Removing white paint from black car

[dino1now]

Hi all,

My black Mazda RX8 has been damaged with hundreds of specks of white paint blown onto it from some painters working nearby on a flag pole. The paint on an RX8 is very thin and the garage says they can polish the specks out, but I'm worried they will take too much of the original paint off in the process.

What depth of paint is the minimum I should be left with or should I insist on a respray?

Thanks in advance for your advice

[Bjkearns]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

I would locate the best detailer in your area and have them take a look at the car
they have got a trained eye,knowledge,experience and hopefully a paint thickness gauge

Dont just let some person with a buffer ever just take off after your paint...

[dino1now]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

Thanks for that, I have been to a detailer a few months back to have some swirl marks removed and he used a depth guage. The guage read on average 80 and he said the paint was very thin and he would not be able to fully correct the paint as he did not want to risk flatting the car first. My problem is that the insurance company want to get the garage to polish the paint off and I'm worried that if he manages to remove the white paint, the black will be so thin that I will not be able to have any future correction done.

[rapport25]

80 microns is super thin. I would not entertain cutting paint less than 100 microns.

I would suggest getting your detailer to look at it. May be a clay bar and mild cleaner will improve it slightly. Paint that thin is a big gamble.

[dino1now]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

Thank you for that, I have tried a clay bar and it did not shift the white paint as it was gloss outdoor paint that hit the car wet. I've also tried white spirit to try and soften it without sucess. I am trying to persuade the insurance company to opt for a respray instead, but they want to try polishing it first. I will need to get the paint depth re-measured after the polishing to see how much they removed.As the paint is a basecoat and clear coat and the toatal thickness is 80 microns. How thick do you think the clearcoat layer is and how much would normally be removed by cutting.

[rapport25]

At 80 microns I would not be cutting. Your clear coat will be barely there.

Re spray is your only option. Factory paint thickness is normally 100-180 microns. And as yours falls below you would not want to cut paint that thin.

[rapport25]

With a paint depth gauge you are measuring base/colour/ clear coat. The way normally to work out would be to take a reading inside the door. And compare to the outside. That would give you an idea.

By the sounds of it. Yours has seen a polisher before. People think I'm crazy. When buying a car I always check paint thickness prior to buying. As I like my paint to look flawless.

Hope that helps.

[Murr1525]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

There should really be no need for 'cutting', or whatever you want to call the step. The fact they want to jump right to strong buffing should be the first warning sign.

A clay bar should be the first option for some paint overspray. The strong clay may be needed but would only require a mild polishing to remove any haze.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

A consumer grade clay bar can often be challenged by heavy overspray. We highly recommend trying a more aggressive clay, such as our C2100 Professional Mild blue clay before stepping into a rotary cutting process to remove this overspray from what sounds like very thin paint. That will, by far, be the least invasive approach to correcting this issue.

[dino1now]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

Thanks for all your advice guys, you've confirmed what I've been thinking. What a great forum this is, very friendly and very professional. I am hoping the garage do mess up the polishing and go through the clearcoat as it seems my paint is so thin, a respray would be a good thing. I will advise the insurance company of all the potential issues in writing so I have a "Told you so" ready when they mess up. Thanks again.

[Detailing by M]

Clay, clay,clay
You need a more agresive ckay
You trying to remove something on the surface and not something in the paint correct?

[dino1now]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

Correct, Gloss white paint spattered over the car. It must have been wet when it hit the car and has bonded to the original finish. I will try some more aggressive clay, but the white paint was from a metal flagpole so must have been a solvent based outdoor hard wearing paint like Hammerite. I don't know if that would have eaten into the original paint.

[tcy006]

Re: Removing white paint from black car

I had paint overspray from a water tower on my black Mustang. Megs Aggressive (pink) clay with Final Inspection for lube took it off easily with no harm done.