad, especially if working on a small area. Renny Doyle first told me that and some time testing proved it

Interesting, I did not know that. Thanks!!

 

[Migue]

I had someone put a scratch on the side of my door once and it took off the paint, i went ahead and lightly sanded the affected area and around it with fine grit sand paper,applied layers of touch up paint little by little ( applied one thin layer,waited a few minutes then applied some more ) until it was noticeably thick enough to sand. I went ahead and sanded it until it basically blended it with the factory paint/surface and then polished it very carefully using my PC. It actually came out looking great and you could not tell there was a scratch there anymore . The paint was black and the scratched surface ( undercoat showing ) was white.



I know for your car it'd be harder for the paint to blend since there are pearls in the paint BUT since the affected area is so small,i doubt it'll be that noticeable .



Beautiful car by the way.

 

[smbstyle]

I had someone put a scratch on the side of my door once and it took off the paint, i went ahead and lightly sanded the affected area and around it with fine grit sand paper,applied layers of touch up paint little by little ( applied one thin layer,waited a few minutes then applied some more ) until it was noticeably thick enough to sand. I went ahead and sanded it until it basically blended it with the factory paint/surface and then polished it very carefully using my PC. It actually came out looking great and you could not tell there was a scratch there anymore . The paint was black and the scratched surface ( undercoat showing ) was white.



I know for your car it'd be harder for the paint to blend since there are pearls in the paint BUT since the affected area is so small,i doubt it'll be that noticeable .



Beautiful car by the way.

Not a bad idea, I appreciate it!!

 

[Migue]

you're welcome.



Mine turned out pretty well, didn't have any problems when pressure washing the car either. Just be patient with it and you should end up with some pretty decent results.



Good luck!!!