[leomat]

Hi Folks:

I got my car repainted yesterday and the paint has a lot of "fisheyes" in it.
The autobody man said that he would knock $50.00 off of the price for this. He said that after a couple of months, I could rub them out. I only saw a few around the back fender area so I said that I would wait until next Spring to attempt to rub them out. Today, I looked at the car and there are a lot on the roof as well! My question is this: How do I go aboout removing these marks? Are they only in the clearcoat or do they go all of the way to the base coat? Any tips?


TIA

Zeke

P.S. I think that I will ask the guy if he is willing to remove these next Spring for $50.00. I think that it will be one of those "easy" jobs that turns out to be a nightmare!.

 

[spork]

do you know what causes fisheyes? what happenes is when the car is being painted it isn't cleaned well enough and something like oil, wax, or silicone is still on the car, then when he paints it the paint won't stick to those areas causing "fisheyes". depending on how bad the fisheyes are they can sometimes be removed....If I were you Id insist that he remove them or repaint the car because its his fault that they are there. If the car would've been prepped correctly they wouldn't be there. Incase you were wondering where my knowledge comes from, I manage a body shop for a living, I've been painting and doing body work for years. One other thing, is your car painted with enamel (single stage) or was it painted base/clear? because if it was painted base/clear those fisheyes should be able to be removed within 2 days. If it was painted with an enamel and it has any kind of metalic in it then theres pretty much no chance of being able to remove the fisheyes because of the way the metalics lay in the paint. It kind of sounds to me like the guy is hoping you'll just take the $50 and forget about it. My guess is that he'd probably have more than $50 in labor to fix the problem if just buffing was required...if it needs re-cleared he's looking at more time and actually some supplies too. good luck, and don't let the guy get the best of you.

Spork

 

[Andrew240Z]

If he did this paintjob in a closed area, and still got fisheyes, I'd want a lot more than 50 bucks knocked off the price, if it was an outside job, then they can be expected. Fisheyes form when any (water, dirt, bugs, etc.) lodges itself in any wet paint surface, but if you had a two stage paint job, (ie, base coat/clear coat) then you can rub them out in about six months. Wet sand them with 1500 grit, then, using a buffer on slow speed, squirt on some 3M BUFFING COMPOUND and buff them out. With fisheyes, this may take a few applications to get them completely out. Some are too big, but this technique will make their appearance very negligable. If you dont have a buffer, or something that you can turn into a buffer (handheld drills aren't powerful enough) then I would offer HIM 50 bucks to buff them out, unless this was an inside paint job, then I would think that he should get them out for free, in good faith. Email me at [email protected] for any more paint questions.
-andrew
73 240z
82 zx

 

[Tyson(280z)]

You mean water spots?

I use Meguires #1 Cleaner, that gets everything off.

 

[Tyson(280z)]

nevermind, I should try reading (nm)

Z

 

[280Zone]

Leomat, I agree with you, this will turn into more work than you think. Also just think what might happen if you do not get it just right the first time.
Bottom line, get him to fix it....
Just my .02

 

[ZZZZZ]

Spork is right...

The guy is just hoping you'll go away for $50. Both him and Andrew are right when they tell you this is a major job to get rid of. Make him fix it or you'll take him to small claims court.

 

[zedman]

Hey andrew, I'm mick and I'm a painter, sounds like your painter is a lazy one that not very professional, if theres a next time dont accept the job if its below standard, 50 bucks isn't much to knock of the price for a flaw that could be there for the life of the paint job, basicly there surface prep sucked.
Mick
Z

 

[leomat]

Re: Thanks guys!.

Thanks to all who replied! This is what makes this board so great!!

Zeke

 

[badasszx]

Re: Thanks guys!.

One more thing leomat, if it is a base/clear paint job the fisheyes are usually only in the clearcoat but when you sand these out it removes clearcoat. If they are very deep you run into a film build problem, not enough of it anymore! Clearcoat must be a specific thickness, it has a UV protectant in and is the only thing protecting the color beneath. This thickness decreases all the time depending on how lomg it is in the sun, pollutants etc. anyway. The sun will always attack the weakest pigment in a specific color. Have you ever seen a red car that has turned orange over the years? This is the reason. Every color has a weak pigment. I've painted cars the last ten years, bottom line, make him fix it!! If he does buff it out look the car over very carefully where the fisheyes had been, out of direct sunlight to make sure he did not burn through any edges.