Bad paint job? Fiberglass issue?

[rraasch04]

Well if you remember me ranting about my hood that i bought off ebay and the mess i went through with getting it painted (apprx 1500 for hood and two fenders) and I now see runs all over the place... i know when i first got the hood back it did not have runs, my dad and i both looked at it pretty closely when i first got it, now they are all over.... i took it back to the shop and he said he would repaint for 200$.... which i think is rediculous (SP?) and i was thinking about sanding it down in spring and repainting myself... but one question... HOW CAN PAINT RUN AFTER IT DRIES!? could it be that the fiberglass didnt cure all the way? or because there is no heat shield underneath? any ideas let me know. Thanks

[Nighthawk243]

If they didn't properly prep it, it could have possibly not have adhered to the hood, and after heat and moisture, it would start to come off.

[dandragonrage]

Time to find a new paint shop. Any decent shop will give you a warranty on their work. I just had my door repainted (some guy backed into it while it was parked - his insurance covered it) and it's got a lifetime warranty.

[rraasch04]

Ya, i will never take anything to him again, he is our neighbor and comes in to my parents bar often and just basically screwed me over, but anyway he said there is no warranty because there was no instructions for the hood since it was fiberglass..... so im just basically screwed. Now I'm thinking about sanding it and taking it to Maaco for cheap paint since im in college and cant really afford to have it painted in the first place.

Edit: Never mind on the Maaco, just got done reading reviews for them..... i think i could probobly do better with a spray can and sand paper.

[dandragonrage]

You could do the prep work first then take it to a cheap shop. See http://www.fiberglassforums.com/

[b2089]

You have to check out your local Maaco. It's a franchise company that varies widely. Some are good paint and body shops that added the name for advertising and insurance reasons. Others are set up as turn key profit machines that have little quality control. Either way it sounds like you can't get much worse.

If the man didn't know how to paint fiberglass how can he do any body work? It's not like fiberglass doesn't exist. He can only safley work on cars made before 1938.

[coupe]

Originally posted by b2089
You have to check out your local Maaco. It's a franchise company that varies widely. Some are good paint and body shops that added the name for advertising and insurance reasons. Others are set up as turn key profit machines that have little quality control. Either way it sounds like you can't get much worse.

If the man didn't know how to paint fiberglass how can he do any body work? It's not like fiberglass doesn't exist. He can only safley work on cars made before 1938.

exactly, that man has no buisness painting/doing body work on anything.

[rraasch04]

yeah i will check out some reviews (if i can find them) for the Appleton Maaco and try and make my decision. The guy that painted my car can paint a car and it comes out perfection (three cars in my neighborhood that have won trophies for best paint at car shows) but i dont really care about that its my car that he F'ed up so... heres an example.... thanks for the info guys

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n111/rraasch04/RoadRunner.jpg

heres a little better shot

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n111/rraasch04/2-1.jpg

[b2089]

Personally I'd take him to small claims court. You may win on the grounds that if he's that good he should

1- know how to paint fiberglass
2- warn you before hand if he didn't.

Sounds to me like the quality of his previous work and the fact he didn't turn the job down would give you an implied warranty. Either way he won't want the bad publicity and lost time to fight it. You'll get a settlement that may cover the cost of having it done again.

[SE2000]

You never said which kind of paint was used. Enamel never really dries just as glass is a liquid.

The guy must have known the hood was fiberglass, and did the work accordingly. I never saw an instruction sheet come with any part. Unless he is a really good customer of your dad, I would press him to redo. I'd may go as fas as buying another pint of paint, but thats it

[coupe]

Im sorry but those pics dont really show anything, at least not enough to prove a point.
The first one is grainny as hell and taken from a distance.
The second one you cant see anything at all.

[rraasch04]

Ya the pics dont show it the greatest (im no photographer :( ) but i will see once im back in medford again and take it back to him and talk some more. The other odd thing that i forgot to mention the runs seem to go from the bottem of the hood to the top, and im pretty sure my car isnt that fast:( :P , so how does paint run from a lower point to a higher point? i dunno, kinda wish i never bought this hood.

[TA^Guy]

Painting a fiberglass hood isn't any different than painting any other part on a car.

It sounds to me that he may have sprayed over runs that were previously sanded down. A run in the paint that is sanded smooth can, and usually will, show through in the new paint. The thicker material there often swells as it dries. That is why old mistake can come through on new paintjobs.

[YEVNTRY]

if you have some small runs then just go and get some 1200 grit sand papper and go to town on thos runs, then buff the clear and your set, this guy is trying to rip you off cuz if there is run this is probably all he is going to do, not repaint everything.

[coupe]

Originally posted by YEVNTRY
if you have some small runs then just go and get some 1200 grit sand papper and go to town on thos runs, then buff the clear and your set, this guy is trying to rip you off cuz if there is run this is probably all he is going to do, not repaint everything.


I love how people say to do this as if it was a casual easy thing to do :lol:

1200 grit? Are you nuts?

[TA^Guy]

Originally posted by YEVNTRY
if you have some small runs then just go and get some 1200 grit sand papper and go to town on thos runs, then buff the clear and your set, this guy is trying to rip you off cuz if there is run this is probably all he is going to do, not repaint everything.
No, that should be done BEFORE clear is sprayed.

If it's a decent run what will happen he'll cut into the run beyond the clear. (unless the run is only in the clear) Then when it's buffed it will show even worst.

[rraasch04]

Thanks for all the advice! I have decided that I will sand down the whole hood, cut open the scoops, then find someplace to paint it... I am sick of the runs, makes me angry every day. Hopefully I don't get hosed again.

