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New paint job has lines - opinions please? Pics inside...


zeeboost

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I just received my '76 280z from the body shop. When I went to pick up, I noticed the paint had noticeable lines on the hood and roof...I believe they are known as Tiger Stripes? I brought this to the owner's attention, and he told me that it would take about 6 weeks before the paint would completely adhere and spread out evenly on the car. I talked to a couple of other body guys about this, and they called bs on it. They said it was the painter's technique, the gun not adjusted properly, or something like that. Anyways, I took a few pictures to try to give you a better idea. FYI, it still needs to be wetsanded and buffed, but I told them I would do it to cut back on costs.

 

For the most part, the car looks good:

 

DSC00294.jpg

 

rear1.jpg

 

But you can see the lines running up and down the hood and roof when looking at it directly in the light:

 

tiger1.jpg

 

tiger2.jpg

 

tiger3.jpg

 

Anyways, I'm contemplating if I should take it back to them to have them fix (most likely repaint) the lines, or if it's something that really will go away after 6 weeks. I appreciate any advice, and any info on what causes these lines to happen.

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In a month of Sundays you'll never wet sand and buff those out. Be careful with the shop owner . His response to the problem is concerning and leads me to believe one of two things . Hes trying to avoid redoing the paint because he doesn't want to take the hit of the cost of redoing the job or he hasn't a clue as to what they did during the application of the finish. Whatever you do don't buff the car . He could use this as an excuse to shift the responsibility of the problem unto you shoulders. Refinishing of the affected panels is the only way to remedy the streaking.

 

The problem is painter error but can go into several different areas. Poor spraying technique , a dirty spray gun , improperly adjusted spray gun, wrong paint mixing ratio , wrong stabilizer ( if its BC/CC ), improper flash time between base and clearcoat ( if its BC/CC ). This is also a common problem with high metallic single stage enamels and is subject to the above issues. If its single stage don't sand or buff it it will only get worse.

Time will not change the paint problem what you see is what you got.

 

Best Regards

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Yup the shop owner is pulling some BS. When we painted the bed cover on my old truck with some house of color sunrise orange on top of a yellow base it striped in several spots. It will be there for the life of the paint.

 

At least it is a nice color, hopefully you can get him to fix it.

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Thank you for your feedback. I'm going to try to talk to them about it tomorrow. I'm not sure what course of action to take if we can't come to an agreement. It's a two-stage paint, by the way. There are other little imperfections here and there on the car, but they don't really bother me the way these tiger stripes do.

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From what I can see in this photo it looks like the metallic is what you call tiger striped and what i call modeled.Is that a base coat clear coat job or a single stage?Most times painters will have a problem with metallics modelling lke that becuase they arent using the proper reducers for the ambiant booth temperature.If they are using to fast of a reducer in the base it "stripes" or models easily becuase the paint isnt flashing properly.I myselflike a reducer that takes a long time to flash thus letting the basecoat stay wetter longer and flow and do its thing with a slightly bigger tip in my gun.what you are getting there isnt uncommon and yes it is technique as well as reducers.DO NOT HESITATE TO HAVE THEM RE SPRAY IT.Do you know what the charged and what product they sprayed it with?

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From what I can see in this photo it looks like the metallic is what you call tiger striped and what i call modeled.Is that a base coat clear coat job or a single stage?Most times painters will have a problem with metallics modelling lke that becuase they arent using the proper reducers for the ambiant booth temperature.If they are using to fast of a reducer in the base it "stripes" or models easily becuase the paint isnt flashing properly.I myselflike a reducer that takes a long time to flash thus letting the basecoat stay wetter longer and flow and do its thing with a slightly bigger tip in my gun.what you are getting there isnt uncommon and yes it is technique as well as reducers.DO NOT HESITATE TO HAVE THEM RE SPRAY IT.Do you know what the charged and what product they sprayed it with?

 

It's a base coat clear coat, and I don't know what brand they used, but I'll find out. The paint is the factory 307 blue that this Z was originally painted.

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Yeah that striping is all in the basecoat.Once they cleared it they locked all that striping right under it.It absolutely will not buff out.Im sure that is a little more dificult to see in the garage but when you pull it out in the sunlight you see it like a boner in sweatpants?Well if you need to beat them downt with technical paint jargin id be glad to help you but they really need to respray this.

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I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about it before I confront them, so the more I know, the merrier.

 

BTW, I researched this body shop, and they had only positive reviews on the net. Plus, I've seen other cars that they painted, and they all looked really good. I'm pretty disappointed about this one.

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If he insists on you waiting then I would tell him to put it in writing that he will respray and get half the money back as an incentive to him to fix the problem.

If he won't hopefully you used a credit card so you can contest the charge.

 

If not then your only recourse will be small claims court. Good Luck.

 

It still is a nice looking ride.

 

Tom

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I talked to the owner today, and he still insists I should give the paint a little more time to cure. According to him, most to all of their paint jobs have those lines, and I'm not the first one to complain about them, but then after a few weeks they fade out. Anyways, he told me if they're still visible come next Monday, then to bring it in and they'll re-spray it. I told him that if I drop it off with them again, I wasn't going to pick it up until the paint was lineless, so to speak. He agreed, and said that they would most likely sand the paint and let it sit in the sun for a few days to help it cure...he said that's what they did in the past and it always helped to expediate the process...?

 

I don't know if I agree with everything that was said, but he was very respectful and courteous about my concerns, and had a positive attitude towards everything, so I'm hoping this will turn out okay. Guess I'll have another update in a week :-)

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I work at a bodyshop/ restore shop, he probly knows it and is just buying a little time before getting to it, I know because this is the first thing to look for when the clear goes on, especially with lighter colors that go over a white base. Like some have said a bigger gun tip, and open up the fan of the gun so you can lay it more even. also when they use cheeper paint it tends to not cover as well... had a little trouble with this color also getting good coverage when I used ppg omni paint.

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I agree that the striping is due most likely to poor coverage likely from not enough overlap.

 

At least the shop is working with you. Though I do know (based on your description) that those lines will not go away, and the shop likely knows this. He could remove the hood, fix and spray it right away, and save face and tell you that it fixed itself after sitting for a few days. As long as everything is being fixed, and he is being civilized, cut him some slack and be grateful he doesn't just walk away from his responsibility.

 

Do you know if it was sprayed with waterbased technologies? As I write this, I don't recall what part of the country you are in, but I do know that some states have already, or are about to ban solventbourne refinish paint, and legislating the use of waterbourne technologies. Canada is supposed to convert by 2010 all automotive refinishers. OEM plants are exempt, except where they use refinish paints for repairs.

 

I ask this because the techniques used to spray waterbourne paints is quite different, and a shop that may have years of experience, may struggle for a while with waterbourne paints until they unlearn their old techniques.

 

Good luck, and BTW the car looks pretty good other than that defect!

Scott.

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