Overspray management
 

Well, my wagon was being worked on by my son who is a high school senior. He had auto bodyshop class in the mornings (just graduated!), and was fixing dents on both wheel wells on drivers side. I had also replaced the drivers door with one that had several coats of old cracked paint, so basically the whole left side was repainted and clear coated.
Well, this was his first and only paint and repair job, and I didn't have real high expectations. Well, it is basically a disaster!:( :(
There are clear coat runs everywhere, the white paint (real MB paint) isn't even close to the right color. Well, that's all great. Just great...:( But to complicate matters, there is overspray on front bumper, grill, hood, windshield, top, rear glass, A-pillar black portion near fender for 3", etc.....
So, I'm stuck with the paint difference until some year in the future when I can pay to have the damage reversed plus a whole car repaint (will be cheap)
What can I do for all the overspray on:
Chrome
paint
windows
rubber

Car was dirty and dusty at time of paint, so it apprears that stuff is sealed in there also.
any ideas?????

:( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Get some 000 steel wool for the chrome and glass. How thick are we talking about on the paint? If just overspray, clay bar or rubbing compound will get that off with some elbow grease. Mineral spirits for the rubber.

I feel for you:(

Will whatever takes off the overspray also take off the clearcoat? First thing the auto bodyshop teacher had him do was take scotchbrite and remove all clearcoat from drivers side. Will this process to remove overspray also remove clearcoat like the scotchbrite did?

I haven't said anything negative to my son, cause he worked very hard on this. It was his 350lb teacher that I'd like to have a philosophical discussion with....:mad: :mad:

Try some solvent, a clay bar of sorts is good at removing trash from the paint as well.

You can colour sand the clear coat runs and make them perfectly flat again with 2000 grit wet and dry sandpaper then buff with a wool pad and cut pollish.
over spray on glass or chrome can be easily removed with 000 steel wool.
As for the overspray on the paint I would wipe down with laquer thinner on the over spray only and buf out with cut pollish.
You have some work ahead of you

Just curious - did the shop teacher offer and comments on WTF happened?

I haven't spoken with him, as I'm not really letting my son know what an abortion I think it turned out to be.
He worked hard, just lacked hands-on direction. The teacher is a very large human who just slides around in an office chair most of the time, when he actually leaves his computer...:rolleyes:

I highly suggest taking the car to the football field on a rainy day, letting your anger out on the gas pedal and leaving the car with the "I have been everywhere" mud look. :)

My apporach is to focus on what to do right next time.
And to give this advice to the ones that mean the most to me, my sons.

I can't fix the schools or the teachers, but I am my childrens first and most important teacher.

My first attempts at body work came out just like you described. It takes probably more time and equipment and skill to get factory results than any high school can provide.

Fix what's wrong, your son will see the results and get the message.

Rhodes is right. I am just appalled the teach didn't follow up with a phone call to you "Hey we really messed this up", or at least tried some in class remedy/learning tool.

Laquer thinner.
 

Judiciously applied, some thinner ought to make short work of the overspray. You'll want to be careful on ANY painted surfaces, but chrome is not going to be damaged. Make absolutely sure the thinner doesn't come into contact with the fresh paint, though, because it still hasn't cured.

If you're going to try to fix the sags (runs), wait a while before doing anything. The paint may not be dry yet, and if you try to scrape (a razor blade is the tool for the job) or sand the run, the paint will tear.

Best of luck!!

Jay.

just out of curiosity, what does the teacher's car look like?

Congratulations on not giving your son a hard time. But is really good to let him think he did a good job when he really didn't?

Maybe you 2 can do it together and do it right.

Danny

And let me tell you as a man who doesnt know his father, that car will be worth more than its weight in gold.

Amen!

No doubt your son tried to the best of his present ability. So in my opinion you have done the right thing. If you say anything negative it will impact his self esteem in my opinion or worst. I know it's hard or at least I find it hard sometimes when things do not go as expected. I just think one gentleman had an excellent ideal. You and your son could prep the car for overall paint with a little guidance if required. Or some other project if that one is not practical together. Speaking for myself I did not get to spend the amount of time with my children that I should have. Unfortunatley you cannot go back. If I was to do it again I would willingly swap assets for having spent more time with the kids. You appear to be in a good position now to do more than I did. In the final anyalis it is one thing about my life I should have done differently. Someday you might need him as much as he needs you now. If something good was to result between the two of you over a paint problem it would be great and may not have occured if the paint had not got messed up. Once in a blue moon things are changed by adverse situations and turn out better. I am one of those guys that never got to really know his father well enough. He was always too busy. Omegaman is right you can probably get a massive improvement with a buffer after dealing with the runs etc first. They even sell a little special tool to shave off runs. A lot of great paint jobs have to be cut and buffed to become what they are. Remember a lot of clearcoat is sanded and then buffed to get rid of the orange peel alone plus it helps with the dust problem to some extent. Just get a book on technique at the library or talk to a proffesional. Your son may even help you to sand and buff it out. There is that old expression that it usually can always be worse than it is. I have to kind of believe that myself.