Couple of paint questions.

[whytry]

The guy who painted my car gave me the final bill for his labor and I got the car back at the house, but when I saw the bill I have some issues... I am not a painter so I have no idea how long (hours) this should take, so here goes.

To paint the car he said he has 19 hours into it. plus 10 hours for wet sanding, and then an additional 22 hours of polishing. Does that sound right? The car was painted when it was colder, in late October, and I saw a couple of sags in it as well that we have been able to take care them through the wet sanding. But if those hours do not sound correct could we have had so much time wet sanding and polishing because the weather when he painted it?

Also how much clear should have been used? From the gallon container I bought I still have over 2/3 left.....

Lastly it looks like I have some orange peel under the clear as well, I can notice it close up, and under the flouresent lights in the garage, is this nit picking?

[BlackGMC]

22 hours of polishing sounds a little excessive.....

[Oldsmobird]

Some people buff faster than others. If he used a coarser grit of paper in sanding, he will have more time in the final buff, trying to get the scratches out.

What clear did he use? Some clears mix differently (3-1-1, 2-1. etc) and usage will differ. Example, PPG Global 893 mixes 3-1-1. A half gallon goes a long way. Omni 270 clear mixes 4-1 and I used a whole gallon on a 69 cutlass with 3 coats. Also depends how many coats were applied.

Just curious, how much did you pay? It's cool if you would rather not say, just trying to get some ideas. Greg

[whytry]

The clear was DuPont Chroma-Clear 7900S. He told me what to get so I went to get it, he said its a great clear. But like I said I don't know a lot about the painting aspects.

I know I got a screaming deal if you ask me, $40/hr, on the side. Took longer than should have but I kinda knew that coming into it because his boss said he can work on it after hours and weekends only....> Total was about 100 hrs. $4k drive it to him, he did the rest drive it home red.... Plus he is doing some touchups for me for free where I made some small assembly errors on the window moldings, oops!!! You live up near me? I know he has a 62 Caddy he is getting ready to do next but after that....... Just wondering I can get his name to you.....

[customcarpainter]

In my opinion,you probably got what you paid for.22 hours to sand and buff a whole car is not near enough time to get a glass flat and slick sand and buff.Dupont clear is probably some of the hardest clear on the market to sand and buff.I'd guess he gave you a break on the time involved.Two sides to every story,and I'm not trying to stir the pot.

[ProdigyCustoms]

32 hours (same as your 10 wet sanding and 22 buffing, but we break it up a bit different) for wet sanding and buffing is what we charge. And at 32 hours, it is not enough for a glamour finish as our friend Custom Painter alluded to. The sags probably only cost him 5% additional time. 19 hours to paint is a bit excessive for a one cloer and strip job. Although i do have a 5 color job in the booth as we speak that is at least that many hours including tape and prep.

As for a 1/3 gallon of clear, for the entire car? no way. More like 1 1/3 gallon maybe. Sure you did not buy 2 gallons?

[jasonsnova]

tough to say...could be yes could be no on getting hosed ...probally no, honestly what is he calling wet sanding?? wet sanding/blocking for final paint and then wet sanding again for buffing???? or just wet sanding for buffing, it usually takes me 12-14 hrs to completely wet sand and buff for a show quality finish(average more on bigger cars or if their was paint issues) if you were just looking for a oem type finish 1/2 to 1/3 or that time, with real clean booth conditions=no buffing. the "orange" peel under the clear you are seeing is how he applied the base coat, all metalic/pearls will have some texture to it, its just a matter of is it too much, tough call with out looking at it.
as for how much clear was used, 7900 is a 2 coat clear so depending on how much of the car was painted i guess what you have is possible. best thing to do is ask another experianced painter in your area to take a look at it. but 4k isnt outragous

[Posi12Bolt]

but 4k isnt outragous

very very true... sad but true

[yodas little brother]

32 hours to wet sand and buff.is somebody crazy.

[go-fish]

I was taking to a friend yesterday, the very guy that laid the best paint I've yet to see sprayed (hopefully I have enough cheese to get him to do the 'cuda), He was telling me about guys that come in that spend $10,000 on the engine and they want a $2,000 paint job.
I think you got a deal. For 4G's I would expect nothing more than a 15 footer. I am preparing myself to be paying more like $8,000 for a great, near perfect job.

[gtome]

I just spent over a week to wet sand and one rough cut. I didnt paint it and it was the worst clear job I have ever seen. Bet there isnt 1/2 coat of clear left on it!

[MonzaRacer]

hey Fran kfigure it this way the guy probably(since working in a shop) gets the same product nad had extra around but keeps a little extra around to d o"extra curicular work.
Kind of like shops charging a whole tube of silicone out for valve cover reseal. Of a full can of brake fluid to top off.
Most book keeping systems are set up to only do full containers so if he had a couple of 1/2 gallons laying around,,,,.
and you gotta figure if the shop isnt super buusy the guy probably pays his boss a feww hundred on the side no tax to let him do it! If you get a guy doing a few thou a week on the side and you make $200 to $400 off the books and he doesnt have to be paid top pay cause he has access to the shop,,,,,,,,,,,.
See what i mean?
If the guy makes an extra $20k a year on the side no tax he still has day jjob to fool the IRS and keeps the bills paid on a $25k a year base pay.
I know of one local shop here they are more into fixing carsthan restoring or complete repaints but the owners sone makes good money doing that work after hours cause the regular insurance work just didnt cut the check he wanted.