[JoeyK]

Originally posted by YEVNTRY
if you have some small runs then just go and get some 1200 grit sand papper and go to town on thos runs, then buff the clear and your set, this guy is trying to rip you off cuz if there is run this is probably all he is going to do, not repaint everything.

Could most likely go down like that. 1200grit will work if you wanna take 20 min a run to correct. I start with 600(block), then 1200(block) to 1500, 2000 then 3000 , buff with course wool pad & extra cut compound , polish with light foam pad & then machine glaze.

So um, ya, that brings me to agree with the point already made; most people can't just up & do that.;)

I agree with ya though, this guys sounds shadey, he'd most likely wetsand & rub them out & charge him for a repaint.

-I have to say there is NO paint out there that will rewet itself & run. The runs were most likely there & now they are noticing them. You'd be supprised what you won't notice when you're all excited. I've worked in bodyshops for years, people are tickled pink to get thier car back but sometimes find small defects later on & bring it back. Difference is we honor & correct our mistakes for FREE. Anyone not willing to do so should not be in business & word gets around, they won't be for long.
Also, as John stated, there is virtually no difference in procedure for painting fiberglass. You don't have to metal etch first, that's the only difference. Fiberglass can pop & release molded in contaminates but that has nothing to do with prep, it's a roll of the dice, afterall, the bodyshop didn't make the parts.

[levey]

-I have to say there is NO paint out there that will rewet itself & run. The runs were most likely there & now they are noticing them. You'd be supprised what you won't notice when you're all excited.

100% correct.
The runs were either there from a previous paint job.. Or they are new, and you didn't notice them when the hood was installed, and painted.
It's nothing to be ashamed of. It happens all the time.

[eric99gt]

Not true....I had the same problem when I tried to paint my fiberglass hood myself. Didn't allow it to dry or put enough hardener in it and then sprayed clear on top. Let it sit for like 10 days thinking for sure it would be dry. Well pick up the hood and I leave some fingerprints in the paint. Paint also ran when holding the hood upright. Sounds like he screwed up, I would bitch.

[JoeyK]

Originally posted by eric99gt
Not true....I had the same problem when I tried to paint my fiberglass hood myself. Didn't allow it to dry or put enough hardener in it and then sprayed clear on top. Let it sit for like 10 days thinking for sure it would be dry. Well pick up the hood and I leave some fingerprints in the paint. Paint also ran when holding the hood upright. Sounds like he screwed up, I would bitch.

ONce paint is set up it will never rewet. Sounds like you overhardened. Which means it never set up. That's an entirely different scenario.
Basecoat will always dry. It's just a glorified lacquer. It was most likely impropper mixing of the clearcoat on your behalf that caused your problems. Overhardened urethane will never dry.

[eric99gt]

I would trust your assessment lol. That's why I then took it to a professional. I was just trying to point out that i've experienced something similar before.

[rraasch04]

Well, after thinking about this.... would I have to use the stuff to make the paint "flexible" since its fiberglass? I am assuming it would be a good thing to use... so I may just sand it all down, cut open the scoops and take it somewhere to have it painted. I am sure that I would have noticed these runs if they were there right away because I do a lot of work on my car and pay close attention to all of it, but ya never know. Thanks again for all the info!

[JoeyK]

Originally posted by rraasch04
Well, after thinking about this.... would I have to use the stuff to make the paint "flexible" since its fiberglass? I am assuming it would be a good thing to use... so I may just sand it all down, cut open the scoops and take it somewhere to have it painted. I am sure that I would have noticed these runs if they were there right away because I do a lot of work on my car and pay close attention to all of it, but ya never know. Thanks again for all the info!

No, there's not really any reason to ad flex additive since fiberglass is a rigid material.
Ya know, the more I think about it ,.. do your defects really look like runs? Do they have a bead at the end? The reason I'm asking is because sometimes improperly laid fiberglass will "pop" from the heat when baked. It can be small to large bubbles from solvents escaping from improperly mixed -or- low quality resin. It can also de-laminate & leave ridges & bumps from the fiberglass layers separating.
- Most shops cannot guarantee against that, there's all sort of low quality automotive products made by fly by night companies that are out for the quick buck. I know several shops I had worked for would not give any kind of warranty for that. whatever it looked like out of the booth is what they get, but then again, we always warned the customer that it can happen. The shop I now work for will redo it no matter what, for free if there's a problem with the part itself, even though it is not our fault. It's just good business & we're large enough that it does not hurt us much to eat the problem & take care of it.
- Just thought I'd throw that out there incase this is more of what your problem may be. It would explain that guys attitude, although perhaps he didn't handle it correctly.

[little00GT]

i'm deeply hurt about the Maaco comment.......j/k. i am a maaco painter and i am very self concious(spelling?) about my work because it is my name leaving with that car. i believe that i do a damn good job, especially for doing an average of 8 overalls(car/trucks) per day in a 9 hour day. now on the other hand if u bring me a freaking dump truck like i get a lot i will do my best to make it a quick a$$ job, not a quality one lol, i don't know anyone that likes to paint for 2 hours straight especially if they aren't using a pressure pot.

[rraasch04]

JoeyK,
Thanks for all the great info! I don't believe that it would be the fiberglass "popping" the defects start at a wide point then narrow down to a "stream" look. So far I am undecided on what I want to do about this. I would like to cut open the scoops and make it atleast half way functional which would result in a new paint job because i wouldnt be satisfied with the crappy look where it is cut. Thanks again for all the great info everyone. I will keep you all updated now that spring is finally here!