How much paint did they put on the clamshell of the Gen II GTS's?

[agentf1]

How much paint did they put on the clamshell of the Gen II GTS's? Hoping one of the Viper guru's like Bill, Jon or Chuck may be able to answer this question for me.

I have a RIDS (Random Isolated Deep Scratches) on the hood of my Viper. They probably were created while it sat in the showroom for a few years when it was new and people sat things on it and/or drug pocketbooks, bags or whatever across it. They are not that bad and most "normal" people probably would not notice them. I have tried buffing them out numerous times with both my ROB and Rotary buffer with no luck. I would like to try wet sanding them next with some 3000 grit but nobody I know has a paint depth guage that works on fiberglass panels. I would like to be reassured that there is PLENTY on clear coat on these cars before I attempt sanding them. I would much rather live with them than have to do paint work on my all original GTS.

I have been trying to find somebody with a paint depth gauge that works on fiberglass but they are VERY expensive (thousands of dollars) and nobody I know owns one, and I even know a lot of people in the autobody and paint industry.

Has anybody wet sanded factory paint without problems?

Is the paint thickness the same on all GTS's? I know they are hand made so there may be variances from car to car. I am sure they are not painted by robots like vettes which have VERY thin cc I may add.

Thanks for any input youmay have to offer.

 

[JonB]

They were hand-sprayed in several layers....My recall is that unstriped cars got 2 layers of clear, but Gen 2 Striped cars had MORE clear used than non-striped. Why? They generously cleared the stripe area to fill in the 'edge' of the painted stripe.

So striped cars have a LOTTA clear...

{Somehere I have a photo of me in an ASC hooded Paint Suit in that long paint booth! I look like the LOST IN SPACE robot)

 

[agentf1]

They were hand-sprayed in several layers....My recall is that unstriped cars got 2 layers of clear, but Gen 2 Striped cars had MORE clear used than non-striped. Why? They generously cleared the stripe area to fill in the 'edge' of the painted stripe.

So striped cars have a LOTTA clear...

{Somehere I have a photo of me in an ASC hooded Paint Suit in that long paint booth! I look like the LOST IN SPACE robot)

It is good to finally put a face to a name. Thanks Jon.

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[All Blue ACR]

We have the same year and color but mine is stripeless. I have 2 cases of RIDS that bother me (couldn't resist). They are on the fender rear and hood side by the decals. I had a trusted guy (painted my road runner and wet sanded it to perfection)take a run at them. After doing a test in a somewhat hidden area, he advised to not proceed as it was "thin" in his opinion.
I still live with them.

 

[JonB]

DANGER!, DANGER WIL ROBINSON!!!!

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[RTTTTed]

So why not spray the area with scratches with a clear coat to fill in the scratches, then wetsand?

Ted

 

[agentf1]

So why not spray the area with scratches with a clear coat to fill in the scratches, then wetsand?

Ted

I am not an expert but I think you would need to clear the entire hood.

Usually when the do repairs the clear the entire panel, they may blend the base coat into a joining panel but always cc the entire panel. AFAIK

 

[RTTTTed]

Actually it's the repair to the Metallic that can't be polished out. Solid colors and clear coats can be spot repaired and polished out easily. Since you want to wetsand and polish applying the clear over just the scratches would be a piece of cake. Just don't sand through the clear coat. If you've got a couple of deep scratches I'd be tempted to clearcoat the hood and wetsand the whole hood glat again. I'm tempted to repaint my whole car just so that I can wetsand the fiberglas bumping under the paint (mostly the doors and a bit on the hood).

I use a Mopar Vinyl bra so that I don't get rock chips and can peel the bugs off the nose in about a minute, but I'm still tempted to repaint just to smooth the finish (too much of a perfectionist?).

Ted

 

[RTTTTed]

In the 'old days' premium paints were wetsanded between each coat. This kept the paint perfectly flat and of the highest gloss possible.

If you tried to paint a car that way nowadays it would probably take a year to paint the car. The old expensive paints were Laquer and dried in 20 min so they could be sanded between coats. Now it would be against enviromental law to not use a spray booth. The amount of booth time and extra labor costs would be in the thousands, not to mention all the time you'd spend waiting for each paint coating to dry. Paints are also better finishing and easier to apply nowadays. Most of the modern 2 part paints also look better.

Ted

 

[agentf1]

Actually it's the repair to the Metallic that can't be polished out. Solid colors and clear coats can be spot repaired and polished out easily. Since you want to wetsand and polish applying the clear over just the scratches would be a piece of cake. Just don't sand through the clear coat. If you've got a couple of deep scratches I'd be tempted to clearcoat the hood and wetsand the whole hood glat again. I'm tempted to repaint my whole car just so that I can wetsand the fiberglas bumping under the paint (mostly the doors and a bit on the hood).

I use a Mopar Vinyl bra so that I don't get rock chips and can peel the bugs off the nose in about a minute, but I'm still tempted to repaint just to smooth the finish (too much of a perfectionist?).

Ted

This fiberglass pattern is one of the reasons I am concerned about doing any wet sanding. I think it also gives the impression that the clear is thin but then looks can be deceiving. Of course a paint depth gauge would take all the guess work out of it.

That said I think you would need to remove any glass pattern in the primer and then re apply base coat and clear coat to have a perfectly flat finish. I do not think you could do it with just applying extra clear coat, atleast not 100%.

 

[GTS Bruce]

Can you get away with a pro doing a high speed polish? GTS Bruce

 

[Red Snake]

If it REALLY bothers you take the car to a body shop that you trust and just get the hood redone.

You probably won't be satisfied otherwise.

 

[agentf1]

Can you get away with a pro doing a high speed polish? GTS Bruce

I am a pro with a high speed polisher and that did not remove them. That said I have not really gotten that aggressive with it yet. I will have to give a wool pad a try followed by a foam pad next. Reason I have been holding off is I feel if you do not wet sand first in essence you are chasing the scratch since when buffing you remove paint both from areas around scratch as well as bottom of scratch. When you wet sand first you are only removing top layer of clea coat lowering it to the bottom of the scratches level.

I guess that saying is true when they say "the plumbers pipes always leak". I spend more time buffing other peoples cars than I do my own.

 

[Mopar Boy]

DANGER!, DANGER WIL ROBINSON!!!!

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Everytime I see this pic I wonder. Jon, what IS THAT in your hand and is that a funnel on your head!??



Robert

 

[fastlane8]

If it REALLY bothers you take the car to a body shop that you trust and just get the hood redone.

Because that sounds to much like "Common Sense"!

 

[JonB]

Everytime I see this pic I wonder. Jon, what IS THAT in your hand and is that a funnel on your head!?? Robert

ROBERT: That was in my ole Viper paintin' Days at ASC....I am wearing the ASC Paint Booth Space Suit .....in my hand is the wall-plug-in air hose to the Tin-Man funnel-shaped helmet that keeps Viper painters pressurised and recirculated with fresh air, and not paint fumes.

Do you remember LOST IN SPACE and the robot babysitter? Thats what the photo reminds me of!

 

[KNG SNKE]

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That photo is hilarious!

 

[Mopar Boy]

That makes more sence!

Yes I remember the show! You do look pretty close!!

Robert

 

[agentf1]

If it REALLY bothers you take the car to a body shop that you trust and just get the hood redone.

You probably won't be satisfied otherwise.

I would never get the hood repainted for something this trivial. I am just very anal. Most of you probably would not even notice them or be able to find them unless it is under tons of flourescents.

Common sense would be to leave the car alone with its original paint and live with the few minor scratches that most people can't even see.