scratch repair with spray paint, help please

wangotango

wangotango

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So my friend knows I've begun to learn a bit about this detailing game.
He sees my cars are looking very nice and comes over tonight with this problem:
On the hood he has used some paint code matched paint in a ratlle can and some in a regular can.
He has also used it on drivers side door right under the window. The paint match is amazing BUT!....instead of just filling in the scratches he sprayed about 5-6 inches around the actual touble. Maybe hard to see from the pics but the areas are noticebly darker where the new paint is. I told him to get some clear coat in a spray can and I'll use what I got to try to blend it in. I have only GG #2/#3 machine polish, no actual compounds for cutting. I taped off the rubber and such but it didn't do squat. As I look at this I really think I can blend (feather in) the edges of the fresh (darker) paint if I had the right compounds. It looks to me like I can make the darker new paint smooth into the original paint. Existing paint is in great shape.
Tried to use a label with arrow to show the line where new/existing is.
Are there cutting or other compounds out there that I can use to blend this all in somehow.
Or do I need to start wet-sanding then do..uh..something?
Gotta auto paint place in town that has some Megs stuff in stock.
Thanks for the help.
 
This is kind of a mess he's created.

This looks like a two stage paint job.

Two stage = base coat that contains color/metallic additives followed by a clear coat (non-pigmented paint that adds gloss)

What your friend appears to have done is apply a metallic paint to a non-metallic surface. In order for this to have worked correctly (in a nutshell), he would have to remove the clear coat, repair the area in question with his spray, and re-apply clear to the whole panel.

All you will accomplish with heavier cutting is "burn" the paint that doesn't belong on top of a clear INTO the clear, and possibly make it worse looking.

The absolute best you could do at this point is remove as much of the excess as you can via sanding without breaching the clear underneath, and hopefully the area that needed the paint to begin with will retain it. Once you're done sanding, compound and polish.

What kind of machine and pads do you have to work with? Have you attempted this level of work before? If you feel you can tackle this task, see if your local store carries M105 and 205, 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper, and make sure you have pads and a buffer that will stand up to this test as well.
 
Thanks RoadRage.
I've just been cleaning an polishing my cars. Nothing more than that. We painted a plastic bumper together about 20+ years ago after we backed into a dumpster. We weren't too worried about a real nice finish back then on that car. I only have a DA with some GG mach polish, sealant, wax, cleaners, and some red and orange pads. I'm a beginner at best and have never even tried to do anything like this.
Not afraid though. I'll get some sandpaper and head over ther this morning. I'll try to remove as much of the 'sprayed-on' as possible. I can also stop for some M105-M205 as I recall they have it at the local shop.
Going by his place first for breakfast first though.
I do have a compressor.
Is there an air tool that would be efficient to use with the 1500/2000 paper?
 
upon further review:\
took a couple different pics as we pulled it outta the garage.
heading out for sandpaper.
did a little searching on wet sanding and such.
i'm thinking from what you said is that if i can get the sprayed off of the clear i might be able to compound it make it a bit less noticeable.
should be interesting.
slow and easy wins the day
 
Sanding with an air tool will be far more aggressive than by hand and odds are you will not like the end result. Stick with sanding by hand. Use a sanding block or sanding foam pad via 3M and keep the paper flat to the surface making smooth, even, back-and-forth passes up and down, then turn the paper and go side to side.

Be gentle, constantly stop after each pass and check your work. Keep the paper nice and wet, don't let the spray paint you're removing or any clear coat build up in the paper. Once you feel you've gone as far as you can, you'll need an aggressive pad to use with the 105 to get the sanding marks out. Your orange pad should work ok with 205 but I'd prefer white. You can use your lighter polishes from there to remove any buffer trails and add some really nice finishing touches.

Just make sure your friend understands you're only trying to help and if something goes wrong, not to be upset with you lol.
 
Your right, didn't go with any tools. That would have been a mistake. I did go with a small sponge rubber block with 1000-1500-2000 wet. I think I'll have to take some of the bigger scratches (made by 1000) down with the 2000. Then I can M105. I did get down to the 2000 on the door and then M105. Was just the answer. Looks good now. One of the scratches (hood) was super deep and we decided to create a dime sized area as we sanded til it was flat, put some primer on it, sanded w 2000 until that was super smooth, hit it with a light coat of paint. We covered everything except about 50% more than that area for paint. I'm guessing we can throw another light coat on it later today (warm here) and then maybe tomorrow sand that down and continue this process until it looks ok. Following up with M105, 205, then shine it up and seal it.
The pics show door with spray all removed and a coat of M105 just wiped off. Others are hood and the remaining spot we're toying with.
My friend is fine with all of this but it's a good point you made.
It's hack car that just sits around for him. He's gonna leave it at my place for a few days so I can experiment with some products I've recently gotten.
He'll probly come by with a cold one each nite to see what I'm up to.

RoadRage your help was/is tremendous.
We thank you.
 
Yes hotwhip...that's what we shoulda done.

I have started a word document called detailinfo.
For instance I take the text from that/any explanation of repair or job and copy/paste it into the document. I open it and copy/paste whenever something looks like it's important.
For instance, since the document is already 5 pages long I just re-open it, type a line across the page, then below it write SCRATCH REPAIR and below that copy the text from richy's most xlnt write-up. I just continue to due that then I can print it out for reference.
As I'm a bit of a hack, reference is good.
Thanks to you folks I'm learning quite a bit.

But hey!, I'm a single digit handicap on the golf course.
So I got that goin' for me...which is nice.
 
Yeah hotwhip is right, should have taken all of it off and saw what you were left with before leaving some and working it in. Might not be too late to attempt it, just to see what happens. I'd be very careful not to go past the clear coat, you've no doubt taken quite a bit off already.

Other than that, it looks a TON better and I commend you on a job well done. Any time you need some help, start a thread or shoot me a PM.

Cheers!
 
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