Cutting big mistake...

John_Jethro

John_Jethro

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Guys I really need all of the pros help...I'm facing a hard time after a client asked for her "scratch" which was obviously a paint transfer on her plastic bumper. At that time I left my rubbing compound by coincidence. So I decided to take my cutting wool pad on my Dewalt 849X rotary polisher with Meg UC, run through the paint transfer with some pressure but to no avail, it did not remove so I decided to put even more pressure then...paint came off.View attachment 33921 View attachment 33922
 
Ps, it's a Honda civic. Soft paint. I need advise...what should I do?
 
Sorry to hear about your incident but it would seem that a re-paint is the only way to fix that. There is no product that can 'add' paint back, well, except for paint...

I am curious though why you went with such an aggressive approach right off the bat. You should always try use the least aggressive method to get the job done.

I would have started by trying to clay off the paint transfer.

If that didn't work I would have used a finishing polish on a foam pad only stepping up to a medium cut polish if needed.

To be compounding plastic bumpers is risky, especially with a rotary and wool pad. Remember that plastic does not dissipate the heat like a metal panel does and combined with all the 'sharp' and 'curvy' edges a bumper has you really are asking for trouble getting too aggressive, which, is what looks like happened in your case.
 
Thats something I would have rubbed by hand with light polish at first and then moved up.

You went straight to the sledgehammer!
 
Yeahhh..but what a coincidence I left my rubbing compound at other places. The owner was in a hurry giving me only 4 hours to detail the car which ends up I couldn't compete it. Looks like I got to compensate it by sending it for a respray..A very valuable Lesson learned: Never rush work, never jump straight to the very aggressive. Thank you guys for the support. :)
 
Guys, I got an idea. How about touch up paint? Is this a great solution to the damage? Been checking out on internet and it seems like used for scratches too besides chips.
 
They only way to properly fix this is to have the bumper repainted. You need to explain what you did and what happened to the customer and tell them that you will take care of this for them.
 
I had a car awhile back that had been resprayed on one of the doors. Orange foam with 105 on my flex put a nice little burn thru the clear. Rest of the door was fine. I think it was a defect in the paint but all the same I caused the burn.
I didn't charge for the detail and offered to pay for a respray. The customer said they would contact me with quotes but planned to trade in the car. I was only out the detail cost. Be upfront and do the right thing. Your buffer = your wallet.
 
John_Jethro said:
Yeahhh..but what a coincidence I left my rubbing compound at other places. The owner was in a hurry giving me only 4 hours to detail the car which ends up I couldn't compete it. Looks like I got to compensate it by sending it for a respray..A very valuable Lesson learned: Never rush work, never jump straight to the very aggressive. Thank you guys for the support. :)
Click to expand...

Another lesson. Don't let someone hurry you into making an error in judgement. Personally, one thing I don't do is let someone tell me how long I have to do a job. I estimate time for them and usually try to overshoot by a couple hours, which means I might have it back to them early. Again, just me.
 
We all make mistakes. I would tried some megs scratch-x by hand. It would have got most of it out i would think.
 
That was probably not repairable by means of buffing in the first place. I would have recommended a bumper respray to the client had they brought that to me. Just looks like the defects are too deep for buffing.

Had they insisted on a simple improvement, I'd have used a solvent such as acetone or even lacquer thinner to remove the paint transfers then lightly polished what was left after that.

Stand tall on this one and send it off to the body shop for a bumper respray, pay for it and try to make the whole thing as easy as possible on the client's scheduling. Do this and you might still get some good word of mouth as a man who is fallible (as we all are) but also as a man who takes responsibility for his mistakes in a timely manner.

Screw around with trying to touch it up and deliver less than desirable results and you stand a chance of the word of mouth being that you are a clown who should be avoided. You can still salvage this client relationship if you bite the bullet and do the right thing. It's an opportunity to create the word of mouth that you want to have.
 
Sorry to see this and is just one more example of why i use my approach to transfers. More on that in a moment. I agree with a repaint. I also agree that you have an obligation to take care of that for the customer. What i might try to persuade the customer to allow is a spray approach to touching up the missing paint. Ask them if they will allow you to attempt to fix it and if, after that attempt, the customer doesn't like what they see as the "fix" you will have it repainted. If they do say it's ok you've saved some money.

My approach to removing transferred paint is to ALWAYS (and i mean ALWAYS) treat it with an approach that removes something that is ON TOP of the existing paint. As we all know, there are two approaches to paint cleaning/correcting, above surface and below surface defects. My compounds are used for below the surface and only for cutting down swirls, scratches, bird bomb etchings etc. that are minor enough to be removed. Paint transfers are addressed with a non abrasive chemical cleaner. As much as Zaino is a derisive word around here i love Sals AIO for exactly this application. I have also used DuraGloss 501 and even P21S GEPC on paint transfers. I like to remove everything ON TOP of the paint first and then assess what may have scratched or gone below the existing level of original paint.
 
I am a little concerned that you were not aware of the uses of touchup paint before taking a rotary to someone's car.

Anyway, I agree with the other users in this thread - you have to bite the bullet now and chalk this up to a lesson learned.
 
I'm planning to send it for a respray as my responsibility and try to compensate such problems. Yeah and this is my first polish mistake on a customer's car. Lesson learned and hopefully I never ruin another customer's car.
 
tuscarora dave said:
That was probably not repairable by means of buffing in the first place. I would have recommended a bumper respray to the client had they brought that to me. Just looks like the defects are too deep for buffing.

Had they insisted on a simple improvement, I'd have used a solvent such as acetone or even lacquer thinner to remove the paint transfers then lightly polished what was left after that.

Stand tall on this one and send it off to the body shop for a bumper respray, pay for it and try to make the whole thing as easy as possible on the client's scheduling. Do this and you might still get some good word of mouth as a man who is fallible (as we all are) but also as a man who takes responsibility for his mistakes in a timely manner.

Screw around with trying to touch it up and deliver less than desirable results and you stand a chance of the word of mouth being that you are a clown who should be avoided. You can still salvage this client relationship if you bite the bullet and do the right thing. It's an opportunity to create the word of mouth that you want to have.
Click to expand...

:iagree:
 
If you're using a rotary and wool pad, you should understand its capability in ALL situations. Bumper paint has a flexing agent in it that does not do well with heat. The paint will "shrink" or burn through very easily, especially on an edge like that. I'd advise you put down that rotary buffer until you have a better understanding of it. Not trying to be rude.
 
ALWAYS use clay to remove stuff above the clear coat, never try to remove transfer with a rotary...IMHO
 
I too have had really good luck with DG501 removing some rust stains and paint transfer on paint.

Sorry for your situation. Its a tough lesson but one I bet you learned and will not leave you anytime soon.
 
In the past I have found that the best thing to do is:
A) Stand up and admit your mistake, take ownership of it with no excuses *Except for ones that place the blame back on yourself*

B) Apologize for your mistake.

C) Clearly show that it is your intent to correct the mistake to the customer's satisfaction

D) LEARN from your mistake.

It wasn't intentional, it was a mistake, don't beat yourself up AND don't let anyone else beat you up for it. Things happen that we have no control over, accept it, live with it and move on.

EDIT: If you ever find yourself pressed for time again, take things off the "To Do" list and only finish what you can finish with quality, ask for another day in the near future, and explain that in order to do things PROPERLY, you need an extra day. Most will understand.
 
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