Had the front bumper painted on my 1980 while attached to the car.
The prep & paint were done outside with no wind. In spite of many precautions taken to keep over spray off the body, nearly the entire front of the car feels like sandpaper today. Tried to remove it several times with Clay & Lubricant, then Polishing compound, then Rubbing Compound, then with a Cleaner Wax, then unfortunately with Lacquer Thinner. As the car was assembled in St. Louis, and not Bowling Green, it was painted with lacquer instead of urethane. I've got a real mess on my hands. Short of repainting the entire car - would need to win the lottery to do this - any thoughts on over spray removal?

Thanks,
Chainsaw

 

I have always had good luck with a clay bar but I see you tried that and everything else I would have. Wet sanding with a very fine grit sandpaper is the only step left. If you aren't comfortable in your skills with this you should hire a WELL RECOMMENDED pro. You can damage the paint if you don't know what you are doing. After sanding it will have to be machine polished to bring the shine back. Good luck

Note: If you haven't machine polished it that should be done first. Use something like Menzerma SIP with an orange pad.

 

If you had it done at a shop I would expect them to take care of the problem. Any photos?

 

Did the thinner cloud the car's finish, or worse yet smear the original paint? If smeared, you're probably looking at a refinish as the only resort. If it's only slightly damaged I would indeed take it to a pro shop before anything else bad happens to it. A pro "cut and buff" costs a whole lot less than a respray.

 

Dumb question and after the fact, but did anyone think to tape off the rest of the car ????? I must be missin somthin here !

 

If the over spray is fairly new ( within a few days) use rubbing compound with a buffer. I have always been able to buff off over spray but if that doesn't work try 1500 to 2000 wet dry sand paper. Even if you clouded the finish with lacquer thinner you should be able to use rubbing compound to fix that too. Of course all depending on how thick your finish is but as long as you have 10 to 7 mils you should be good. At this point you really don't have anything to lose but yes why didn't you cover the rest of the car? Or if it was covered it should have been taped better but of coarse you know that now.

 

The very best product to use for over spray is CLAY MAGIC. Available at Auto Zone. It's the original clay bar patented by a Japanese company and sold under license by the CLAY MAGIC folks. All the high class wax companies sell their own clay bars but none and mean none of them perform like Clay Magic. I've used Clay Magic to remove over spray from Plexiglas aircraft windshields, chrome and painted parts. Years ago I did a little painting in my garage and failed to cover my Harley completely. I got Dupont Chroma Clear over spray on the tank and exhaust. I tried every solvent in my arsenal, including MEK on the chrome and nothing would remove it. Someone at work said something about a clay bar would remove it. Kinda sounded like snake oil to me but I figured spending 15 bucks on a kit sure beat 400 for a new exhaust and new paint on the tank. As they say the rest is history. All the over spray was removed. I have tried other brands but most are more like..well a block of clay. Clay Magic is more like a slab of Silly Putty. It doesn't crumble when it gets wet like some of the others on the market. I have a lump of Clay Magic in a zip lock sandwich bag in the garage that I bought 5 years ago and it still works. I know it seems like I'm a Clay Magic nut but the stuff has saved me probably $2,000 in parts and paint on just my Harley. Give the stuff a try you won't be disappointed.

 

Short of painting; a wetsand and compound buffing is the last resort.

 

Many thanks to those who showed an interest in my over spray removal problem.

A special thanks to "brvette," who recommened the "Clay Magic" bar. I tried McGuires, Mothers, and gave up. But having read his endorsement for Clay Magic, and having some on my shelf - gave it a try - it worked! It took several applications, but that's fine.

This was not a "shop job" - hence no recourse - but done by a fellow who has done detail to hundreds of Corvettes over the last 3 years - small areas - probably nothing as large as an entire bumper. In all fairness, although he did what looked to be a proper masking job - it wasn't. He should have know better. As Dad used to say - "You get what you pay for!"

I put my glasses on - wear them on a "tether" - and the lenses were opaque - and felt much like 120 grit furniture-refininshing sandpaper.

I've re-learned a lesson - when you spray - it goes everywhere.

Thanks again on the "Clay Magic" recommendation.

"Chainsaw"