Need Advice on Detail/Body Work

[Dillon Poole]

Alright, I have a 99 Toyota Tacoma 4WD. Its a beautiful dark green metallic. I am the second owner of the vehicle, which is part of the problem....



Problem 1 - Swirl marks galore! Here is a picture after a recent detail with Mother's Clay, SMR, S100 Paint Cleanser, and S100 Topper. Notice the swirl marks (look alot worse in person). Its pretty depressing doing all that work and still the paint looks like crap. It was like this when I got the truck, I think the previous owner had a love for using Brill-O pad applicators, but I digress. There was a picture some guy had of a Beetle with the swirl marks, mine is just about as bad. The hood is in pretty good shape, the rest is hell though.

Anyways, I don't have a PC and I'm not quite convinced that it would help in my situation, since they are pretty bad. I have a ghetto Waxmaster random orbital that I want to replace with a PC eventually. I do believe a PC can maintain a finish, but I think in this case I need more...



Problem 2 - I was keyed pretty bad recently, so I have some deep scratches (fingernail stops in them, etc.). Again, its depressing to do all the detailing when the paint looks like hell afterwards. I also have some other scratches from offroading, but usually they are in the clear-coat and I think when I get a PC I can take care of them. Here is a picture from tonight, (sorry its raining) of some of the keyed scratches.

In the second picture you can see the scratches but also the plastic bed railing. It came w/ the truck and I want to remove it, so I tried, and low and behold, underneath is scratched all to hell. I want to get at them before they rust as I plan on keeping this truck for a very long time (hell, its a Toyota ).



Problem 3 - I have some ugly trim that came with the truck, real ghetto mid-West pinstriping that dealers stick on all the trucks and I want to get rid of it, plus I have a TRD sticker that came with the truck on the rear quarter panels that some A-hole peeled partially off. I've tried putting a heat gun to it and removing it and its just been on too long for me to do any good on it.



Okay, sorry this is long, but its all leading to what can I do?? Its a bunch of problems and I think I'd just be better off taking it to a body shop and having them fix it all and start from scratch on the paint. But I don't want to spend a whole lot cuz I'm going to paint the truck in a few years to a new color (silver or the old Lexus wine red).



What can I expect to pay for touch up paint and a full detail with a rotary or whatever it will take to make the paint look new again.





Help me! lol :wavey

 

[imported_BretFraz]

OK, OK, lets take a deep breath here, turn off the Death Metal, calm down and see what we've really got going on.



Alright, where are we....let's take this in the order you presented them:



(1) Obviously you used ineffective products. They aren't bad, just not the correct ones. Removing swirls by hand is a thankless job and requires a more aggressive product than wimpy SMR. I'd use something like Meguiar's #2 Fine Cut Cleaner or Meguiar's DACP... something with some real bite. Then follow up with SMR if you need it.



(2) You made a second rookie mistake by detailing the entire truck before realizing that the products you used didn't do the job. Next time test product performance on a small area before you bust your butt on the entire job. You need a variety of products on hand so start saving money and stock up.



(3) Your Waxmaster is OK for applying cleaner waxes but useless for more serious work. If ya wanna be an OG Detailer ya gotta step up to a PC. This machine with the proper pad and product, used correctly, will take out those swirls in no time.



(4) Its funny that you say in one paragraph that you think a PC can't take out swirls and is only good for maintaining finishes, then in the next paragraph you think a PC will take out serious damage from key marks.

- - News Bulletin - - A PC will NOT remove damage from key marks. A rotary might but only in the hands of an experienced pro and I would not even count on that. If the damage is thru the clearcoat the only way to fix it is to take it to a body shop and get them touched up and/or repainted. Get some estimates from a local shop; no one here can tell you about costs because we can't see the damage first hand. Also, there aren't too many pro car painters here so any price advice is just a guess.



(5) I don't see why the decals will not come off with a heat gun. Are you sure it wasn't a hair dryer? A real heat gun should practically melt the decals. Go rent a heat gun if the one you have isn't working properly. Having said that I would think twice about removing all the decals and emblems. The paint underneath has likely faded and you will see ghost images where the decals once were. Taking off decals now is a risk so decide what you want before you peel them off.



(6) Last comment - Unless you are planning a full on custom truck, a complete color change is a dumb idea. It will kill the value of the truck when you go to sell it. So unless this is the basis for a show truck or something totally wild, its best to shelve the idea of a color change. Want a silver truck? Buy one. There's lots of them out there.

 

[George M.]

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((5) I don't see why the decals will not come off with a heat gun. Are you sure it wasn't a hair dryer? A real heat gun should practically melt the decals. Go rent a heat gun if the one you have isn't working properly. Having said that I would think twice about removing all the decals and emblems. The paint underneath has likely faded and you will see ghost images where the decals once were. Taking off decals now is a risk so decide what you want before you peel them off.

I second that. My Tacoma is a 97. When they still had the sticker that says Toyota on the tailgate. my mom drove my truck before me, and she peeled them off. you can still see the TOYOTA in the paint. It is darker than the rest. (bretfraz- the paint underneath doesnt fade, the paint around it does) But it looks kinda cool with just the tacoma, but "ghost" pinstripes and decals would look weird. I would just leave the pinstriping as once it is off. Not much more you can do.

 

[imported_BretFraz]

I second that. My Tacoma is a 97. When they still had the sticker that says Toyota on the tailgate. my mom drove my truck before me, and she peeled them off. you can still see the TOYOTA in the paint. It is darker than the rest. (bretfraz- the paint underneath doesnt fade, the paint around it does)

DOH :doh :doh



That's what I meant. Sorry, its late and I've been detailing....

 

[George M.]

Lol. I knew what you meant.

 

[Dillon Poole]

Alright, thanks for your candor, let me reply so you think I'm not still a complete idiot....



(1) I know I used the incorrect products, thank you for reinforcing my belief. I have never dealt with heavy swirls or a bad finish on a vehicle, my previous vehicles have been new and kept for only a year max, so coming to a used car really changed things, thus the reason I'm on the board here....



(2) I didn't detail the truck to make it show ready or anything, I detailed it to protect the finish for winter, we get some crazy ice here in Oklahoma...



(3) Oh man do I know it! lol I plan on getting one as soon as I get my tax return.



(4) Shoulda clarified this. I never meant to say that a PC would take out the scratches from the keyying (sp). I meant the light scratches from offroading as they are usually only on the clearcoat and can be even buffed out by hand. I agree, the key scratches won't come out without body work. Not even a rotary will take these out.



(5) Yes I'm sure its a heat gun, had the trusty sucker for years doing audio dampening and other stuff. As for the decals, the TRD sticker is half torn off, looks like crap. But the plus is the paint is not faded relative to where the decal was, thus the reason I'm gonna remove the rest of the sticker crap, the emblems I'm keeping tho.



(6) Yes I'm planning on keeping this truck forever basically. I plan on racing it in a few desert racing series' (Baja racing type stuff)when I finally move back to California. I'm not going to sell it ever so I'm not concerned with resale. This isn't going to be my daily driver when its paid off. But I want it pretty while I can.



I appreciate you help tho, thanks. :xyxthumbs



Just so nobody thinks the truck is complete trash lol....