Hi Everyone,
I just went to see my freshly painted car, and while the paint looks good, I was dissapointed that the little ripples in the metal are still there. I doubt I could feel them, but they can be seen in reflections in the paint. Is it reasonable/possible to expect reflections off the paint to be completely smooth?
Thanks for any advice,
Mike
Ripples in paint will be there, because there are ripples in the metal… Unless you sand and smooth and fill the metal, there will be ripples. Thats the breaks. 
I went back, and it actually looks better than I first thought. There is a dent they missed in the fender, and the roof is rippled as hell, but otherwise, it looks good. The owner of the shop has agreed to redo the roof and take care of a couple of other things they missed. Hopefully, it will be ok.
Mike
how much did you pay for the paint job?
thatz where the answer lies.
if you’re talking about orange peel, then that can be wet sanded out. But if you mean that it looks like you’re looking on an ocean surface, thatz where the price you pay comes in. It’s all in the prep work. what they do is they take an automatic sander and sand away at your whole car. But these sanders vibrate, leaving ripples behind. It saves a lot of money and time, but it looks bad. High price paint jobs all involve NO (or minimal) automatic sander; it is all done by hand, using a block sander (a flat piece object with the sandpaper on the flat surface). This takes a lot longer, but you’re left with a straight paint job.
Contrary to popular belief, shiney, metallic paint doesn’t cost more; the ONLY thing that costs more than a normal color is TRI-COLOR paints, where you have to paint the car 3 times. Of course, fancy patterns and stuff cost more, but if we’re talking about just one color, then thatz how it works. I get people asking me why my paint is so expensive…itz not the color…itz all in the prep…I have no ripples…
HTH
Hmmm…I think there is some orage peel. I hope that can be buffed out of the clear coat. If not, there’s not a lot I can do about it at this point. They did hand sand it before painting, though.
I was quoted $2000 Canadian for a “complete”. I was promised that all ripples, dents, and rust would be removed.
As soon as they had my car appart, the commitment to quality faded fast.
At this point, there is a dent in one of the fenders and a dent in one of the rocker panels that he refuses to fix. He says that he will fix the cracked paint bump on the hatch, the rust spot on the quarter window that wasn’t ground off (even though I repeatidly pointed it out, and he specifically removed the window for this purpose$%#^#!!), and some ripples on the roof.
He’s had my car for two months, and it’s been nothing but grief. The highlight was when they nearly set my car on fire by trying weld the emblem holes closed in the paint booth. I’m very much looking forward to getting my car back and never going there again. It’s been an ordeal.
Wish me luck!
Mike
Originally posted by MikeAudet
[B]Hmmm…I think there is some orage peel. I hope that can be buffed out of the clear coat. If not, there’s not a lot I can do about it at this point. They did hand sand it before painting, though.
I was quoted $2000 Canadian for a “complete”. I was promised that all ripples, dents, and rust would be removed.
As soon as they had my car appart, the commitment to quality faded fast.
At this point, there is a dent in one of the fenders and a dent in one of the rocker panels that he refuses to fix. He says that he will fix the cracked paint bump on the hatch, the rust spot on the quarter window that wasn’t ground off (even though I repeatidly pointed it out, and he specifically removed the window for this purpose$%#^#!!), and some ripples on the roof.
He’s had my car for two months, and it’s been nothing but grief. The highlight was when they nearly set my car on fire by trying weld the emblem holes closed in the paint booth. I’m very much looking forward to getting my car back and never going there again. It’s been an ordeal.
Wish me luck!
Mike [/B]
$2000 eh? yeah you’re going to get ripples. my ‘buddy price’ for my paint job was $3500 Canadian…(it’s pretty much a $7000 paint job)
but they prolly did a quick hand sand…but I doubt it was a block sand.
Oh yeah, I remember reading about the fire thing…
dayum man, good luck…