what happened to my paint job???

[500dodge]

o.k guys I need advise and opinions.ok so I am building my dream car, and only want the best!!so after searching for a body shop , i felt I made a good choice ! I stripped the car to steel and dropped it off for a rottiserie paint job. The only thing I insisted was I wanted it the original color and laser straight! 30K later the paint is perfect with some hazing(more polishing needed...I think) but if you look down the sides of the long B body it looks like its has cottage cheese!!it has a ripple, what the hell, they said it was blocked to perfection and I think they are going to give me the brush off!! what could it be...

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

Sounds like just plan crap, I got an estimate from a cheap auto body place and when I asked the kid why it was so much to just do the body work he said - well this aint no honda or camry it has a lot of sheet metal and it will take me a long time. I said well yes you will have to actually sand and fill and sand etc until it's right yes time it aint no panel swap made out of plastic ad no insurance job!

Seems our shops out here are living off the insurance company's and only one around here is willing to take the time to do it right.

My suggestion would be to take it to another shop get an estimate to fix it then go back and tell the first shop to fix right or pay the other shop to do it right.

 

[500dodge]

I have told them several times I am not happy, they have all seen the ripples , but say its perfect...ya o.k I am just getting the run around ....I will keep posted!

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Post some pic's if you can? I know it might not show up in pictures. Is it just orange peel?

 

[500dodge]

not orange peel , it has been wet sanded and polished like glass, I will post some pics this week , I will have to push car outside , its still on cradle

 

[696pack]

My guess is that it is base coat/clear coat. If that is the case what you are seeing is orange peel and very likely in the base coat. That is very typical in bc/cc. It is there to stay UNLESS the entire car is repainted again. It is possible to paint the base coat without orange peel but it is tricky. Body shops today get away with it because that is the way new cars come from the factory today and the insurance companies that pay them for repair work consider it acceptable as like new.

If you were not expecting to see any orange peel you should have insisted on it up front and got it in WRITING. If you do that they are much more careful because NO ONE wants to do a job over.

I personally like original type single stage enamel just like they were from the factory. It can be wet sanded and polished if there are flaws--and there always are. I don't like the "wet look" that many go for with the bc/cc these days. To me it really stands out as something WAY different then what I think you should see on a classic or muscle car.

 

[500dodge]

yes I think you hit the nail right on the head! they aded more clear and wet sanded and polished it , but all I think they are doing is making a magnafying glass!!

 

[696pack]

yes I think you hit the nail right on the head! they aded more clear and wet sanded and polished it , but all I think they are doing is making a magnafying glass!!

Thats right, you can wet sand and polish the clear coat until it feels like glass but it is not going to change the problems in the color under it.

The problem is that the color coat has to be without flaws before the clear goes on. The other thing is that you can't "work" the color coat and in fact you have to apply the clear coat very soon after the color goes on.

 

[alleyoopmgv]

You can wetsand basecoat, if you put more base coat on, but if they don't know how to spray the base, it's pointless. And you usually have 24 hours to apply clearcoat.

 

[Propwash]

The main reason for not wet sanding a single stage metallic is that the metallics settle in different quantities depending on the resting surface geometry and orientation. If you cut into that by sanding, there's a good chance you'll end up with dull and blotchy spots where ever you hit it with paper. Doesn't matter how much clear, wax, polish ect...ect... you try to put on over it afterwards


Sorry to hear about your bogus paint job. Especially being your dream car and spending that much lute. Good luck moving forward.

 

[ODSVET]

Having been in the industry for nearly 20 years I can honestly tell you, you"re getting the brush off. Did the shop you took your car to offer lifetime warranty on the paint ? Ours does. If the body work bubbles back through the paint, will your shop fix it ? Was your body epoxy primered (DP-90) BEFORE laying the mud down ? Sealer is important... We have in our shop right now an "Elanor" clone that the owner spent nearly 110k on, and to be honest it looks like a Maaco paint job ( to say nothing of the hack job fabrication ) . Suffice it to be said, its not how much you spend, its how the shop stands behind their work. Any reputable, high end shop will stand behind their work , and let you speak with other customers.. that's the best advertisement , period . I'd be interested in seeing the paint on your car before further comment, but I can tell you a paint job is made or broken in the prep work, my guess ( having nothing to see to go by ) is that they just took the car you brought them , in bare metal , slick sanded it , painted it and burned you. If you have "waves" or the "cottage cheese" effect in your paint it is most likely in the substrate , which means your car needs to go back to stage one, bare metal, otherwise its just going to be a cover up, which will inevitably come back to haunt you. DON'T LET THE SHOP YOU USED GET AWAY WITH THIS !!! The law in most states allows for them to make one more attempt to get it right, then if you're not happy, you can take it wherever you'd like and the bill is on them ...

