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a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

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  • a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

    Black pickup truck showed up with a bit of overspray.

    Actually the driver saw a can in the road and hit it. Turns out it was a paint can used by underground utility locators to mark the various underground utilities. The driver clipped the can just enough to open up a seam on the can. Driver looked in his sideview mirror and saw the can spinning around while spraying orange paint over the driver's side of the truck.

    I tried using a claybar, but that had no effect. I had encountered traffic marking paint in the wheel wells of vehicles before and had visited with the local City Street Department to see what they used when citizens came in to their offices to complain. They recommended an overspray remover.

    So working in a small 1 foot by 1 foot test area I was able to remove the paint spatter using a cotton cloth rag to rub out the spots. Disliking working by hand, I grab a Porter-Cable, a NanoSkin "claybar" pad and a small backing plate. The overspray remover was able to remove the paint, mar the clear coat and throw the overspray remover everywhere.

    Concerned about damaging the clear coat, I ran over to a nearby Sherwin-Williams paint store and picked up some adhesive plastic used to stick to floors while walls are painted. I would work a section and use the plastic to cover the completed section to my right and the unstarted section to my left. I didn't want the overspray product from desolving clear coat on a completed area. So I kept leapfrogging the plastic down the side of the truck hand rinsing each section with clear, clean water as a section was completed.

    After the spattered side of the truck was completed, the entire truck was high pressure rinsed, hand washed with soap and high pressure rinsed again. I hand and air dried the truck. My using a buffer to remove the paint had physically damaged the clear coat and chemically dulled the clear coat. I used M105 and then M205 to remove most of the damage that existed on the truck before I begin and all the new damage I had created.

    After completing the polishing, I grabbed some DA Finishing Wax and did another polish at one speed and then ran the buffer again at a slow speed and left the finishing wax on the truck for about an hour while I cleaned the chromed plastic rim covers. I dampened a rag, rub off the paint spatters and then spritzed the rims with clear, clean water and wiped them dry.

    About 9 hours over two days to remove the paint spatters from the truck's clear coat. I did not work on trim, moulding, bed liner edge or the bed cover. So those areas are still orange speckled.

    This method is not recommended as I don't know the long term detriment to the clear coat. It's important to wear a dust mask over mouth and nose to prevent inhalation of the airborne particles of overspray remover and also wear eye protection. The photo of the NanoSkin and the backing plate show the backing plate being desolved by the solvent. Indicative of the possible (probable) damage to the clear coat.

    Truck as it arrived at the shop.


    These tie downs provide a little bit of a problem. I didn't get them rinsed out as completely as they
    should have been. I left the truck at the end of a day and showed up the next morning and there was
    a drip trail below the tie downs mildly etched into the paint. I was able to buff it out. This shows the
    dangerous strength of the overspray remover.



    Working a section at a time, it was important to cover a completed section and the untreated section
    while working on a section. The buffer would spray overspray remover all over and it is important to
    prevent the remover from removing clear coat.


    The combination of the NanoSkin pad, particles of resolving paint. plus original swirls made the clear
    coat a swirled up, dull mess.


    Polishing was a multi-step process involving M105, M205 and DA Finishing Wax. This is after a round
    of M105.



    A little better, but still not there. Sorry no pictures of final product as I was running late of the time
    I promised the truck.


    Like this backing plate, clear coat was damaged in the cleaning process and damage may show up a
    year or more from now. The owner and I discussed that and he felt repaint today or in the future, a repaint
    is a repaint.


    Again this is not a recommended technique.

    "fishing for swirls in a sea of black"
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    David

  • #2
    Re: a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

    What exactly was the 'overspray remover' they recommended/used?

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

      Just a comment on the tenacity of 'marking paint'...

      In '83 when our house was being constructed, there was a yellow patch of paint on the sidewalk in front. After years of power washing, folks walking, bicycles, et al...as 2013 that area still glows like a sore thumb!

      As of 2014...it's gone. The city had to replace that section for what ever reason (could see it on Google Earth).

      Bill

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

        PPG DuraPrep Prep 400 Overspray Remover

        The orange paint was probably normal spray paint. Traffic marking paint is often sprinkled with glass beads for reflectivity. This method of paint removal would not work with beads imbedded in the paint. Using a buffer would scour off the clear coat and or base coat, as if this wasn't bad enough.

        Bill, agree, painting concrete saves time and provides positive feedback to locators that they maybe right, since the previous locator found the utility in the same place.

        "fishing for swirls in a sea of black"
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        David

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

          Gutsy move, David, but it's doubtful that you'll see any negative effects down the road from this product. If it was going to do any permanent damage, it would have done it while using the product. The trickle of product from the tie down that did some light etching should be a strong indicator of that - it actually self dried on the paint by doing that, and that is probably the single worst thing that could have been done with that product. Allowing chemicals to self dry on painted surfaces is an incredibly harsh test, and if all it did was a bit of light etching that you corrected with little effort, I'd say no harm done.

          I know guys with many more years of experience than you have who would have turned down this job. That you took it on, and did such an outstanding job on it, is just fantastic. And very impressive!!!
          Michael Stoops
          Senior Global Product & Training Specialist | Meguiar's Inc.

          Remember, this hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need therapy.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: a bit of overspray or rather spray on...

            Michael, thanks for the kind words. It's alway nice to come here to MOL for advice and encouragement from so may knowledgable and experienced folks.

            "fishing for swirls in a sea of black"
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
            David

            Comment

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