Worst cars you have ever had to correct?

Bert said:
I believe Accumulator has mentioned correcting Audi paint is like trying to polish a diamond it is so hard.
Click to expand...



But overall I *like* Audi clear. You're probably thinking of somebody else, and I just came to mind because I'm an Audi nut.



I had more trouble with my e36 M3 than I've ever had with an Audi, including really trashed ones. That e36 was the worst/toughest job I've ever tackled and by the time I was finished I simply hated the car and wanted it out of my life.



But the pros on this forum deal with more corrections in a year than I will in this lifetime, so it'll be interesting to hear what they say on this topic.
 
Accumulator said:
But overall I *like* Audi clear. You're probably thinking of somebody else, and I just came to mind because I'm an Audi nut.



I had more trouble with my e36 M3 than I've ever had with an Audi, including really trashed ones. That e36 was the worst/toughest job I've ever tackled and by the time I was finished I simply hated the car and wanted it out of my life.



But the pros on this forum deal with more corrections in a year than I will in this lifetime, so it'll be interesting to hear what they say on this topic.
Click to expand...



What was the paint on the E36 M3? I'm asking because I've done a few and they weren't too bad, and most recently, yes after 2 years of ownership, I put a polisher down to my M3, and M105/orange 2x took out pretty much everything that I'm willing to take out. Still fairly hard but nothing compared to some of the Audis I've done, especially black ones!
 
LUSTR said:
What was the paint on the E36 M3? I'm asking because I've done a few and they weren't too bad, and most recently, yes after 2 years of ownership, I put a polisher down to my M3, and M105/orange 2x took out pretty much everything that I'm willing to take out. Still fairly hard but nothing compared to some of the Audis I've done, especially black ones!
Click to expand...



This was Byzanz metallic. Beautiful color, probably my fave BMW hue.



A few panels had been repainted and those were typical "pretty hard" (like Glasurit turns out when mixed to be hard) and no big deal. But the factory clear was just incredible! My painter suggested I wetsand it first (and I did end up doing that in places) but I wasn't gonna do the whole car (big mistake), I worked with the rotaries intead. After trying a lot of combos I finally got decent results with *high* speeds (scary-high), using 3M Extra Cut. It worked best on a Meg's 7006, which cut better than my wool pads for some reason :nixweiss I followed that with 1z Pasta Intensiv on an Edge green foam at lower speeds. But I had to do a *lot* of passes with even the Extra Cut for some reason!



And the marring in question just didn't seem all that bad! I kept telling myself that totolandmach does tougher work on BMWs every day. (Wonder where he is these days, nice guy...)



After I got M105, I tried a few areas with it using both orange pads and PFW, via both PC/4" and Flex. It would only correct mild issues and even then I had to do seemingly countless passes. Dunno what it was about that particular car, but it was just murder...
 
Accumulator said:
This was Byzanz metallic. Beautiful color, probably my fave BMW hue.



A few panels had been repainted and those were typical "pretty hard" (like Glasurit turns out when mixed to be hard) and no big deal. But the factory clear was just incredible! My painter suggested I wetsand it first (and I did end up doing that in places) but I wasn't gonna do the whole car (big mistake), I worked with the rotaries intead. After trying a lot of combos I finally got decent results with *high* speeds (scary-high), using 3M Extra Cut. It worked best on a Meg's 7006, which cut better than my wool pads for some reason :nixweiss I followed that with 1z Pasta Intensiv on an Edge green foam at lower speeds. But I had to do a *lot* of passes with even the Extra Cut for some reason!



And the marring in question just didn't seem all that bad! I kept telling myself that totolandmach does tougher work on BMWs every day. (Wonder where he is these days, nice guy...)



After I got M105, I tried a few areas with it using both orange pads and PFW, via both PC/4" and Flex. It would only correct mild issues and even then I had to do seemingly countless passes. Dunno what it was about that particular car, but it was just murder...
Click to expand...



Gotcha, yea that is a beautiful color. I honestly haven't yet done too much polishing aside from a few test spots on the M3 but it didn't seem too bad. We'll see when I do the full detail.
 
LUSTR said:
..I honestly haven't yet done too much polishing aside from a few test spots on the M3 but it didn't seem too bad. We'll see when I do the full detail.
Click to expand...



I thought my experience was so extreme that maybe it was some weird situation related to that car, or maybe that particular production run (they only built a handful of E36 M3s in that color). Nobody else seems to have such trouble with BMWs of that vintage, including people who think Audis are tough. Hope yours goes a lot easier!
 
P1810.jpg




Any Obsidian Black Infiniti!!!
 
Accumulator said:
But overall I *like* Audi clear. .
Click to expand...



