In the clear or the base?

I

imported_animes2k

New member
My friend has an Audi S4 (previous body style) that he bought used from the dealer about a year ago. I never really looked closely at it, aside from noting that it didn't "shine" like it should. Well, looking closely at the front fenders today, there's no doubt in my mind that front clip has been repainted.



The problem is that, even with an 8x loupe and a strong light (surefire 6p) I can't quite determine if what look like sanding marks are in the clear or the basecoat. Any way to help figure this out? It's got pretty strong swirls or sweeps in the clear anyway, so it's hard to determine where the problem is.



I'm inclined to think they're in the base from the seeming difference in metallic reflection and they're quite obvious from 3', if you're looking for them. It looks like they did a crap job wetsanding without cleaning up/polishing before they sprayed the clear, or in a sub-layer of the clear.



Should I just bust out the PC and a 4" w/some SSR2.5/#83 and give it a shot to see if they come out?



Thanks for ideas.



edit: it's a light silver metallic color, as seen here:

227_2794.jpg
 
I'd say give the PC a shot at the swirls with the SSR2.5/#83 and see how it goes. If you're lucky it's in the clear, if not it looks like your guess about the base coat is unfortunately right.



Let us know how it goes!



Paul
 
Yeah, pick a small spot and see if you can polish them out. IMO it gets pretty obvious where the marring lies after you've worked it a bit. Might even be prep/sanding scratches under the basecoat, this is a lot more common than one might think. Too bad such a nice car got painted by twits.
 
1 Way to find out, grab some 1500 grit wet sand paper and try wet sanding it. If the scratchs dont come out they are in the body work.



Sellncars
 
Well, if I were gonna do that I'd just use some 3K grit. But I dunno if I'd do that on somebody else's car with a repaint of unknown, but questionable, quality ;)
 
The finest stuff I can find locally is 2000 and I have some, but don't plan on taking it to this car... :)



Accumulator, I hadn't really thought of it, but since you mention it, that actually seems like a perfect description for what I'm seeing.



I wish I had a good macro lens to take a picture of this.



I will give it a shot with the DA next time he drops by and I'll let you know.



Thanks for all the input.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top