My body and paint guy is taking forever with my car. He has now sprayed it twice and he says that it keeps coming out dull and I believe one time he said runny or that the paint shrunk a lot. He claims that he has sanded, primered, and painted it with base and clear coat and its happened each time. He is painting it in a booth too. He gave me the ol' "in 20 years this has never happened to me" speech. Any ideas on what is going on here? Should I be weary of anything when I finally see the car? Thanks

 

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong but when paint shrinks its because he is painting the second coat too soon after the first coat and not letting the first coat dry enough. The paint being "Runny" means he is spraying it on too thick or its thinned out too much. Next time ask him to take pics of his progress so you know he has done everything he is saying he is doing. Better yet stop by the shop and check on his work. Its your money and if he will deny you access to the work he has done then I would suspect some shady stuff going on and I wouldn't do business with him anymore

 

That doesnt sound good esp. if the guy has over 20 years experience. My friend does work on the side and has 2-3 years of part time experience and never has any problems like that and he paints in a dirty garage.

 

I've been painting for 11 years now and here are some options of what is going on. This is just my opinion.

Dull clearcoat= possible "dry spraying" or not laying it on wet enough. The other option is the booth isn't clearing out fast enough and the clear is drying as fumes are landing on the finish. Another option is "Die back". Often cheaper clearcoat brands will die back and it appears slightly dull. Wet sanding and buffing the finish can fix all of the above.

Drips or runs are exactly as stated before, too much material sprayed on and gravity wins. A guy with 20 years of spraying SHOULD not have this issue or any of the issues.

Paint shrinking is common with Urethane basecoat clearcoats and primers. It happens and again can usually be fixed with a good wet sanding and buffing.

Painting can be a tricky process, but if this guy has been around the block he should know what he is doing. good luck to you.

 

as far as the base goes, it could be a reaction to wats underneath maybe? tell him to seal the car then spray base n clear.. and as far as runs and dry/dull clears, thats usually technique or poor quality products. etc as mentioned

 

id just tell the guy to give you the car back and you take it some place else.
ive been doing this stuff for 12+ years and never had that problem. it sounds like to me hes not letting the base coat flash (dry ) enough between coats. and along with the dull finish id say hes getting dry spray. thats means hes not putting enough on.