Car returned from Paint shop

[mik]

I took my 69 spider to a recommended car restorer. He was to replace some metal and paint my car. He dropped it off a day that I was home with pneumonia so I was in no condition to really look it over. At first glance it looked fine. Now that I have some strong lighting on the vehicle, there are swirl marks all over the car, I imagine from buffing. I was not expecting this. Am I wrong to have expected a nice, no buff marks finish? I appreciate the expertise on this forum. Thanks, Mik

[So Cal Mark]

I suppose it depends on the level of paint job you agreed upon, but I'd certainly call him about it

[mik]

I was told the guy does show car work. I did tell him I didn't need show car, but he said that's pretty much the kind of work he does. He was putting on two or three coats of base and one or two of clear coat. We decided on $3400 total. Than he said the red paint had gone up in price and we would be at 3600, now he would like 200 more because the rockers were more work to bolt on than he thought.

[wikkid]

You could tell him you would be happy to discuss the extra work he needed to do and wants to charge for, if he would be willing to address the finish issues you are concerned with.

There is a thread on here: http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 30&t=14739
Have a look at the mirror finish of this owner's "horror story." I don't think swirls would be ok - no idea about the reputation your painter is trying to make or hold onto in his business, but if I were a "show car" painter, I wouldn't deliver a car with swirl marks.

Not trying to incite you to flare up. But you need to communicate with the guy about this.

[mik]

Good point. I still owe him $600 from our agreed price. He's looking for $800. If he will address the finish, I would be happy to give him the cash. I also took off bumpers, head lights,side marker lights, tail lights, emblems, took out wiper motor, which saved him a lot of time. I am not trying to screw the guy, I will pay our agreed price, but something has to be done about the buffer marks, or swirl marks before I will let go of any more money. Thanks

[DougC]

I was told the guy does show car work. I did tell him I didn't need show car, but he said that's pretty much the kind of work he does. He was putting on two or three coats of base and one or two of clear coat. We decided on $3400 total. Than he said the red paint had gone up in price and we would be at 3600, now he would like 200 more because the rockers were more work to bolt on than he thought.

Gawd that sounds like a lot of money! You could buy two spiders for that around here. You should expect perfection from where I'm standing.

[azruss]

should be no big deal to remove the swirls. he was either rushing the final polish or using a dirty pad. either way, it can be taken care of easily.

[fiat218]

there no way in hell that id except that

[fiat124fl]

Those are just from buffing, easy to take care of.
Use black foam pad and one of these things-3M Perfect-It III Machine Glaze, or Simoniz Free Finish Glaze, should do it, the swirls should come right out.
I've been painting on high-end cars for 25 years, any more question, feel free to ask. For the best, a pic of your finish would be great.

[mik]

Thanks for the info, I have the product "Show Car Glaze." Seems to improve the problem. I guess I was expecting it to be delivered less the swirls. I will keep on the areas and see what happens. I appreciate your response.

[LStevens]

Hey Mik, love to see your newly painted car - post a pic!

[mik]

Will post pics as soon as I get all the chrome on. Looks pretty d---- good. However, I have seen some pretty amazing cars on this forum. Mik

[spidernut]

At that price, he should have delivered it to you free of swirls. There's no excuse at the price you paid. Heck, my car was painted base coat/clear coat at a high volume shop similar to Maaco. It came back without any swirls and I paid almost $2,000 less for my paint job. At $3,400 I would have expected better myself.

How many coats of clear did he actually put on the car? You said he was going to put on one or two coats, but normal is two or three coats of clear. It might be worth asking the question. If he only did one coat, you might buff right through the clear to the base coat. If he did two coats, you might be O.K. It depends upon how much he cut and buffed the car already.

[124JOE]

it sounds like the body guy tryed to polish it smooth but,
didnt switch the buffer pad inbetween"used the same pad for all compounds"
its best to have a few,one for ruff cut one for med cut and one for smooth cut..


if you just rebuff it it will be OK
if you burn thru the paint on the second time then theres not enuff clear.
but it should be ok

[mik]

Thanks for the info, I think the buffing swirls I will be able to handle from what I have seen and heard from all of you. Is there any way I can tell how many coats of base and clear coat were put on the car or is it a trust thing?