 

[northerndave]

"waves" or "ripples" sounds like bullchit blocking to me.

Just because you're rubbing a sanding block on a car doesn't mean it's going to be straight.

30k???

You're gonna make me cry.

I seriously believe they just plain hosed the body work. Some mud crafter with a 6" DA is likely the root of your problem.

Straighten the tin the best you can with metal bumping, 2k epoxy, light weight fillers, glaze etc, dry block, polyester prime, dry block finer, 2k urethane surfacer, wet block, seal, color, clear, wet block and buff.

Should look like a laser straight mirror.

How can a shop charge so much and screw a man over???

It's beyond criminal.

 

[500dodge]

I will post several pics , it was black primed , then body , work , then several layers of 2k primer and guide coats , I don't think the blocking was a very good job , didn;t see any nice blocks in the shop! to be fair 5k of it was a new trunk pan and floor pan , but that leaves 25K of paint body and labour, like I said this is my freedom 55 car and will have easy 100k into this thing when done , I know in this economy I would be lucky to pull 50k out of it , but at least I built it , and it's mine!!

 

[HitIt]

Have you seen any other paint jobs the shop has done? That might be a helpful comparison. If you see a good one, you can ask why yours is different. If they all are bad you can figure they don't know what they are doing.

That would also help you decide if you want them to take another crack at it or if you're better off going somewhere else.

Sorry to hear about the trouble.

 

[500dodge]

still offering it to them , but I don't think they will do it again, but I will give a little more time to see....other jobs look good , but I see ripples , however I was asured it would be lazer straight! and ..well.. you know!

 

[70Fish]

500dodge, man alive, with 30k plunked down, you were seriously violated! I'd be mad as hell, and I hope you get your $$$ back or a proper paint job done right.

 

[ODSVET]

Like I said, I can't make further judgement on someone else's work without seeing it in person, or at least some good pics. It may need just an aggressive cut and buff, or it may need to be stripped again . Unfortunately at the level of paint you've paid for there is no "in between" .. cutting and buffing may solve the issue, but repainting or attempting more body without stripping it will just cause all the problems you have now to come back through in months/ years to come , post some pic, because any opinion right now is just conjecture ..

 

[500dodge]

yes I agree you have to see before you judge! but rest assured evrybody that has seen it and don't have a clue about paint all say "why is it like that"with ripples...I have tried to load pics but it won't let me.. i will try again

 

[moparpoor]

To be honest it sounds like some material shrinkage.It may be shrinkage in the filler,2k primers,or all the above.This tends to occur in the baking process or when work is rushed.This happens to the best of us.When doing large jobs at this level they should set for a for a few weeks before your final sand.This allows for any off gassing and shrinkage to happen which can be sanded out later.When dealing with many chemicals and human error things happen period.In saying this they should stand behind there work,if not bash away.A shops measure in quality is not just in the job,but in the overall service.This means service before,during,and after the job.

I will respond to a couple of comments about cost and restoration work compaired to insurance work.Restoration work is very time and material consuming.I don't know anyone that works for free by choice.Restoration work also consumes three times the shop area as an average insurance repair.
Time is money,materials cost money,shop space(heat,electric,cleaning),and paint booth up keep/cost.If you have never done a high end restoration or build you will never grasp the amount of time it takes to do a high end build...I am very surprised that any shop touches restoration work anymore do to the high cost of materials.Profit on insurance work has been chopped to a minimum.Profit on resto work was marginal period and is next to nothing now.All the DIY guys take a pen and write down all your time,electric,gas,materials,equipment,space,and add 15%for things forgotten.Now take and put a dollar value next to it,add it up.Now figure the majority of DIY builds are driver quality,so add 100% cost increase on top of it to reach a high end build.People tend to pass judgement based apon ignorance.Look at the facts,time and skill cost money!!!!!!!

 

[500dodge]

I am not complaining about the cost I would have paid 40K , its I just wanted what I asked for and didn't get it !! And it's all they do is resto....no collision at all!