Paint/Finish Question
 

Guys, i'm at the point where I've given up on the shop and yanking the car out this week. They're just not going to get it where i'm going to be satisfied with the finish. They just don't want to spend the time in finish sanding the clear and some of minor stuff. they're not getting any more $ and the owner and I just need to go our own way.
What do i need to consider if i just get her home and wet sand the cut and buff myself? Am I just going to create a bigger mess? any advice would be appreciated.

Cutting and buffing a car without knowing how many coats of clear were applied is risky especially if you have no experience.

Don

Times 2 on the clear coat thickness. On my 68 C10 the body shop sprayed 4 coats of clear and some of the easier parts and not near the edges "let" me color sand. Started with 1000, 2000 and then 3000. It's a lot of work. They did all the polishing and buffing. Turned out great.

On the other hand I had them polish and buff my brothers 2003 911 and they said they would love to color sand it but not knowing the amount clear could not risk it because if you sand thru the clear you get to repaint the panel.

Maybe one of the body shops techs would moon light a bit and help you color sand and buff?

that's what I was thinking!

It’s really not that hard, it just takes a looooooong time.
If you’re really serious about doing this, I’ll give you good advice.

I would think that the shop owner would let you talk to the painter, ask how many coats and how much clear (should be about a gallon).

Post back and we’ll continue this.

JD

Okay here's what i'm thinking....i'm bringing it home and I'm taking the clear down to the paint. The shop i'm yanking it from has a new painter and he's been watching the sh** show for some time so out of the blue I asked him for some advice. He doesn't know how much clear is on there but he's been asked to touch up and add more clear as they've been trying to fix the issues. He told me i should just stop the madness and get it out. He actually offered to come over to my garage and lend a hand. I'll post some pics of where we're currently at. shortly. oh they also miss drilled where my emblems where supposed to be mounted so i need to consider welding the holes up and starting over but that creates another huge mess.

Hard to see issues with these pics....i need to load more. but the door to fender gaps are bad...too tight on the bottom and >1/2" on top. and the clear wasn't nearly sanded well enough....it seems the finish has "ripples" in it.
https://i.imgur.com/FFekqJDs.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NDqY8Xrm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6kA1LG1m.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/lxfE8xWm.jpg

If the door gaps to the rocker and quarter are good then the fender gaps are due to the subframe and/or core support bushings imho. Shimming will likely be needed.

Urethane wave needs to be blocked out with long stiff blocks and will remove a lot of clear. If you hit the base it’s game over and the panel needs to be repainted imho...

If you are also welding up emblem holes you are most likely looking at a complete do over imho...

Don

Thx Don, the quarter and rocker gaps are perfect because I did them prior to sending it to the shop. I did tell them that the fender gaps needed to be done. I tracked the car for a year and was modifying suspension and fenders to avoid rubs prior to paint. I think I’m taking it all the way down and starting over but doing ALL the prep myself. I think I just lost a year getting it back on the road....


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I would try shimming up the core support bushings to fix the fender gaps before going at it with a welder. Hard to say for sure without better pics. A half inch is a huge gap.

Don