Is there a timeframe for removing a run in the clear coat?

[timmycharger]

I was about to install my wheel lip moldings and saw a few runs in the clear on the rockers on both sides. I plan on going back to the shop to have him look at it but am i too late? Its been almost 2 months since being painted. I'm thinking its too hard at this point. Appreciate any feedback.

[hemi-hampton]

You can rub a run out at anytime after it's dried. The longer you wait the harder it may be but can still be done. Most of the time you'll run into a problem with a run is if it's to soon & still soft. LEON.

[timmycharger]

LEON, thanks. I'm sure he will be thrilled to see me again but he's the pro and i would hope he stands by his work product.

[Silver R/T]

These work great for removing runs
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steck-Manufacturing-35250-Spec-Out-Coarse-Paint-Nib-File-/351092636556?hash=item51bec07b8c:g:HC0AAOSwpdpVXPBj

[timmycharger]

Thank you, I did see these and watched some you tube vids demonstrating how they work.   I may have to get some to take care of some of the runs myself unfortunately.

I visited the painter last Friday and I am not feeling to good about him taking my car back. He is short handed at the moment with a line of work waiting.  The last thing I want is him to do is rush this and make it worse as he didn't seem too happy when I told him about the runs.  At closer inspection there are 3 more runs that really annoy me now. most of them were down low and hard to see, but I found 2 of them that were hidden in plain sight, in a pretty bad spot, right on the tail panel just below where the trim splits the black and body color.  Its a curved area so I don't think the nib file will work here.   

[hemi-hampton]

Did the Painter wet sand & rub the car after painting it? or was it a no rubber? LEON.

[timmycharger]

Nope, he just buffed it. I could tell by the swirl marks and tiny scratches he left, total rush job in my opinion. Overall it looks good, much better than I could have done in my home made booth. I bet it would look fantastic if it was properly cut.  I talked to a few local detail shops to see if they could cut and buff but they didn't really want any part of it since they didn't paint it so it puts me between a rock..

[superbirdtom]

   oh boy the run dilemma.. First I don't know what you want to do as theirs several things to consider. The number one thing you have to know is lets say a run is in the middle of your quarter panel ,after you successfully block it out and polish it so its totally gone now you have a flat shiny spot surrounded by a sea of orange peel. It will stick out like a sore thumb so then you obviously want the whole car cut and rubbed . No good painter will touch your job as they have no idea how many coats and how thick the clear is. I put on four heavy coats of clear at minimum if im going to cut and rub the job. IF someone good agrees to do it don't expect them to guarantee a burn through to the basecoat.  

This being said to take out a run make sure the clear is set up hard . To determine this take a razor blade and slightly push on the thickest part of the top crown of the run ,if the blade sinks in and the clear seems rubbery then its not set up enough.   Also runs can sometimes contain very small bubbles that you can't get rid of.  lets say that clear is hard and you want to take the runs out.  First you want to put some thin 1/2 inch blue plastic tape right next to the run so when you take your 600 wetsand paper or dry you are cutting down the run  only and not affecting the flat areas around it where burn through mostly happens.  After you've cut down the run 90% only then proceed to pull off the blue tape then you want to guide coat the area with just a spritz from a rattle can of grey lacquer primer which will not hurt a thing and will just sand off.  This is the way I do it to visually be able to see what your doing.   Flat panels are the easiest  to take runs out of, unlike the rear one around your tail light will need a hard rubber flexible sanding pad as it is a difficult area.

I will tell you whomever painted this has no pride and something else is amiss as a pro would never hand back a car with runs in it. if you want the runs taken out and that will satisfy you I would take it to a pro street rod shop and have them do it. Sometimes to be safe I will take the run out most of the way and put on a couple coats of clear on like the rear taillight panel then you know that theirs plenty of clear on it and proceed from there.  I would also be looking at the overall metallic basecoat to see if it was laid out properly and theirs no tiger stripes mottling or serious dust specks in the base.  Then you need to really see how straight your panels are, ecause if your going to block out all the orange-peel and polish the entire car if the body is not lazer straight you cannot use a long block because you will cut through the high spots. If the car is not lazer straight then you just want to use a 6 inch soft rubber sanding pad to only get out the orange peel.

