Removing light overspray from vehicle

[ryanschillinger]

My 13 Corolla was rear ended so I had the back bumper resprayed. Also had all 4 wheels repaired due to the wife using them as curb feelers... Turned out fine, but there is light overspray on different areas of the car. It's light, you don't really see it, but can feel it when washing. I clay barred most of the stuff earlier today, but didn't get it all off. Figure a good polishing might take care of it, but I'm not sure. Thought I would ask you guys for some feedback. Polishing the car out might be nice anyway, it's only 2 years old, but has 70k miles.

Thanks!

 

[AZjeff]

Why not let the body shop that wasn't careful enough do it?

 

[mrsilv04]

Clay bar.

 

[Oro_O]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Why not let the body shop that wasn't careful enough do it?


Exactly.

I've had experiences in the past with shoddy body shop work, and from GOOD body shops. Go back, talk to the manager/a manager, and have them correct it and warranty it.

 

[Wasatch1]

Clay bar was a good first step. Polishing might not be abrasive enough. Worth a try though. I've had good results using Meguiars ultimate polish. Do you have a DA polisher?

 

[ryanschillinger]

I had the bumper guys at a place I work at do it under the table for $250 and a case of beer (including repairing curb rash on 4 wheels) so I'm not going to bug them about it at that price. I have a da polisher and a rotary. Not quite sure which one would work best in this situation. Clay bar for most of it off. Like I said, you can't really see it. Just feel it when you run a microfiber over it here and there. Or clay bar of course. I figured a good clay bar, then polishing would do the trick.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Why not let the body shop that wasn't careful enough do it?


It isn't a matter of being careful. You have to take the bumper off the car to repair and paint it! It'll be peeling in a year

 

[Lapham3]

If some polishing compound doesn't do it, I'd try some 1500 grade wet/dry paper-good luck

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: Ethan1

It isn't a matter of being careful. You have to take the bumper off the car to repair and paint it! It'll be peeling in a year

Can you explain why that is?

OP use a 5000 Trizac disc on an orbital sanader wet to get rid of the overspray, it might be etched right into the paint depending on what was used for paint/clear.

Use a low speed setting and just remove or flatten the overspray if its etched in, finish with a rotary buffer at about 1200-1500 RPM with a good compound, you wont need much and it shine very quickly.
Finish with 3M perfect it 3000 polish on the rotary at about 1500-2000 RPM then you can wax or whatever with the orbital polisher.

This is really a quick and easy job using the correct products that will not remove much of the clear unlike keep trying to buff it off.

This is the compound i use more than any other, i have tried lots of them that claim better performance with high tech particles yada yada yada and always come back to this one, its old school and does the job real well.

http://www.repaintsupply.com/3m-05973-ru..._medium=organic

http://www.autogeek.net/3m-swirl-remover-16oz.html

http://www.autogeek.net/3m-5000-grit-foam-discs.html

These are large qt bottles but you can get smaller sizes, just scour the new.

 

[ryanschillinger]

They do a good job prepping and spraying the bumpers. It's done like this all the time. I'm just more picky than most. I appreciate the input. I'll probably try working with the pads and compounds I already have first. But the wet sanding disc for da might be worth it. I'm going to be panting my ltd soon (hopefully) and that would be a lot of surface area to wet sand and polish.

 

[ryanschillinger]

Went and took a closer look in the direct sun. Clay bar got it off near as I can tell but here is a bit of a haze left in some spots. I haven't done any polishing to this paint and it sits outside all day and has 70k miles. It's ready for a good day of polishing and whatnot anyway.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: Trav
Originally Posted By: Ethan1

It isn't a matter of being careful. You have to take the bumper off the car to repair and paint it! It'll be peeling in a year

Can you explain why that is?


If there's overspray on the car, they obviously fixed and painted the bumper without removing it from the car. That means there's a hardline around the reflectors and all the top edges of the bumper. No paint manufacturer would warranty the paint on that bumper. Are you advocating that sort of repair?

 

[Trav]

It depend on the bumper and what can be removed. As long as i can expose all the edges then sure why not, I have done lots of them this way with zero adhesion issues. Some you just cant and must remove the bumper.
If your changing color or using a new piece that's another story.

 

[ryanschillinger]

Most used cars on dealer lots have had this type of repair. Not usually a problem. Clay got off the areas with overspray. I just clayed the whole car while I was at it. Chances are the back bumper is going to get dinged up again, so under $300 including repaired wheels sure works for me. Better than $650 for just remove, repair, repaint bumper cover.

 

[Gasbuggy]

You want to buy a Clay Magic clay bar, blue color, if you don't want to do a paint correction.

 

[gallydif]

Originally Posted By: Lapham3
If some polishing compound doesn't do it, I'd try some 1500 grade wet/dry paper-good luck

I tried 1500 wet the other day on my car for overspray and ended up scratching the paint. I'm going to just take it to my guy at the body shop to fix what I've already done before I F--k it up some more.

 

[Trav]

1500 is way too coarse for this sort of work 3000, 4000 or 5000 is the way to go.
You can do this by hand without a Trizac disc but soak the paper for 30 min in warm water first and use a drop of dish soap in the water.
Make sure there are no jagged edges on the paper and fold it only once, use light pressure and let the paper do the work.

 

[ryanschillinger]

Cool. I got it all clean. But looking that closely at the paint makes me want to give it a light polish next time it's due for a coat of sealant. Might just use the Chemical Guys Blacklight with my DA. I applied it by hand this time.

 

[Ethan1]

Originally Posted By: ryanschillinger
Most used cars on dealer lots have had this type of repair. Not usually a problem.


I'm familiar with the lot lizards. Every used car dealer loves them because they can fix a car juuuust enough that it usually isn't obvious to the average buyer (the type of person who views a car as an appliance). The lot lizards don't furnish a repair that would ever be acceptable to someone who's reading a detailing forum (cares about appearance) on an oil forum (cares about longevity).

 

[ryanschillinger]

Well I'm not here to argue with you, but I inspect cars for a living. I understand the difference between standard body shop repair and what we're talking about here. These guys do a fine job. Not perfect, but very good for what it is. I've inspected many, many cars after these guys respray the bumpers and they've turned out consistently well. It's not going to ruin my car. It's been repainted with 2 stage base/clear, just wasn't removed for the repair. I don't know why you're insulting me for being part of the forum because of how I chose to get my bumper repainted. We live in Southern California, and I would wager on the bumper needing another respray before any issues arise from this one. Maybe I choose not to spend $700 on a perfect bumper repaint when $250 turns out just fine. Especially considering it will probably only be a short while before someone else's license plate bolts gouge it anyway. If you want to come remove and refinish the bumper the right way, I'll buy dinner and drinks. Otherwise I'll continue being satisfied with the results. Especially since they repaired the curb rash on the wheels. $250 done in a day vs having to pay for a rental car for a week on top of the $700 or so for the repair. I really don't understand why it's such a problem.