Burned Through Clear?


pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
I was using an orbital buffer and got this white halo with a darker center. I stopped as soon as I noticed pigment on my orbital pad. I can still see the flakes of the pigment on the surface of the "blemish" (nice word that leaves an empty feeling in my stomach). Looking at other threads I believe the car was sprayed with a 2 stage paint. Can anyone tell me what I have done? Have I burned into the paint and the panel needs to be painted or can the area be re clear coated? If I just burned through the clear coat has anyone used a K2 clear coat on your own car or should this be left to a professional? Sorry for all the questions.
 

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pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
Burned Through The Clear?

This may be a better view of the damage. Yep, it is right on the apex of the panel.
 

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DakotaGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 9, 2012
1,694
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Yes, sure looks like that's exactly what happened (burned all the way through the clear). If you take some water (or spit, whatever) and wet the surface, does the color and sheen all look uniform throughout that area? If so, you may be lucky enough to just have that panel PROFESSIONALLY masked and re-cleared. An experienced guy can sometimes even just scuff down the clear around the "accident" and blend the clear, without having to clear the whole panel. That's what I did with an area on my McLaren (a supposedly "perfect" car that was delivered to me with a significant paint defect), and I must say, you can't even tell now, unless I point it out to people. And I had to actually spray a little touchup color first on the area with my trusty airbrush. If you aren't experienced with paint and correction though, best to leave to the experts.
 
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dbk

The Favor Factory™
Staff member
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Jul 30, 2005
15,187
Metro Detroit
Ouch. I don't have any expert advice to give you but that sucks. My detailer looked at it and said it was at least possible that it could just be re-cleared. Good luck.
 

FENZO

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 7, 2008
1,518
Lafayette, CO
I wonder if a clear film would hide the blemish.
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
no he's thru the clear and into the metallic. there is no way clear or a film would hide it. it has to be spray/repaired in that area and then re-cleared.
 

2112

Blue/white 06'
Mark II Lifetime
If there is a silver lining. If you do have to re-apply color, with the white stripe and door cut lines, you may be able to limit your paint area to just that small roof area and stay off the door and pillars.

Good luck.
 

NorthwoodGT

GT Owner
Jun 12, 2009
1,215
Michigan
If there is a silver lining. If you do have to re-apply color, with the white stripe and door cut lines, you may be able to limit your paint area to just that small roof area and stay off the door and pillars.

Good luck.

+1
 

paul b

GT Owner
Nov 2, 2006
810
you may get away with just clearing the one panel , no color coat.
 

DakotaGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 9, 2012
1,694
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
As I have already mentioned, it would be easy to tell. Simply wet the surface with some water and see if the area still stands out or not. If he has burned into the color enough that it marred the metal flake, then some new color will have to be sprayed first. Be sure to check it in good lighting, though.
 

pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
I wet the surface with water under good light and I couldn't see the blemish. But without the water the base coat (color or pigment) was a little bit darker than the surrounding paint. I took the car to my painter today and this is what I did: I normally use a 6" orbital. I just bought a 3" orbital for smaller sections. The smaller the disc (3" vs 6") the less surface area it covers. I was moving my 3" across the panel as fast as my 6" which is too slow. The clear is still on the car intact. It turns out the clear coat will absorb more heat than the base coat. So I heated up the base coat with the clear still intact. I really didn't burn through the paint. A pro would say I burned (or heated) up the paint, causing the paint to get darker by staying in one place too long. As the clear coat is still intact water disguised the burn. But hitting it just with clear coat won't work. He pointed out and I can see that I did not burn though the clear. My painter said that if I just hit it with clear it will make the burned base coat more pronounced. He said that because the panel is well demarcated he can base coat, clear coat and blend half way down the door side of the white stripe. A $400 lesson learned. Moral to the story: you have to move 3" orbitals faster across any given surface than 6". Why didn't I know that? Dumb.
 
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DakotaGT

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 9, 2012
1,694
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Uh... didn't you say that you had some blue paint on your pad? You might look at getting a second opinion. If you had blue paint on your pad, you've burned through your clearcoat all right, my friend…
 

FENZO

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 7, 2008
1,518
Lafayette, CO
Dumb? No. Props for getting out there and doing it yourself.
 

pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
Uh... didn't you say that you had some blue paint on your pad? You might look at getting a second opinion. If you had blue paint on your pad, you've burned through your clearcoat all right, my friend…

Your right. Will get a second opinion.
 

pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
Also if you are using a 3 inch orbital (vs 6 ") you can make slower passes and/or slow the speed.
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
Pauls,

If you can fix this for $400 you got off light. I've spent $400 on a detail. I wouldn't feel bad about this. If you are going to use the car, work on the car, and enjoy the car it's going to get banged up every once in a while. A year and a half ago 6 of us shipped our GT's to Europe knowing full well they would all be damaged in some way during shipping and the drive. They all were. To quote DBK, "Just a cost of doing business". Stone chips, broken windshields, minor dings, and whatever. Fix 'em and drive. It's all good bro.

Chip
 

jaxgt

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jul 12, 2006
2,794
If it is only a $400 mistake, consider yourself lucky.
My usually clumsy self makes mistakes on cars that have made $400 seem like a cappuccino.
Annoying, but as Chip said, fixable
 

pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
Pauls,

If you can fix this for $400 you got off light. I've spent $400 on a detail. I wouldn't feel bad about this. If you are going to use the car, work on the car, and enjoy the car it's going to get banged up every once in a while. A year and a half ago 6 of us shipped our GT's to Europe knowing full well they would all be damaged in some way during shipping and the drive. They all were. To quote DBK, "Just a cost of doing business". Stone chips, broken windshields, minor dings, and whatever. Fix 'em and drive. It's all good bro.

Chip
Thanks Chip, I did " scuff through " this one ok.
Paul
 

pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
If it is only a $400 mistake, consider yourself lucky.
My usually clumsy self makes mistakes on cars that have made $400 seem like a cappuccino.
Annoying, but as Chip said, fixable
Jaxgt, Having licked my wounds it's not that big a deal. I've been detailing for a long time and know about burning through the paint. Always thought I was too good at it to have it happen to me. Point is when working on cars sh%#*t happens.
 

pauls

GT Owner
Jan 7, 2015
109
San Francisco Bay Area
Not to drag this though the mud but what I also learned is that with a smaller disc it doesn't take long for a small pad to become encapsulated in paint residue and abrasive. Once it locks into place there is little to no shifting or rolling of hard particles. So if the speed is relatively high you've essentially got yourself a fine-grade sanding disc!