Automotive World

Look sharp in cut rate auto body shop or you may lose more than you gain. A good paint job to spruce up your SUV up truck may lose you more than you gain. A good job takes time, skill and equipment.

Why should you pay big dollars to have your SUV repainted when you can get the job done for much less cost? After all for appearances if you place both of these jobs side by side they may well look fine.

In fact, one may be actually be as good as the other – and you will be in the chips with the cheaper job. A low overhead , a low margin of profit and a volume business can make it possible for one shop to charge bargain basement prices and turn out a job that will stand up for years.

But cutting pries may also mean cutting corners. If you have ever painted a car or even a fence you know that a job takes time, patience and a good degree of skill. There are many chances for cutting corners. Failing to sand off rust for instance. Or skipping various steps in the process.

Here are some defects that might show up over time in a corner cutting paint job.

The most common defect is “Peeling”. Peeling is what happens most often. Sometimes the entire paint film lifts off right down to bare metal and you can see rust that was not removed. Or the sealing has not stuck to the primer coat or finish stuck to sealer.

Next in line is wrinkling. Wrinkling is a condition that you can almost always blame on the man or women who did the job. Perhaps too heavy a coat of paint was applied. Or the painter may have used a thinner that dried too fast. In warm weather this will produce a very heavy coat that will surface dry too rapidly. Insufficient thinner is another cause of wrinkling.

Cracking and checking may come from too much haste in turning out the job. Applying finish coasts before the coats underneath dry may well have occurred. Sudden temperature changes or the movement of body panels may cause fine cracks.

Should you take back a defective job like this – the painter may tell you that that “spotting in” would fix it up. It will not. The entire panel must be completely refinished.

Blistering of paint can be caused by a variety of conditions but if it happens soon after the car comes from the auto body shop you can almost always blame the painter.

Poor preparation of the metal always causes blisters and bubbles. Perhaps various steps were missed or fudged. Grease oil or dirt may have been left on the surface before painting began. Moisture or oil in the air line of the spray gun can cause blisters as well.

But if the job is done at a time of high temperature and humidity, be cautious about blaming the shop. These conditions may blister the very best paint job. Even nearby chemical plants or pollution can cause this as well.

How can you avoid such defects and problems? True in even in a full high priced job, some of these defects some or even all of these defects can show up. But your chances of missing them are far better.

Above all, know the shop and its reputation. If you are doubtful stand around awhile and watch. You might well do this while awaiting your estimate.

After all it is your SUV. Your vehicle is the best representation of you. Being careful and thorough is always the best policy.

Respraying your car means you are prepared to devote some time and money to complete this project. There is no reason why you can’t do this yourself, but you are going to need some guidelines. Unless of course you are already a professional car painter.

First of all make up your mind to accept that you are not going to get the same professional looking job by using spray paints from a can. That’s not to say you can’t use them and get decent results. Just don’t raise your expectations to high. Respraying your car will take some getting used to.

First Step:
Do all of your sanding of the rough spots, and filling of the holes. There is no point in doing this after you have cleaned the car you will just be defeating the purpose of washing the car in the first place.

Second step:
You must start with a clean car. If you don’t then your final paint finish will be a mess. Every bit of debris that you left on the car will be evident after the respraying.

Hint: If your car is wet and you shine a light on it you will clearly see any imperfections that you didn’t catch in the first or second step

Third Step
Now you have to mask off all of the areas where you do not want paint. If you aren’t really diligent in this step you could end up being really sorry that you didn’t. It would be a shame to have a beautiful paint finish, but half the paint is on the windows or chrome.

Fourth Step
Practice a little bit with your spray. There is a bit of a technique to it. Remember we said that respraying your car does take some time. Practice on a piece of cardboard. That way you are not as likely to get squirts or blobs of paint. Keep the spray moving continuously, and in very light coats. Several light coats of paint are far superior to two thick ones, that will look really uneven.

Fifth Step
Allow the coats of paint to dry at least one hour in between. Then apply the finishing coat. Again this should be applied just like the paint. A flowing motion with just a very light coating.

By taking your time to do the job right and following these respraying instructions you should end up with a very acceptable completed project. If you try and take short cuts then this is where your problems will start.

Make sure you use good quality equipment and products. Take your time, because when you start to rush a stage then that’s where mistakes take place. Remember to use the proper safety measures such as the right protective gear.

Ideally it helps to be able to respray your car on a warm sunny day, as it helps to set or bake the paint on, giving it a nicer finish.

So remember before you start, do your research on the how to’s and have all your equipment and supplies at hand, and you are ready to go for it.

On any car, truck, or SUV, you have 4 layers that the scratch can go into. The Clear coat being the first, second is the color layer, third is the primer, and fourth is the steel.

No scratch is the same, each are different and unique in their own way. Sometimes a scratch is not really a scratch. If the object that has rubbed up against your car is softer than the paint on the car, it will put a special material on the paint surface. Leaving a mark that is raised above the paint, it is not gouged in to the paint itself. If the item is harder than the paint, the paint goes onto the item that hit the car.

Most marks that are left on cars, only scratch the clear coat and the color layer. When this happens you can usually get the scratch out with some buffing and waxing and a little sanding. If it goes any down to the primer and steel level, the scratch then becomes harder to get out and usually has to be professionally done. Most people make the mistake of taking the car to the mechanic to see how bad the scratch is but an experience person in the car field will tell you this, if you take your fingernail and go over the scratch at a ninety-degree angle, it will defect wither or not the scratch is setting at the clear coat and color level or if it is grounded into your vehicle. If the mark comes from rubber, plastic or another color of paint, you can rub it off with an aerosol tar or adhesive remover product.

When you cannot get the mark to come out you can try to remove it with acetone or lacquer (a basic acetone; aka nail polish remover) and a soft rag will get the mark off. If that stupid mark is still there you are going to have start hand rubbing and polishing. To repair a scratch, wash your car or the side that needs it, down with soap and water. When start drying the vehicle off, make sure that it is good and dry or this method given will not work. This is not going to remove the scratch, but it will make less or not noticeable at all.

Use black shoe polish to fill in the scratch, or any other color you prefer. Once you have put the shoe polish into the scratch, sand down the remaining material on the paint surface of your vehicle. Do not use a rough sand paper grinder. Use a two thousand to three thousand grit wet or dry sandpaper, depending on your preference. Place the sand paper in a bowl of cold water and add three or four drops of dish soap to the water to give it more slip and increase the corrective-ness of the cutting action to get what you need.

While sanding use a sixty degree angle and move up and down the length of the scratch. Stop after 4 or 5 sweeps to wash off the sand paper. You are going to do this until the bl! ack shoe polish goes away. Once the scratch is removed, let the sanded area dry and then look over the area you sanded for any signs of the removed scratch. If no signs of the scratch are there, you may paint over it with a clear coat. If you did not sand down to the primer layers you can buff the area with a rubbing compound and soft washcloth. Once the polishing and no signs of the scratch are there, you can seal the car paint with car wax.