You have a car that's worth some good money and the paint job makes or breaks the value.  Most folks in my experience will drop thousands on the motor -wheels and tires and everything else then scrimp on the paint (just being real here).  You can always block out the car and reclear it if the base was done right and get a real pro to do it you will be so much happier going to shows etc without the nitpickers saying hey did you notice this?  I just repainted a 70 Nova racecar for a guy that had a hacker paint it and was so awful the owner was in a tizzy after paying $3000 .  I reblocked it and came up with an awesome custom green and he says every time I open the garage door I just can't wipe the smile off my face and that's the way it should be.

If you have any more questions let me know. hope this sheds some light on things.

[timmycharger]

tom, thank you for that, very informative, its appreciated.  I am pretty disappointed with this shop, I looked at vehicles that he painted and spoke to a few of his customers that referred me to him and they were over the moon about his work. Compound that with the fact that I can literally walk to his shop its so close to my house, it made the decision to go with him easy.  He used a little over a gallon of clear, said he put down 3 heavy coats but I would agree with the fact that any other shop still wouldn't take my/his word for what he did.

Regarding the basecoat, no issues to speak of here, the metallic looks uniform and evenly spread, no striping at all, looks great in the sun. I think he got careless as he got to the end of the job.  the orange peel isn't that bad, as a matter of fact, sitting next to my wife's 2013 Chrysler town and country, I think her car has much more visible orange peel.

I may still go back and have him correct it just on principle and if he burns through I would expect him to re clear it, but I am still on the fence on what I will do.

[Charger-Bodie]

Its actually easier to remove a sag when the sag and the surrounding area are cured all the way thru.

[superbirdtom]

   Sounds like he put enough clear on it. Just looking again at how the deck lid flowed out Id say he really troweled it on.  I would defiantly just go back and have him take out the runs. I always trowel on the clear as id rather have a glossy job than a dry one which lends itself to being on the edge of a little run or two on a complete.  But I  take care of them before delivering the job to a customer.  I would think he would be glad to do it so don't hesitate just get him to take care of them. good luck!

[Kern Dog]

Tom, your posts in this thread are great. I was going to respond to the Op but you pretty much kicked ass on anything I could have written. 

[superbirdtom]

  hey thanks.  I have written several articles for Body Shop Business Magazine which ive found  difficult at times to get your points across with words,it sure takes some practice and a good editor Like Jason Stahl.  you can google (Tom Ferry Body Shop Business) and read my auto painting articles.

[Kern Dog]

I may just do that.

I have a habit of taking on tasks with no skills or experience whatsoever. I have learned a lot the hard way but I still struggle with many things. I wish that I had a mentor with the skills that I need improvement in.
So many times I do stuff with mediocre results and I don't know what mistakes that I may have made. I've been in construction since 1986 so I amquite experienced in how to frame/joist/stack/sheet any house. I know short cuts and tricks that a man learns over time. In my work, I can see problems coming and make changes to avoid them. I want to have those same skills with welding as well as body work and paint.
Again, I get by okay most of the time but I'm sure I'd have better results if I knew what the hell I was doing!

[timmycharger]

   Sounds like he put enough clear on it. Just looking again at how the deck lid flowed out Id say he really troweled it on.  I would defiantly just go back and have him take out the runs. I always trowel on the clear as id rather have a glossy job than a dry one which lends itself to being on the edge of a little run or two on a complete.  But I  take care of them before delivering the job to a customer.  I would think he would be glad to do it so don't hesitate just get him to take care of them. good luck!

you were right!


I ended up bringing the car back to him yesterday to show him the runs in the clear and it went better than I thought it would. My plan was to just have him look at the runs and make arrangements to bring it back when he was free.  I must have caught him on a bad day last week as this time he was much different. He apologized and asked if he could fix it on the spot. He worked on it for about an hour, took out the 4 runs that were there.  He was using 1000 with a soft pad then 2000 until it was gone. He polished it out with 3 different 3M compounds with a trick little hand held battery powered tool.  He went around and took care of the few swirls and scratches too.  He had me work on one of the spots to show me how he does it, pretty cool to get a free lesson and shoot the shit with him for a bit.

I'm glad I decided to bring it back, I was surprised that at 3PM on a Friday he would drop everything to make it right.