I got my car back from the Ford body shop last night and noticed what looked like orange peel all over the entire car when I stopped to fill up at a gas station. It looks like a bad wax/buff job but there's no wax texture to the car. I had the car in the shop for damage done to the rear quarter panel. I took the car to a touch-less car wash after I noticed the swirls but no luck. I didn't have a good cloth to try and buff it a bit on my own. I'm taking the car back tonight. Does anyone know what this could be? I'm really worried about the worst case scenario...permanent damage.

 

What all did FORD paint on the car? The entire thing or just certain panels? I'd be guessing that they didn't wetsand it enough but if they only painted certain panels maybe they got overspray on the car

I'd definately take it back to them and point it out.

 

...or it could be the opposite. I've seen shops wetsand the panel they repaired, but then it's nearly perfect and doesn't match the rest of the factory paint which does have orange peel.
Agreed, take it back to the shop.

 

Good point. I never thought about that one.

 

The rear quarter panel and rear bumber panel are the only new and painted parts. The swirl marks are consistant on the entire car... even the parts that weren't worked on.

Finally got in touch with the body shop manager. He told me they used some sort of compound on the car to clean it. He said to let it dry for a day or two and if anything is left they'll take care of it.

I got to go back there to have the gas tank looked at since the fuel gage seems to be acting up. I think everything will be ok by the tone of the manager. Just a freaky thing to see on your car though.

 

Get the guy's name and his bosses name and hold them to it. I can't imagine anything worse then going back to get them to fix the problem and having them tell you, "Sorry, Charlie no longer works here - you are SOL."

 

I hear what your saying but they've been really good as far as customer service goes and they did a near perfect job on the body work. I think things will work out fine.

 

Unless you are a family member you should cover yourself. Maybe its because I've been burned in the past in similar situations.

 

I work in the body shop business, and what you have is a bad case of swirl marks because the shop attempted to wetsand/buff a few pieces of trash or extensive texture(orange peel) out of the paint and didn't know what they were doing. Black is probably the hardest color to buff due to the fact that it show swirl marks more than any other color. I would take it back and let them re-clear the entire side of the vehicle. They only reason I can think that they would have buffed on undamaged panels is because they were trying to match the swirl marks across the car. When you take it back to them, they are more than likely going to try to hand-glaze the entire side. This is only a temporary fix, and after a few washes...right back to the swirl marks you see. If they couldn't get them out the first time, they aren't going to be able to do it at that shop. I'm not saying it is impossible to be taken care of w/out re-clearing the car, but it doesn't sound like that shop has aa man w/ the capability to do that.
Good luck,
Bucky

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeOxbig @ February 1, 2006, 7:31 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I work in the body shop business, and what you have is a bad case of swirl marks because the shop attempted to wetsand/buff a few pieces of trash or extensive texture(orange peel) out of the paint and didn't know what they were doing. Black is probably the hardest color to buff due to the fact that it show swirl marks more than any other color. I would take it back and let them re-clear the entire side of the vehicle. They only reason I can think that they would have buffed on undamaged panels is because they were trying to match the swirl marks across the car. When you take it back to them, they are more than likely going to try to hand-glaze the entire side. This is only a temporary fix, and after a few washes...right back to the swirl marks you see. If they couldn't get them out the first time, they aren't going to be able to do it at that shop. I'm not saying it is impossible to be taken care of w/out re-clearing the car, but it doesn't sound like that shop has aa man w/ the capability to do that.
Good luck,
Bucky
[/b][/quote]

Bucky thanks for the insight. I haven't taken the car back to the shop yet. I'm just wondering how difficult it will be to convince the body shop to re-clear the entire car (swirls are on the entire car) if what you said is true. Also, do you think anything else may have caused the swirls? I don't want to go in their with guns blazing unless I got all the facts straight. Thanks again.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TheWrench @ February 2, 2006, 11:45 AM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Bucky thanks for the insight. I haven't taken the car back to the shop yet. I'm just wondering how difficult it will be to convince the body shop to re-clear the entire car (swirls are on the entire car) if what you said is true. Also, do you think anything else may have caused the swirls? I don't want to go in their with guns blazing unless I got all the facts straight. Thanks again.
[/b][/quote]
Here's an article on wet sanding and a view of freshly painted orange peel.
http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/howto/50899/

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TacoBill @ February 2, 2006, 12:04 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
Here's an article on wet sanding and a view of freshly painted orange peel.
http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/howto/50899/
[/b][/quote]


Thanks Bill. I saw the picture of the orange peel and that's not what I have...just swirls. Here's a picture I found in another forum of what my swirls look like.


[attachmentid=44339]

 

My guess it the body shop got overspray on other body panels and used a buffer to remove it if the swirls are over the entire car. As long as the orange peel in the repainted areas is consistent with the rest of the paint job, you should be in good shape.

The body shop can remove the swirls without repainting. They just need to spend some more time rebuffing, using foam pads and the correct swirl remover product. Black paint compounds the problem, but they should be albe to make it right. Florescent lights only magnify any paint issues especially, if you filled your car up at night.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeOxbig @ February 1, 2006, 7:31 PM) Quoted post</div><div class='quotemain'>
I work in the body shop business, and what you have is a bad case of swirl marks because the shop attempted to wetsand/buff a few pieces of trash or extensive texture(orange peel) out of the paint and didn't know what they were doing. Black is probably the hardest color to buff due to the fact that it show swirl marks more than any other color. I would take it back and let them re-clear the entire side of the vehicle. They only reason I can think that they would have buffed on undamaged panels is because they were trying to match the swirl marks across the car. When you take it back to them, they are more than likely going to try to hand-glaze the entire side. This is only a temporary fix, and after a few washes...right back to the swirl marks you see. If they couldn't get them out the first time, they aren't going to be able to do it at that shop. I'm not saying it is impossible to be taken care of w/out re-clearing the car, but it doesn't sound like that shop has aa man w/ the capability to do that.
Good luck,
Bucky
[/b][/quote]


I also work i nthe autobody business, and i am a professional certified painter, and what they did was buff the car, why they didthe whole thing? noone knows....they may have gotten somethign on it, but what they did was buffi t at a higher speed, which leaves swirl marks, and then didnt go over it with swirl free polish/swirl remover. The polish does just that, removes the swirl marks gently, then what they should do its hand wax it, and it'll look good. And ifthe color is black, the paint code is a standard AU code, which is just black, thats all it is, no toners, no nothing, straight black. so color match wouldnt be an issue. Ad as far as orange peel, ford does a really bad job of painting these cars as it is, my 03 mach1 had massive orange peel ,and i made the dealer wetsand the entire car before i took delivery.