Salvaging Painted MINI Tail Lamps **OctaneGuy

[OctaneGuy]

Phil is doing a great job at posting plenty of full car details, so I thought it might be interesting to see some things closer to home.

One of my friends and fellow MINI owner, Sterling, called me up and asked whether I could fix his newly tinted tail lamps. Apparently they were painted by a shop that bubble wrapped them, and sent them out. During shipping, they outgassed during the curing process and bubble impressions were left in the paint.

This was definitely going to be a challenge, and one that polishing alone wouldn't fix.

My plan of attack was to wetsand with 1500 Unigrit, 2000 Unigrit, and 2500 Unigrit, compound with Meguiar's M105 and a wool pad using my Makita rotary buffer. Finish with an LC Orange pad with Swirl, and an LC White pad with Swirl.



I did ask my painter what he thought, and his answer was to remove the paint and reshoot it! Since the owner had the option of sending them back to be redone, I had nothing to lose, so I proceeded onwards.

Not knowing how much clear was actually on here, I was very careful about how much I would sand. You can see how even the texture is here.


Next step is to remove the sanding scratches by compounding with Meguiar's M105 and a wool pad on my rotary buffer.



All finished after polishing with Prima. My 5 year old son wanted to be in the picture too.



So sometimes when you think that all is lost with your paint, taking it to an experienced shop like ShowCarDetailing can really do wonders!

Richard