Problem with different clear coat on hood/fender

[97FLAIRSIDE]

I finally cleaned off a section of my truck today to just get and idea at what im up against. My truck hasn't been detailed since I first got it in the fall of 2005. I never done anything since then. Its got some major swirls in it. But i know once its detailed it will shine real good especially with the flake in the blue.
But the seciton i did yesterday i used Poorboys ssr2.5 with a polsihing pad and worked it good, and did a second pass but could not get rid of some scratches and swirls. None looked deep at all. This was done on my hood on the front cornre. Im wondering if the body shop used a different kind of clearr then a factory type. Seems different then the fender that is original paint which got alot of swirls removed.
Is there anything I can do to get the hood alot better looking with it beeing repainted from an aicident?

 

[CharlesW]

1. It is very likely that the body shop clear is different than the OEM clear.

2. The body shop will usually have to apply more base coat and more clear coat than the factory did to get good coverage. It's almost impossible to get the kind of coverage the automated equipment gives the factory.

3. Be sure the flaws are in the clear coat and not the base coat.

4. You might consider taking it to someone that is proficient with a rotary to get it the way you want it. Once they get it cleaned up, you can probably keep it up with the PC.

Charles

 

[blk45]

Did you try a light cutting pad, like a LC orange?

 

[Poorboy]

3. Be sure the flaws are in the clear coat and not the base coat.

Charles

this is always a question with a repaint that can be answered with a lighted magnifyer. the yare available at Radio Shack and some other places ...if it's under the clear then you can't do anything about it :wall

 

[black bart]

Body shops tint base to try to get a match but it sounds like they did not match it very good.
If paint is well maintained it is easy to match but when a finish is 10 years old and has been neglected it is hard to make new paint look like old and faded paint.
With a poor paint job like what comes on new vehicles a repaint is usually much better.
The orange peel on new GM cars is terrible.
I have a friend that works in a Chevy dealership body shop and he said it is hard to match a new car because it is hard to duplicate such a poor paint job.
Just last week he had to repaint a fender that he had repaired because it looked different than the rest of the car but the problem was his was smooth and glossy and did not match all that orange peel in the factory paint job

 

[CharlesW]

If paint is well maintained it is easy to match but when a finish is 10 years old and has been neglected it is hard to make new paint look like old and faded paint.

Another problem is the fact that the new, hopefully matching paint is going to fade somewhat and won't match a few years down the road.

With a poor paint job like what comes on new vehicles a repaint is usually much better.

I can only speak for my friend that has a body shop, but he thinks it is very difficult to have a repaint be of better overall quality than the factory. Some things you can do better, but the factory has a new, fresh, clean surface to start with. No 10 to 50 coats of a wax/sealant to remove. No windows or trim to mask around. No moldings or weatherstripping to contend with. A paint system that probably cost more than his entire shop that, in theory, can lay down the exact amount of paint needed to cover the vehicle. He applies several coats of base and several coats of clear to achieve that same 100% coverage. I really hate to ever have anything repainted, but it sometimes does have to happen.

The orange peel on new GM cars is terrible.
I have a friend that works in a Chevy dealership body shop and he said it is hard to match a new car because it is hard to duplicate such a poor paint job.
Just last week he had to repaint a fender that he had repaired because it looked different than the rest of the car but the problem was his was smooth and glossy and did not match all that orange peel in the factory paint job

This is more of a problem with quite a few manufacturers than most people realize. At one time, there was a man in this area that was sought after by the GM dealerships for his ability to match the factory orange peel when he painted a vehicle. He was a good painter, but his real talent was being able to duplicate the orange peel on the repainted surfaces.

Charles

 

[black bart]

For some reason it seems to be worse on the new Corvettes
I was looking at some new cars last week at the Chevy dealer ship that this painter works at and while the paint was not great it was not too bad but several new Corvettes that I have seen was embarrassing if I ordered a new Z06 at a cost of
$ 80,000.00 and it looked like some that I have seen the dealer would be stuck with it because I would refuse to buy it.
The imports have a advantage they do not have the restrictions that the domestic manufactures do.
The EPA has clamped down on the VOC's till it is impossible to paint one right.
In the near future we will have water base paint some manufactures are already using it.
Here is example of what a NON Factory repaint should look like.

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[CharlesW]

Bart, that's getting close to a restoration rather than just a repaint.
Most people think a quote above $2000 is a high price.
Actually a decent full repaint will usually run in excess of $5,000 if you have the old paint stripped.
$10,000 is not uncommon if the doors, hood, trunk, weatherstrip, etc. are removed.

The paint job you show in those pictures was probably in excess of $10,000. If you know how much it cost, I would be interested in hearing the figure.
Heck, I don't own a vehicle that's worth $10,000 total.

Charles

 

[black bart]

Bart, that's getting close to a restoration rather than just a repaint.
Most people think a quote above $2000 is a high price.
Actually a decent full repaint will usually run in excess of $5,000 if you have the old paint stripped.
$10,000 is not uncommon if the doors, hood, trunk, weatherstrip, etc. are removed.

The paint job you show in those pictures was probably in excess of $10,000. If you know how much it cost, I would be interested in hearing the figure.
Heck, I don't own a vehicle that's worth $10,000 total.

Charles

Charles the car belongs to me.
The same car is in my Avatar.
You are real close on the price of the paint job.
I know of people that bought a brand new Corvette and had it repainted because of the poor paint job.
Like I said in above post I would just refuse to. accept it.
The HHR has much better paint than a new vette and it cost less than a third the money.
I love Corvettes but the current model paint job don't match the price GM gets for the car.