VW GTI repaint nightmare

[mikenap]

Recently I was contacted by a member of a local forum to detail his car, a repainted Anniversary Edition Volkswagen GTI. I felt very privileged to be asked to do this since he lives 2.5 hours away and would be leaving the car with me for several days. I appreciate the trust he had in leaving his baby in my care! I worked on this car in the evenings after my full time job in order to get it done and delivered on time.

The only thing I knew of this car was that the client said it was "hazy in some areas" due to poor finishing by the painter. I figured "hazy" meant I'd be dealing with unfinished sanding marks, but I didn't realize "in some areas" meant everywhere that wasn't glass, wheels or rubber.




The first thing I noticed when the car was dropped off was buffer trails. Tons of them, everywhere. The painter must have thought leaving these behind was some kind of signature, because he covered the car in them like it was his job.












Just for good measure he threw in some deep swirls for fun. These were from the driver's rear quarter.





Moving on, it was easy to see this finish was in pretty rough shape for one that had been recently painted.









These sanding scratches were the lightest on the car, so they cleaned up easily.






These on the other hand were the worst...








The amount of swirls was surprising as well.










After pictures














A little BBS action going on!




In case anyone was wondering how messy my garage really is...






I apologize for the lack of good sun shots, since it was raining the day he picked up. But I thought some of these were worth snapping.










Thanks for looking!

[TouchMyHonda]

Ugh dude you are a beast

[911fanatic]

Looks awesome Mike!

[RedRocket]

Wrong forum?

[Jun_]

^
But nice job.

[TouchMyHonda]

Originally Posted by RedRocket

Wrong forum?

And pointless post of the day goes too......

[jm1681]

I used to own one of these in Imola Yellow, and seeing those shots really pains me

On a more related note, how did you get it so clean? I'm new to detailing and finishing and find I'm a little guilty of those buff trails myself

[mikenap]

Originally Posted by TouchMyHonda

Ugh dude you are a beast

Thanks bro!

Originally Posted by 911fanatic

Looks awesome Mike!

I appreciate it Ken! How have you been? Hadn't seen you around the forums that much recently. Or maybe it's just me that's been missing...

Originally Posted by RedRocket

Wrong forum?

Possibly...let me look into that.

Originally Posted by Jun_

^
But nice job.

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by jm1681

I used to own one of these in Imola Yellow, and seeing those shots really pains me

On a more related note, how did you get it so clean? I'm new to detailing and finishing and find I'm a little guilty of those buff trails myself

Machine polishing the paint is the only way to remove that damage you saw( you could do some by hand but that would take FOREVER)...then again, machine polishing is also the only way to get those buffer trails that were on the car in the first place. It all comes down to the painter or detailer's technique, experience, training and, in many cases, their work ethic. I'm sure the car didn't look like this when the owner got it back from painting. Usually much of the damage is hidden by products that are heavy in fillers to mask this sort of damage. Those fillers wash away or wear off with time to show what the car REALLY looks like underneath. It's not always pretty. FWIW, I've seen and fixed issues similar to this from supposedly very high end, well-respected paint and body shops in this area.

[#87]

Nice. My friend Civic Si came like that from the shop, told her don't bother taking it back because if they let it out like that they will never do it right. Still needs the paint corrected...

[RedRocket]

Originally Posted by TouchMyHonda

And pointless post of the day goes too......

You've trolled a lot of my posts lately. Obviously I've offended you. Sorry if you don't like what I've got to say, but you'll just need to get over it.


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[n2oinferno]

Outstanding job! Now I'll ask the question nobody has yet. What tools/products?

[jm1681]

Originally Posted by mikenap

...Machine polishing the paint is the only way to remove that damage you saw( you could do some by hand but that would take FOREVER)...then again, machine polishing is also the only way to get those buffer trails that were on the car in the first place. It all comes down to the painter or detailer's technique, experience, training and, in many cases, their work ethic. I'm sure the car didn't look like this when the owner got it back from painting. Usually much of the damage is hidden by products that are heavy in fillers to mask this sort of damage. Those fillers wash away or wear off with time to show what the car REALLY looks like underneath. It's not always pretty. FWIW, I've seen and fixed issues similar to this from supposedly very high end, well-respected paint and body shops in this area.

I see PM incoming as to not jack your thread TOO much

[mikenap]

Originally Posted by #87

Nice. My friend Civic Si came like that from the shop, told her don't bother taking it back because if they let it out like that they will never do it right. Still needs the paint corrected...

That's a shame, but pretty often the case. If they could do it right, they should have done it the first time. If they didn't it's because they were lazy or unskilled...either way I probably wouldn't want them near my car again!

Originally Posted by n2oinferno

Outstanding job! Now I'll ask the question nobody has yet. What tools/products?

Scholls S3 Gold was used for the compounding, on Meguiars and Optimum microfiber cutting pads. Polishing was done with HD Polish and green Buff & Shine pads. Sealant was Duragloss 105. Machines used were the Dewalt 849x with Dynabrade attachment, Griots Garage DA and Meguiars DA.

Originally Posted by jm1681

I see PM incoming as to not jack your thread TOO much

I see it, and I'll reply now!