Me too, PPG CeramiClear as well. So what if they are hard? The hardness is consistent across the board no matter the color. No guesswork. Jet black BMWs flat blow to correct. Super soft clear that mars when you wash after compounding.
 
Scottwax said:
Me too, PPG CeramiClear as well. So what if they are hard? The hardness is consistent across the board no matter the color. No guesswork. Jet black BMWs flat blow to correct. Super soft clear that mars when you wash after compounding.
Click to expand...



hey Scott, so what did you do about it? you didnt leave it like that right? how did you solve the problem?



my worsest car is the repainted mercedes with cheapest clearcoat for 10 bucks (i guess that what the shop was using) it is imposible to correct. leaves micromarrig and i had to use new microfiber towels.
 
Scottwax said:
Me too, PPG CeramiClear as well. So what if they are hard? The hardness is consistent across the board no matter the color. No guesswork. Jet black BMWs flat blow to correct. Super soft clear that mars when you wash after compounding.
Click to expand...



Scott I take back what I said above. I meant that Audi clear is "horrible and worst I've dealt with" in terms that paint is very hard so cannot correct as much for a certain budget as other paints. That said, BMW flat black and Porsche flat blacks are the worst I've dealt with, and some soft Nissan/Infinity blacks are a very close # 1.5 or 2. I love working on Audi paint as it's hard and once it's properly corrected stays looking good for a while, but it definitely is the hardest I've come across.
 
Apparently some people here either haven't experienced, or are happily forgetting working on Honda's Berlina Black AKA Black Nightmare paint. That paint is just stupid. If the barometric pressure is over 30.05 - air will scratch it. If like hits is at an angle greater than 73.5 degrees - the light will scratch it. And you better not even THINK about talking bad about it while near it as it'll scratch itself out of spite.
 
sacdetailing said:
hey Scott, so what did you do about it? you didnt leave it like that right? how did you solve the problem?
Click to expand...



Why would you think I'd leave it like that? :confused:



You have to polish after the compounding step anyway, so that takes care of it. I just don't wash it again until there is wax on the paint.
 
Easy, easy , easy. That stupid clear on the GTR's. The one that had the rumor about it actually healing itself. It is so soft that breathing on it hazes the reflection. Don't ever let a drop of water dry on it because the etching will take a compound to get it out but compounds don't work on it. And for God's sake don't ever spray OFF (bug repel) within a mile of it. Because if a microscopic drop of it hits it will literally pit or bubble the clear. The owner is going to have his GTR painted because he tired of paying me to come out. A mosquito's piss will leave a mark on that car.
IMG_40881-1.jpg




IMG_41021-1.jpg
 
I believe there are 7 distinctly different layers of paint on those GTR's. Thankfully I've only sone a couple of spot polishes on one of them. I've been warned about them and pretty much loath working on Nissan paintwork in general - it always seems to make my compounds act strangely.

The most difficult paint I've ever had to correct though is the black paint on Porsche Cayeene's. It seems to be harder than the cars (might be my imagination) but you can compound away happily for 1/2 a day then check it over and wonder if you've achieved anything at all sometimes.

Aston's marr incredibly easily but they look amazing when polished up nicely.
 
With out a doubt (in fact nothing even comes close) a 1987 black Lamborghini Countach...



It was single stage black, but the paint was so hard that even 3M Extra Cut Compound and a pad resulted in just light paint transfer on the pad.



Brian and I worked from dusk to dawn, probably hitting each spot 8-9 times with 3M Extra Cut and Compound to remove the swirl marks (the wool wouldn't really even swirl the paint to badly).



Then we had to go back with 3M Extra Cut and a Yellow Pad (because SIP and an Orange/Yellow wouldn't touch the light swirls left from the first 8-9 steps), then SIP and an Orange Twice, then 106ff and a white pad.....



After all of this grinding the total film removal was less then .2 mils!



I have done Jet Black BMW's that were very soft and also ones that were very hard (completely opposite ends of the spectrum). It is very hard to get the soft Jet Black paint swirl free, particularly after an alcohol wipe down, but it is possible. PO85rd, a black pad, and a lot of patience will get you there (someday).
 
I really sypathize with you pros who have to deal with stupid-soft paint :bow That's one of those things that can quickly separate guys like me from true professionals; I just won't own a car like that, but you have to satisfy your customers no matter what, and *THAT* can take some serious skill :xyxthumbs





TH0001 said:
With out a doubt (in fact nothing even comes close) a 1987 black Lamborghini Countach...



It was single stage black, but the paint was so hard that even 3M Extra Cut Compound and a pad resulted in just light paint transfer on the pad..
Click to expand...



HUH! I bet that was a real surprise. Was it a repaint or something? I mean, well, you know...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top