can it be buffed out

[sirhc76]

Follow up to my other post:

http://www.vtcoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11116

Can I buff this out of my new cover, keep in mind that the paint is only a week old. Will I need to wait awhile before I try and buff this out. What will I need to do to get it out. I have a porter cable 7424, if you think this can be done please let me know what I need. Sorry for the sense of urgency on this, I have waited over a month to get the cover and would like to be able to use it next weekend for my trip.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[nycstev]

From experience I know orange peell can be wet sanded and buffed from
Laquer. Not really sure abou the new urethane enamals.Would say not

 

[sirhc76]

Im ok with the orange peel its the first picture that is the issue. The cover rubbed the inside lining of the box while on the carriers truck. Its just like what you would see if you had a cardboard box "chaffe" the paint. I would think that it could be buffed out although I dont consider myself and "exper" with a buffer. I have seen hazing like this buffed out with 3m finesse it products.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[SANCHOBA]

i think it can be done...use the 3M finnesse and then 3M clear-coat polish. if the buffer is random orbital,your good to go.

 

[94rt10ohio]

Orange peal that bad would need a little sanding and buffing, but it would concern me doing it not knowing how much clear is on the truck. Professionals actaully have devices to determine how thick the clear is before sanding and buffing. My gate was the worst part of my truck as well, until I striped and re-cleared :rock:

 

[sirhc76]

I used some meguiars fine cut cleaner along with some elbow grease on a small corner. It appears that it is working now I will have to see how long my arm can hold out before I go to the buffer.

Thanks all,

Chris

 

[Hotrodmike]

Chris
I dont know what they are useing for paint but I'm pretty sure they would use BC/CC. The paint was too fresh to ship and I think some of the out gassing started to melt the packing . It will buff out ,,,,,,,,,but how much clear did they put down ??????????????? go slow . If it doesnt come out it's just a sign that the stripes should be put down and the cover recleared and be done with it <VBG>
Have A Kind Day
Mike

 

[Chuck B]

You shouldn't be 'ok' with that much orange peel. I've done quite a bit of painting and even in extreme conditions I can lay a better clear down than that. My truck was bad enough from the factory....

Modern Urethanes can be sanded/polished within hours. What you don't want to do is wax them for at least a few weeks...month is better. Removing the slight blemishes would be no issue whats so ever. Use 3M foam pad and either 3M standard machine polish or 3M polish for dark colors. (I prefer the dark color version). Don't use anything that 'cuts'....not needed based on what I see.

As for the orange peel, it to can be easily removed. I wouldn't recommend a first timer to give it a go but any body shop can handle that with no issue. If you want to give it a go yourself pick up a body panel from the junk yard and practice on that first. See your neighborhood automotive paint supplier and they can get you all set up with proper pads, polish etc. Most orange peel can be removed in 3 steps. btw....I'm not a fan of orbitals.

 

[AWDisuzu]

wow that's a bad paint job. you really should have it redone! I've only painted 2 cars (in my garage even) and they came out like glass. no orange peel at all. whoever painted that laid it too heavy and rushed the job.

good luck!
~MikE~

 

[sirhc76]

I was able to buff most of the scratches out of the cover. You can see by the times of the posts that It took me awhile. The result looks like this:

I waited a long time for the cover and really need it on prior to my trip next week. When I get Mike to paint my stripes I will probably ask him to figure in a new paint job on the cover. The issue is that I ordered my cover April 12th with the understanding that it takes 5 days to build 8 days to paint. On April 17th I was told the painter had the PO and cover. On the 26th of April I asked for an update on the cover and was told that it had not been painted. The painter was behind due to a custom motorcycle he was painting. I was kept up to date on the cover and this was all I could ask for.

On May 6th I was told that the cover had not been painted and offered a refund if I wanted it. I said I would prefer to get the cover and not to rush the painter since I wanted a good paint job. On May 7th I was told that the painter had scheduled my cover to be painted Thursday the 10th and that it would be shipped out on Monday May 14th. The cover shipped on Tuesday May 15th and arrived on May 17th. So I waited over 30 days to get a cover that looks like it does. The marks on the cover aren’t the only issues, there are finger prints in the paint. Chuck you are correct the orange peel on the truck is bad as well. I think I was given the factory matching paint job on the tonneau

I think Mike is correct about what happened with the paint not being given time to cure. This was probably my fault due to wanting the cover so quickly. I should have specified that I want the cover but not at the cost of the paint. I haven’t talked to Scott about this and will follow up with him on Monday. It appears that the prices of his covers has gone down since I paid $1245 for mine. I am thinking that he may not be using this painter any longer.

Thanks all,

Chris

 

[Chuck B]

If you are having strips added then your painter will be recoating with clear. He'll wet sand then lay the base coat down. First coat of clear will be a build coat for around the edges of the stripes. Once it flashes he will sand the edges smooth (or close too) then add a second medium overall clear coat on the entire cover. Depending on how the stripe edges feel I would touch again with wetsanding, do a final cleaning then lay a med/heavy coat of clear. If conditions are good (moderate temps, low humidity etc) he will be able to lay a nice clear coat that flows out nicely over the entire cover.

In your case I would not sand and do a final polish as the cover will then be clearly better looking finish then the truck....yeah, sometimes we leave a bit of 'blemish' to better match the trucks (terrible) finish. His final coat will be far better than factory finish and no reason to pay additional labor. Then again if conditions are not good or painter is not very good then sand and polish would be required.

Key here is is the base color of the cover in good shape? If it is no need to repaint and like I explained above the person adding your stripes can take care of everything else....shouldn't be any additional charge for doing this either. Hope this helps.

 

[sirhc76]

Hotrodmike will be the one painting the stripes and from what I have seen this will be cake for him. I will have to do something about the finger prints in the paint. I think they are deeper than the clear since I was able to knock the other stuff off. These may need to be sanded out and they are right at the edge of the cover.

Thanks all,

Chris

 

[Hotrodmike]

Chris
Dont get to worked up ,since your doing the stripes you wont ever know there were flaws after it's done . I would try to get the manufacture to kick you back something for poor workmanship. The problem is most small manufactures cant or wont build the cost of quality paint into a product so they look for fast and cheap . I would not paint it for what they add for paint cost but then I would not have let it out looking that way either . Painted parts are a bitch to ship period and is almost imposible to get zero scuffs and scratches but peel and fingerprints aint acceptable IMHO
Charlie is happy as I pulled him off the tin work on the Rolls and got him a lil 356 Porch to paint after you came out and got him foaming about shooting rather than hammering <G>
Have A Kind Day
Mike
Have A Kind Day
Mike

 

[sirhc76]

Ahh the Rolls, you get that steering column moved to the proper side yet. Im ok with the cover not worked up at all, like I said I was ok with the orange peel. I will talk with the vendor on monday and let him know about the cover. I dont expect anything, I know how hard it is to run a business and stay in business. I just think that he should be aware of it and should have caught the finger prints. Im still thinking white stripes but then I saw a red viper with silver stripes and it caught my eye. I may have to start siphoning money into a slush fund to pay for these stripes. I can always tell the wife I am having vinyl put on for a very cheap price prior to the paint job.