Why won't anyone take this job on?

N

ncornilsen

It's a bit unconventional, I suppose...

I painted my Nova in my garage 2 weeks ago.

I would up with some Orange dust specs over the black paint in my clear that won't sand out, and a few spots where 2 coats didn't cover enough. I need to re-apply 2 coats of base and 3 of clear, to everything except the door jambs... but even those could get another coat if it made it easier. I've got the clearcoat sanded with 600, no runs, or anything like that are left. I did burn through in one quarter sized spot and along an edge, but nowhere else.

I've called a number of shops in the area, not the big production shops but smaller ones that seem to cater to custom jobs.

They all say they want nothing to do with this job.

What is scaring people off? Are they worried about whatever I did before peeling off?

Are they worried that I missed a spot sanding? I've made it clear that I'm not opposed to them spending some time on that to make sure the prep is right, I'm not in a hurry and I'm not looking to be a cheap skate... I just need a clean, well lit place for someone who knows how to lay clearcoat to do it.

Are there some codewords I need to use or avoid?

no one has said it's because of COVID, so I don't think that's it.
I'd appreciate some insight!
Thanks
-Nick
 
Nick,
Whenever someone like myself paints a car, our name is on that paint job. If we cannot be certain that all of the preparation was done properly or the quality of the primers, paints, clear used are acceptable or that the application of these materials was done right - we won't touch the job.

I have had guys bring me fully primed "ready to paint" vehicles to quote spraying the color and clear but they left very unhappy.
 
I would equate this as building a house, but then asking a business to put their name on it for final inspection. They are scared off because they do not know the foundation, you might be super skilled and only used the best products, but they have no way of knowing.
 
I get that.

Is this one of those situations where I shouldn't trust anyone willing to sign up to help me here? :D

I'm making peace with the thought that I will need to rent a booth and do it myself. I will just brush up on gun technique and ways to fix runs as I go... then lay lots of clear and expect to sand and buff!

-Nick
 
I would only paint something that someone else did all the prep work on if I knew that person, and trusted their work. Anyone else, no, sorry, not interested.
Look at it this way, if you were running a small business, trying to build your name and reputation, and someone comes to you with a car to paint, wavy bodywork, very amateurish, is it worth the minimal amount of money you would make on it versus having your name associated with that car after you painted it and the prep work looks like crap.
Or perhaps prep work looks good, you paint it, and six months later, paint and primer are peeling off it. Or it has cracks in it from body filler, etc etc. The layperson is always going to blame the painter for that when in reality it was the prep work. Not worth the hassle for any guy/shop who is trying to build a reputation of doing high quality work.
 
You already sprayed the car once so why not just apply that experience to your repaint.
Did you activate your base coat? If not you should address the burn through area first so as to avoid any issues when respraying.
Painting in your garage (which I and many other do) requires extra cleaning and prep work. Wetting the floor and grounding the vehicle helps reduce dust issues.
What kind of air supply do you have? What spray gun are you using? What speed is your activator and reducer?
 
I did activate the basecoat, but I will still apply a light coat over those areas and give extra time to flash off before doing full coats.

I'm using 885 reducer and slow clear activator. I will rent a booth for this, as my wife won't tolerate another 2 days of me fuming the neighborhood... not to mention the dirt.

I have a 3.7hp 60 gallon compressor, that I changed the sheaves on to increase RPM and decrease total pressure. It never had a problem keeping up. The booth has a 10hp refrigerated comp, no issues there. Everyone I have spoken with who used that booth say it's a good booth.

What do you guys do to protect a car being hauled for paint? I was figuring on doing one final scotchbrite pass there before it goes in the booth to get any bugs or find issues, plus avoid highway speeds. On the way home, I'll also avoid highways, and let it hang out in the booth at the highest temp I can get for as long as I can. Anything acceptable to cover the car with, on that young of universal clear?

I have a DevilBiss GPI gun, I guess it's not "Compliant" to US Standards, but I have read great things about it... it sprays good, and where I didn't get sloppy with the clear it laid it nice.
 
I would wash the vehicle with Dawn soap and a grey scuff pad if it has been towed exposed on a trailer. Ideally an enclosed trailer would be used.
 
Several years ago a good friend of mine was approached by an owner who had done all his own body and prep work to paint a hot rod. At first he declined, but the guy kept after him about it. Eventually the dude convinced him to spray the car under the agreement that he was to tell no one who painted it under any circumstance. That summer the car won the Best paint award at the Street Machine Nationals.
 
Several years ago a good friend of mine was approached by an owner who had done all his own body and prep work to paint a hot rod. At first he declined, but the guy kept after him about it. Eventually the dude convinced him to spray the car under the agreement that he was to tell no one who painted it under any circumstance. That summer the car won the Best paint award at the Street Machine Nationals.
The exception usually proves the rule.
I have seen bondo over an 1 1/2" thick, sanded smooth and covered in primer.
 
If u know the process and what needs to be done....do it. Afterwards. Take a look back and be proud of it. On the first car i painted. I had to redo the roof. Quarter. Hood and trunk.. Nothing comes easy.
 
They all say they want nothing to do with this job.

What is scaring people off? Are they worried about whatever I did before peeling off?
this reminds me of a remodel job i went into quite a few years ago. homeowner started it but got in over his head. when i went to assess what was needing done and give an estimate, i determined that for myself and for the homeowner, the best course of action was to tear out what he did and start from scratch. not that he did a horrible job-he did some good but most were things he wasnt sure of and winged- things he did that would have made the rest of the remodel more difficult. more difficult= more time=im not going to like doing the job=more money out of homeowners pocket= im not happy with end result= im not taking the job.
fortunately the homeowner understood,let me tear out his work and start from scratch. in the end it was less expensive than if i picked up where he left off.
we both ended up satisfied with the work.
 
I have seen bondo over an 1 1/2" thick, sanded smooth and covered in primer.

I have seen that numerous times, funny thing is, I've seen it 10 to 15 yrs
old and holding up just fine until another accident exposed it.
Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time to pull a dent out so completely,
no one will ever know the filler is only a 1/16" instead of 1/2" or more.
Either one will last the life of the car. Well, I guess it's for me.
 
I have seen that numerous times, funny thing is, I've seen it 10 to 15 yrs
old and holding up just fine until another accident exposed it.
Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time to pull a dent out so completely,
no one will ever know the filler is only a 1/16" instead of 1/2" or more.
Either one will last the life of the car. Well, I guess it's for me.

Yes, I ask myself the same question when I'm laboring over an issue that nobody is ever going to see. I just can't leave it alone as it will bother me every time I look at the car just knowing it's there. LOL
 
I have seen that numerous times, funny thing is, I've seen it 10 to 15 yrs
old and holding up just fine until another accident exposed it.
Sometimes I wonder why I spend so much time to pull a dent out so completely,
no one will ever know the filler is only a 1/16" instead of 1/2" or more.
Either one will last the life of the car. Well, I guess it's for me.
I watched a late sixties Cadillac get rear ended at a stop light years ago. Both rear quarter panels fell into the street from door to bumper. the filler was easily 2+ inches thick. the owner had no idea it was even there. They hit the street and remained in 1 piece. Someone remarked maybe he could just glue them back on. It wasn't much of an impact and he was able to drive away.
 
Back in the late 70’s I had a 71 XR7 Cougar convertible that I traded a local body shop for. It had fresh paint and looked good. Slammed the drivers door one day and a square foot sized chunk of filler fell out of the quarter . They would not stand behind their work. Luckily I had traded him a 70 GMC 3/4 ton pickup that got all of 8 mpg downhill with the wind so there was payback of sorts

Don
 
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