Paint/bodywork question

Captain Slow IRL

There is a little spot of rust bubbling on one of my rear wheel arches - how localised could the painting be kept? Would it be possible to contain it to the wheel arch or are we talking a whole quarter panel?
Apologies about the dirt:o

Buford T Justice

It does depend a bit, for example on how faded the paint is (if at all)

Should be able to keep that fairly localised to the arch I would imagine, there would only need to be a small area of the arch that would need to be cleaned back and painted.

Captain Slow IRL

The paint is in fairly good condition - I'm planning on having it t-cut to restore it and see what can be done to repair this bubble then.

Masada

Dont t-cut it back yet, the lads doing that repair can do that when they are finished the job. If you use any silicone based products (i think t-cut is, as are many other finishing polishes) it may cause problems with the freshly applied paint when its been repaired. You'll get what's known as "fish eyes" in the paint, little circular marks were the paint will fall off after time.

You should be able to keep it within a fairly small area there without having to do the entire panel., Is that the back arch of an E36 by any chance? they always start rotting away there.

Captain Slow IRL

Yeah, same car in my sig - it's my current project/hair-remover:D

Would the prep work not remove any traces of contaminant before spraying?

Owen

Doesn't really matter what you do at the moment, but I wouldn't T cut anything. A localised repair will sand down the affected area, prime it, smooth the primer, paint just the affected area, and then lacquer a portion of the quarter. The technique for doing that is being refined all the time, but at the moment what I do is use a very very fine tape by Scotch, it's only a fraction of a mil thick, and lay that down where I want to blend the lacquer. I'd lacquer the area, and stop about an inch away from the tape fading it out. When you remove the tape after the lacquer has dried, you're left with a tiny edge, which you can then buff out using some Meguiars Speed Glaze and a good cutting mop on the polisher.

Wouldn't worry about the silicone at the moment, any painter worth his salt will wipe the panel with anti-sil anyway.

Captain Slow IRL

PaintDoctor wrote: »

................ I wouldn't T cut anything.......

Is this in agreement with Masada?

Are there different techniques with Smart repairs and conventional bodyshops?

Owen

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

Is this in agreement with Masada?

Yup, leave it be, let the person painting sort it out.

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

Are there different techniques with Smart repairs and conventional bodyshops?

There are two differences really. A SMART repair is localised, a Bodyshop will generally paint an entire panel. A bodyshop has the luxury of a sterile environment inside their lovely warm ovens (And there are days I'd kill for one of those, believe me), and a SMART repair is done outdoors in the wind, and because there's dust in the air, it's inevitable that some dust particles will end up in the lacquer which people misdiagnose as fisheyes regularly. Generally, it's not a huge problem, and when people weigh up how much a SMART repair is compared to a standard repair, they usually get over the odd tiny bit of dust in the finish.

Captain Slow IRL

So a bodyshop would be less willing to do such a small portion of the car, as general practice?

How good is your blending technique? (not trying to put you down but I've experience of a local smart repair guy and Stevie Wonder would do a better job with a roller:rolleyes:)

I've had my last car in one of the local bodyshops to repair a scratch to the passenger door - the entire side of the car was sprayed and the end result was excellant but justified by a hefty bill. This car isn't going to win any beauty awards in the near future but I'd like to take care of this before it gets any worse.

Owen

Some guys are shocking alright. My technique is grand, because I'm only at this a year now I'm still learning every day, but even if you screw up lacquer, plenty of sanding it down with 2000 pads, and then buffing it back up with some polish works wonders.

Bodyshops screw up too the odd time

Captain Slow IRL

I've seen bodyshop f*ck-ups first hand and know they aren't perfect either. This guy is the only smart repair person I've seen at work and he had me put off it totally.

I may be down in Cork city at the end of this month, might have a job for you! (I've to find out for definite yet)