Big Paint Problem, Wrong Hardener With Clear...

[RB'sClassicAutoResto]

I painted a truck with finish 1 740 clear and used hardener for 720, Paint rep said it will never dry fully. As of now 1 month later you can still stick your nail into it and it will heal in about 20 min. So long story short I did not read the label on the clear and just went with what the guy behind the counter said/gave me. They know they messed up ( as did I by not reading every thing before hand, lesson learned) and are giving me all the supplies to fix the problem. The question I have is, How do I get the old stuff off? Half the truck is fiberglass.
So far I have used:
80grit- gums up
36grit - gums up but works faster, stripped door in half an hour this stuff if tough
Stripper - 1 GALLON on hood still has paint on it....
Not sure what to do on fiberglass and plastic trim

Any Ideas welcome

 

[TAZ]

Man, what a mess...sorry to hear. That's ashame that the paint guy gave you the wrong hardener.
Yea, it does sound like you may have to strip, but you probably could have gotten by with just lightly sanding, and putting more clear on, BUT on your first coat, just put it on as a tack coat, then progressively get heavier.
Possibly try this on a smaller part to see if it works?
It's not the right way, but it would be fine, you would just have some softer clear sandwiched between the base and the top clear.

Anyway, it sounds like you are past this point on most of the truck, So, you may want to carefully see if you can razor blade the paint of. Sometimes if it's not too cold and you have it out in the sun, it will come off fairly easy.

I just did a Honda that Maaco did the rear door and it was real soft and wrinkled on the customer, so we ended up stripping. The paint was too gummy to strip off with 40, so we ended up razor blading.

Good luck to you.

 

[Wydir]

Ya I to was going to mention the Razor blade thing but I couldn't imagine doing a full truck, So I kept my mouth shut but since Taz said it I don't feel as bad Agreeing with him, My second thought was just sticking with the 36grit and burning it off, In all rights they should pay to have it stripped.

 

[TAZ]

Good idea to bring up the 36 grit again. You may be able to use this, but you'll need to keep the speed down on the big wheel. Otherwise, you'll just be melting the paint.

 

[RB'sClassicAutoResto]

Well the cab was striped with 36 to metal and that's primed up and ready now on to the fiberglass. Sanded the trim with 36 then 80 and applied epoxy primer. Looked great until it got 67 out side and it pealed off with my finger nail. I ended up using a heat gun and a putty knife on the other unpainted parts *sigh* Works okay but does take a while. Anyway I will get some pictures up here soon so we can all look at it and laugh a little. Thanks for the replies

 

[TAZ]

Glad to hear you are getting back on track!

 

[RB'sClassicAutoResto]

As I said before Pictures!! from base to clear that waited about 6 mins to run to stripping back to prime. Look at how much paint was on this one door...

 

[TAZ]

Wow, that is quite a bit of paint, but I've seen thicker than that. Looks like you are getting there though!
You really should pull those door handles.

Is that a 'fade' on there. Possibly a Southern Comfort or Regency Silverado?

You had '6 mins', but I think you meant 6 months?

I have a Southern Comfort Avalanche that came with a fade (and the 22's)
I just repainted it about a month ago since it had some key scratches and chips. I bought it like from from an Atlanta dealer)

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[RB'sClassicAutoResto]

Ah I typed to fast, the clear waited about 6 mins to start to run. The door handles are off now and its got the 1st of a few coats of 2k. I'm not sure what company it came from after it went to chevy but the truck has a dash plate, bucket seats and wood inside trim.

 

[TAZ]

Looks like it'll be nice once you get it done.
Keep us posted