Help - single stage paint question

[dennisdesouza]

Going to the experts on this one! My white 87 carrera has single stage paint "I think". If I put anything metalic on the paint it will leave a dark mark on it. It feels as though there is no clear coat on the car.

Now I had a very small 4" scrape along the rear fender and I drove some diatance to bring it to a very reputable repair shop. The reason I brought it there was because they use the correct paint and would rapair to like new with the single stage. I made sure several times that they would be using single stage. The repair came out great but they put a clear coat on the panel. I questioned this when I picked the car up and they said that is a single stage. The paint is in great condition and it is obvious there is no clear coat on the rest of the car. They admitted that they shot it with clear coat but from what I understand my car has single stage? I brought the car back becasue the color was not exact and it is likley that it is because the panel was shot with clear coat and it gleamed differently. Everyone came out and of course defended the job. It came out great but the clear coat is really bugging me. I drove quite a diatance since they are the experts etc... and I wanted the single stage on there.

My question is how can I prove that I have single stage with no clear coat and how do I get it back to original condition? I understand from doing some research that single stage may be more difficult to apply but that is why I traveled far to the experts - otherwise I could have went locally and had a clear coat put on. Any suggestions where I can get this corrected in San Diego or where I could bring it to get confirmation of the single stage?

Thanks everyone!

[sithot]

If you buff your car do you get any color on the rag?

Clears are how panels get blended in. That it shines differently could be the fact that the original paint is now 25 years old and "dying". I suppose your painter could have shot it "drier" to knock down the shine and give it some orange peel which was pretty common on mid-80's Porsches. The very best are very talented when it comes to matching color and texture. Unless you want to paint an entire car you need to have these skills to "hide the work". Getting original-type orange peel would seem counter to what is generally desired (a smooth slick finish) but necessary on a lot of cars unless you want a repair to stick out like a sore thumb.

[Harvey Weidman]

Like Tom says, rub the new paint with some polish and if it is body color, then it is single. If not, it has been cleared. Take it back if it is cleared. Get your money back and go to a better listening shop.IMHO

The same thing happened to a car of ours and the shop at first said it was single, but it was two stage cleared. The other single stage touch ups on the car are barely seen after many years and the cleared area stands out like Tom's sore thumb..
H

[dennisdesouza]

I did bring it back but they are insisting that is the correct way to fix and blend it in. No paint comes off of the "clear coat" area that was just done but it does on the rest of the car. Can they blend it in properly had they used single stage on it? I am absolutley not content with having one part clear and the rest single stage. Not really sure how to go about getting it done correctly. Anyone have recommendations of who can do the correct single staging in southern California? I am thinking that the single stage may be more difficult to blend correctly or can it even be done without clear? Again the only reason I brought it to this company is that I was sold that they were the experts and used the correct paint on single stage because they were a restoration shop. I gues I was not a big enough customer to do it correctly or they thought I would not disclover it. The part that bugs me is that I went over it a ton of times with them and they still shot the entire quarter panel with clear. They did do a great job on the repair though. Today thy said they would color sand, clay and buff the panels around the repair so they blend better. That still will not take away the fact that part of the car is now clear coated and the rest is single stage.

[Harvey Weidman]

If they had to paint the whole quarter, then why not just paint the entire quarter with single stage? A whole quarter with the new single stage color still matches better than a cleared panel. IMHO

Take it some where else.
H

[Esposito]

If you took your to the experts, as you say, then they should have checked to see if the car was single stage.
As an owner /painter, my job is to determine what the kind of existing finish is on the car.
You stated that the color is off a bit, this could be that the car is single stage and the paint they applied is base coat clear coat.
The clear tends to yellow the color a bit.
Did they panel match ,or blend?
If they blended the panel, or the adjacent panel,you should not see the color difference.
It sounds like they butt panel matched, which is almost impossible to do on 25 year old paint.

John Esposito

[dennisdesouza]

They blended the paint on the panel and then shot the entire quarter panel. I brought it there because I want to keep the car as original as can be and I wanted single stage. If they had to hit the entire panel with single stage I would have paid more. I am not a painter/body guy so I am not sure of the process. I am assuming that clear coating it is an "easier" way to blend the panel? The repair is great but now I have a rear quarter panel that has clear coat on it. The clear panel is actually slightly "whiter" than the rear deck and front door.

What is the process of repairing this? Do they strip the quarter down to the metal and then single stage the panel? I was assuming this is what they would be doing. They are now going to wet sand the panels on either side to try to match it better? Is that the right way to do it?

[Longballa]

I would think they would need to remove all of the clear and the base as single stage paint is different then two stage base/clear blends. Take it to John. He'll make it right. You can still get single stage paint in California it just has a lower VOC level.

[Esposito]

You really need to have them stop working on your car right now!
Color sanding the adjacent panels is just a way of masking the @#$%up.
And, they are now breaking down the original finish of those panels!
As I stated before, butt matching a single stage panel is very difficult.
You cannot match age, therefore most shops blend the colr in basecoat, and then clear the whole panel.
It's not possible to blend a single stage on an original finish.
The paint is too hard and won't allow the new paint to melt in at the blend.
Also you don't need to strip the panel down to the bare metal, it just needs to be sanded and then resprayed.
If you want some more info, call me at 818 469 1811 and I'll be glad to help you understand this better.

John

[dennisdesouza]

Thanks for the advice John - I will call tomorrow and go pick the car up. It is a bit of a drive from where I am so I will have to see how my schedule is. I will be in touch....Are you in the LA area and could you do a single stage on the quarter panel?

Thanks again for your advice - pretty bummed out they did it incorrectly after I insisted on keeping the car as original as possible... Live and learn I guess