VW GTI repaint nightmare
 

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. :mad0260:




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.


http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2470.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2469.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2471.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2473.jpg



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

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2472.jpg



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

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2465.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2468.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2475.jpg



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

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2481.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2482.jpg


These on the other hand were the worst...

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2485.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2486.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2487.jpg


The amount of swirls was surprising as well.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2495.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2497.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2489.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2498.jpg


After pictures

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2478.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2479.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2491.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2494.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2503.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2504.jpg


A little BBS action going on!

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2507.jpg


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

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2508.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2509.jpg


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.

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2510.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2513.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...I/DSCN2516.jpg

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/c...DSCN2514-2.jpg


Thanks for looking!

Ugh dude you are a beast

Looks awesome Mike!

Wrong forum?

^
But nice job.

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

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 :(

Thanks bro!

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...:D

Possibly...let me look into that.;)

Thanks man!


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.

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...

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.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

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

I see :( PM incoming as to not jack your thread TOO much ;)

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!

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.

I see it, and I'll reply now!