I just posted this over in Autopia.org, but realized that some over year might be able to help me with my dilema too:

Well a couple of weeks ago I got into my first accident ever... took me all of 13 months.

Anyway I took my car to the highest ranked repair shop in Indiana: Harvey's Collision, in Westfield. I was satisfied with their work originally. I had to have the front and rear bumpers, and the hood replaced and repainted, on my 2005 MINI Cooper S. Being a perfectionist, and made sure with the owner of the place that I wanted nothing short of a "from the factory" paint job. I picked it up in the dark, living 3 hours away in South Bend I really had no choice. Having cruddy/cloudy winter weather in IN, I really hadn't noticed until yesterday when I saw the sun for like the first time in a month... It looks like they took a rag went and dropped it in the street came back and wiped my hood and front bumper down with it... I am scared to do anything for a couple of reasons... but something has to be done... I am afraid because according to the shop the paint is still "curing" I don't know this to be a fact or not... and I am afraid to buff it with my PC 7424 because I don't honestly know how many clear coats they put on...











So what should I do? If I want to buff it what products should I use?

All the help is EXTREMELY appreciated!

Thanks

Mike

 

Unfortunately, this is an all too common problem with body shops. A few weeks ago, my bud and I were hired to teach a local body shop how to do quality work on the show cars they paint. However, it was soon clear that their production guy with 25 years of doing the same thing over and over just didn't quite had the "thinking" to do quality work. His solution to fixing a small scratch was to whip out the sand paper, when a less aggressive method would have been a much safer solution.

You can try using your PC, but IMO, it won't be aggressive enough to fix these sanding marks and scratches. You're better off taking it to a professional. You're not going to find any satisfaction in taking it back to the body shop and complaining, except maybe if you press hard enough, they will help pay for a detailer.

If you're careful you really don't need to be concerned about whether the paint has cured yet. I've worked on a show truck that was painted a week prior and we were hitting it with a rotary, and the paint was tough as nails--we later found out why. Anyways, depending on whether the paint is hard or soft, will determine whether you can fix this with a PC. Always use the least aggressive chemicals. In the Meguiar's line, I'd try M80 first and if that didn't work try M83.

Remember it's all about technique. Feel free to PM me with more info on that.

Richard

 

Octane,

Do you work at a bodyshop or are you a detailer? You always seem to have very good advice in these matters. Who does the best body work in SoCal?

Matt

 

I'm kinda between jobs right now, and I'm working as a detailer, or rather I prefer the term Paint Polishing Artist because I focus 90% of my time on the exterior when working on a car--working to "take the paint to its maximum potential". That's a quote from my buddy that I use often.

Thanks for the complement.

You can see all my recent work here. Check out the 1968 Camaro and the 1965 Mustang restorations for eye popping before and afters.

http://www.showcargarage.com/forums/...splay.php?f=31

As far as recommending a good body shop, your best bet is to ask around to others who they have used. You might start at your dealer and ask what shop they use then ask friends if they have heard of this shop.

Body shops vary in quality dramatically, but very few actually produce really high quality paint work when scrutizined under the sun.

Richard

 

Don't I know it. I don't need one right now but in this town it's only a matter of time.

Matt