So, this happened - seeking advice from painters, please!

[66 Sat]

Mate I understand you don't want to leave the car with them again, but I'd at least drive over there, show them and ask them how to remove it. They may give you some better advice as they painted it and may have come across this issue before.

 

[khryslerkid]

If you try to buff that off, your going to see a pronounced line. Take it back and show them what you are seeing. If you make it look worse they will deny ever doing it. If that's thin clear coat that they dusted when trying to blend, it will deteriorate in a matter of time and start flaking or discolor.

 

[The Rebel]

Like others have said, I'd bring it back to them & show them what you see. As this was not there when you brought it in they need to fix it to make it 100% otherwise if you try to fix your self and you cause a bigger issue you're screwed.

 

[moparedtn]

Spent a little time on it this evening and I believe you guys are correct:
what I'm looking at is some form of poorly applied/prepped clearcoat they've tried to spray
over the existing (admittedly also crappy) paint/clear.
Like little blotches that didn't adhere correctly.
The surface itself, once Meguire's compounded out, is all uniformly smooth and shiny however
(not "blistered" or raised), so I wonder if the old paint had those imperfections and the new
work is just magnifying those?
The thought of giving these guys the car back after they had it three weeks, only to produce this
result, is not appealing in the least.
Overall, the car's finish is much improved, after all.

 

[moparedtn]

EPILOGUE 7/2/19:
(Liked that, didn't ya?)
I spent a while on the car last evening after dinner, using various Meguire's products.
Cleaning up what the body shop should have done if you ask me, but anyways, I digress...

The more I worked at the (admittedly) minor areas of concern, I became more and more
swayed to the opinion that many (if not most) of them existed prior to the car going to the
shop to begin with - the really thin clearcoat boo boo's of the previous owner, etc.
They really only occur on one area on the trunk surround, passenger side below the rear
window like shown in the pics above - like Charlie (the PO) was about 7 Buds into the evening
by the time he got to that part of the car.

I've come to the conclusion that it's no small coincidence that these "original" blems occur in the
same part of the paint as what I perceived as the "new" ones do.
In other words, I can't swear they are new issues - and I won't feel justified going after the body
shop for them, therefore.
Anyways, I wound up out there in the garage fairly late, sweating like a pig while I made sure the
whole car got a fresh coat of Meguire's Gold (I'm no wax snob; Meguire's does fine for me) and
the surface was as clear as my meager detailing talents could make it.
(We're into the sweltering humidity/heat phase of southern summer here and my damn near albino
Scotch-Irish arse just goes into insta-sweat the moment I step outside).
I even gave the bumpers a coat....heck, told you I'm an old redneck...

This afternoon/evening, I'll go after the poor neglected chrome on the wheels, then take a few pics
for everyone's amusement - along with doing something with the underhood area.
Oh man, speaking of which, I opened the hood when I was done last night and was greeted to the sight
of a desert wasteland of what formerly fairly clean, shiny underhood - now TRASHED with dust!!
Gotta do something with that, too. Dammit....
Bodyshops are HELL on cars, aren't they?

 

[The Rebel]

Glad to see you got it figured out, looking forward to the updated pic's.

 

[HawkRod]

We ALL can pick apart our cars with minor blemishes and problem areas, but most people don't see them, and even if they do, on the whole they appreciate the car for what it is.

It seems that your car is a lot better than what it was before the incident. Yup. some cleanup to do but stop beating yourself up about the small issues. Be proud of it, drive it and enjoy it - it looks like a great overall car many would love to have!

 

[moparedtn]

We ALL can pick apart our cars with minor blemishes and problem areas, but most people don't see them, and even if they do, on the whole they appreciate the car for what it is.

It seems that your car is a lot better than what it was before the incident. Yup. some cleanup to do but stop beating yourself up about the small issues. Be proud of it, drive it and enjoy it - it looks like a great overall car many would love to have!

Thank ya sir.
Funny thing you mention that...
I had decided to take a few hours each evening this week to work on spiffing her up.
I divide such things into mini-tasks so as to:
1)take it a little easier on myself in this summer heat, and
2)get those little mini-accomplishment encouragements as I go, keeping me motivated.
Well, last night was the full-out assault on the paint. All my Meguires products came out
and I was armed with a fresh bundle of micro-fiber towels.
I used polishing fluid, 3M adhesive remover, whatever it took to clean up bodyshop smegma.
Sweat, sweat, wipe, sweat repeat...

(I'm gonna say something foolish and emotional here, so avert your eyes if such offends you...)

Finally, out came the Meguires Gold and I did the wax on/wax off thing - and I think it was
during that process that something finally clicked with me about the car, something that to be
honest has never been there before between me and the GTX.

At that point, I think the GTX finally stopped being an obligation, a chore, something to get done
before - well, before I was done permanently.
The car had always been something to wrap up so I didn't leave a mess for the wife if I were to kick off,
something that became a very real possibility with the first cancer in 2013 (and continues to this
day with the 4th time).
In other words, a responsibility - not a pleasure, not a fun pastime or hobby.

Well, some time last night during the process, I think I actually fell in love with the car.
Finally.
It was like an epiphany, like I was finally being allowed to just freaking relax and enjoy
the process and the car - and with all her warts and mismatched parts and such, suddenly she was ok.
Hell, I was ok....
I got done, put up the stuff and shut everything down....and yes, I stopped, turned around and looked
at her again and liked what I saw. Reminded me of old times.

Most of y'all probably don't know what I'm talking about here - but some of you do.
Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

P.S. Tonight was wheels and tires night. Mothers polish, sitting on the floor, radio blaring classic rock
and just me and the car.
Sweated some more and enjoyed hell out of myself.

 

[moparedtn]

Time to post some "after" pics and wrap this one up.

All set for the Friday evening Cruise-In, thanks to my wife for sorting out the interior real quickly.
Sasha the wonder dog supervising as always ("put down the phone and get back to work, Daddy!")

Friday afternoon came, hotter than heck and just as humid. Found a lucky shady spot...

Wife got off work in a while and came down to join me.
The Cruise-In had about 100 participants and several hundred spectators, many of whom were very kind in
their compliments of the GTX as they passed by and visited.

I reckon that'll wrap up this "phase" of the resurrection of the old girl. We made it back, reached the goal.
Onward to the next phase! Disc brake swap? Sure, sooner than later hopefully.
Already have a six quart oil pan waiting on the workbench to replace the dented to hell factory one, too...

Thanks, everyone!

 

[dadsbee]

Glad you found your "magic man" for the paint!

 

[moparedtn]

Glad you found your "magic man" for the paint!

Yeah, I suppose. I about bet they tried their scanner/water-based tech method first.
The dude admitted they finally went to a competitor who DID use S-W and had them mix some of my code
and use it.
Body shop guy says "there's like no fade to the existing paint!"
Well nope, sure isn't - the car has spent the vast majority of its' post-painted life in somebody's garage
(mostly mine).
They really should have made an effort to clean the car up before handing it over, however.
Heck, might have been a blessing they didn't....
Glad to have her back, anyways.

 

[whayden2003]

I've described in detail what my dumb *** did to my '68 GTX in my Garage on here, so I'll leave you all to check that out if interested.
Suffice to say, I got into the right side of the garage door opening with the car when pulling in one day and I've hurt the car.
This is what she looks like after Meguires got all the white plasticy weatherstrip off her cleanly. Paint isn't even damaged from what I can see, but hours with a hair dryer got this far, then stopped working:
View attachment 766558
View attachment 766559

Hagerty contacted and is sending out a claims adjuster Friday.
I have a couple of friends in the bodyshop owning biz who are strongly urging me not to expect success with color matching, should paint be necessary.

I have the original paint codes and the car has spent 99% of it's life since it was painted 8 years ago inside garages, so there's not much fade from weather, but....

What do you guys who do paint think? A tough color to blend?

Haven't read the whole thread. No one. And I mean know one can make new paint look that old paint. Paint less dent repair is the way to go. They will have trouble with the thickness of the older cars sheet metal. But a professional could make that good I truly believe that.

 

[moparedtn]

Haven't read the whole thread. No one. And I mean know one can make new paint look that old paint. Paint less dent repair is the way to go. They will have trouble with the thickness of the older cars sheet metal. But a professional could make that good I truly believe that.

You're a day late and a dollar short with that, obviously. Because the dent was creased (and because of where it was), no PDR in this area would touch it.

"No one. And I mean know one can make new paint look that old paint."
I'm not understanding what you're tying to say?

 

[khryslerkid]

Haven't read the whole thread.

 

[whayden2003]

You're a day late and a dollar short with that, obviously. Because the dent was creased (and because of where it was), no PDR in this area would touch it.

"No one. And I mean know one can make new paint look that old paint."
I'm not understanding what you're tying to say?

After further review of the facts and actually reading the whole thread I would like to retract all comments.