Projects Sedan back from painters: I have a question

I got the A sedan back from the painters a few days ago.
It still needs some more polishing here and there. The shiney side looks pretty.
One thing I noticed that really bothers me.
The body shop did nothing on the underside of the fenders. Most of them are still in bare metal or a light coat of rust. I was under the impression that one would paint (or at least seal) the under side of the fenders and the fender brackets.
Is that an unreasonable assumption?
I also found that the backside of the dash rail is still in bare metal.
Any painters out there care to give me the commonly accepted expectations on painting an A?
r

 

I think I'd be more than a little honked off. They should have been in primer, at the very least.

 

I always paint the underside/backside of everything to seal it. But then I'm only doing it for myself, not as a business. This should probably be something that is discussed before a price is agreed to, 'cause I'm sure the painter would have included additional cost if that was part of the deal.

 

I had my fenders E-coated..they did both sides

 

I'm thinking painting under the fenders and behind the dash is a lot of extra surface area to sand and prep and spray. I bet they shot you a price of the visible surfaces only.

Crappy part is that they should have at least given you a heads up that there would still be bare metal after the painting. If you try to correct it at this point you will have to be extra careful not to screw up the new finish on the top side when painting the bottom side. Sanding has to happen, then wipe down, then primer then sand and paint. There is a lot of opportunity to scratch up the already newly painted surfaces when doing all that work nearby.

I would go back to the paint shop and complain that there was nothing done to the under sides of the fenders and all that to start with, then go from there. Make sure they understand that you understand that you are not a painter and they are the professionals that should at the very least point out the fact that you were not going to end up with a fully painted car after the job they quoted you. Unless you pointed to every surface and told them to "paint here and here", then they should have said something or at least given you an additional separate quote to paint those surfaces that people don't think about.

Sounds like a paint shop that does not do a lot of high end custom work - probably a collision repair primarily or something.

I'd be like "dude, when do you want me to bring the car back so you can finish the job?"

Good Luck man!

 

Just paint yer backside's with a brush....

 

I worked in the body/fender industry for many years, from a small independent specialty body shop to a large, well-known restoration facility.

During my experience, every job was quoted individually.

That's because every car that came into our shop was different and would require different procedures to restore it.

Also, every owner was different, with different wants and needs.

This is quite different from most body repair/paint shops whose main focus is the repair and painting of damaged late model cars for the average motorist.

Auto body repair shops assume that the backside is already painted when they quote refinish time...because on most late model stockers and replacement parts it is already painted.

I'm sorry that the job wasn't done up to your expectations, but in all fairness to both parties, this should have been worked out when the job was quoted.

It was the shop service writer's responsibilty to ask you about additional work that should be done, but it was also your responsibility to ask the service writer if the quote included painting the backsides and the labor to remove and replace the parts for painting.

The good news is that you can probably paint the backsides adequately yourself using spray cans, undercoat and lots of masking paper.

Good luck!

 

"Just paint yer backside's with a brush.... "

I'm afraid that's what I'll have to do.
This paint job was part of a trade for a car I had. By far, he got the better end of the deal. I told him this was to be a driver. I expected that all the surfaces that would affect the paint would be taken care of.
If I did this for someone else, I would have never left exposed bare metal on the backside of a painted surface. I mean what's the life expectancy of a paint job like this? It's rust trought the backside before the first rock chip...

The car he got in trade for this had the front fenders painted on the inside and outside before I put the fenders on it.
It's the issue of not sealing the metal and leaving it exposed that bothers me the most about this.
r

 

Tape off the "painted" side and spray em.
as for the dash rail. Un screw it and paint it.

I understand that you paid to have this done (or traded) but your a hot rodder, im sure you can paint those surfaces and be happy with what you have done.
at least that way you have peace of mind that its not bare steel

Would I be pissed if i paid and go tthat kind of work...YEP!..you betcha.
but i would also learn from it, and never take anything back to them for paint..or work deals with them.
i would just TCB on my own

BTW...The sedan looks nice

 

Come on even a collision shop should not leave the back side of a fender bare steel. If they were repairing a car there would be undercoating put on at the very least.

This is completely the shops responsibility if you ask me. The stuff behind the dash maybe but the underside of a fender. If they had no intentions of painting everything they should have spoke up.

To me it's either lazyness or they decided once they started that they didn't think they were getting the better part of the deal and would cut corners.

 

Thats why when I trade work I go over every detail.
I have found that what I "expect" and someone does are sometimes 2 different things.
Next time you trade maybe say, and even write it down exactly what you expect, that way there is no confusion between you and the other party.

I have EVERY surface powder coat primed, then painted on my personal resto's.
My next will be all powder (off topic I know)

point is seal every surface, paint, powder, under coating... keep the elements out

 

Mask off the fenders, seal them, then shoot them with undercoating to prevent rock chips.
FWIW, they did a great looking job on the money side!

 

I painted for over 45 years and sold it for 30 of those and I never left the back side of anything bare metal, Your asking for trouble and any shop worth spit knows it. Could try some por-15 on back side of everthing, course I'm pretty sure your painter thinks he's done.
Don

 

pics from the shop that painted that A at myspace.com/MoKanKustom
you need to request to see them but there are a lot of pics












the slacker.

 

You can spray or brush on POR-15 and it is tough and will look good....

 

I got a car back from what was supposed to be the FASTEST and THE BEST PAINTER ON THE PLANET 18 months later !!! He left all of the inner fenders bare and painted the chassis with gloss. When I questioned him he told me to undercoat the inners and that he knew what the diff between Gloss and Chassis Black was !! Sure am glad I never hired him as it was the owner of the cars idea >>>>.

 

Learn to paint. I did. Community college. Hire (whore) yourself out to a body shop. I did alot of sanding and busted parts removal, but I ended up with a "working knowedge" ,but I did it myself.

 

"Learn to paint."

I understand this sentiment, but that was not part of the original trade or the original question.
Comments like these are not constructive or helpful.
Thank you very much for your input.
r

 

Spray the fenders with black paintable undercoating. I use a SEM or 3M product. They will wear better and look fine.
Yes, he should have sealed em at least.

 

On those types of cars you need to be clear what you want up front. I agree he, in the course of repairs and paint should have at the very least sprayed the backsides with epoxy primer but it is unfair to assume he would have painted them. On the fenders and underbody a nice high quality undercoating would do the trick to seal out any moisture. Also satin black rustoleum out of a can with a nice brush will give excellent results and be very durable.

 

You beat me to it Tman

 

Sucks that he shorted you on the underbody. Just write a few bad things about the shop and be done with it. Or Go back to the guy and see what he can do?

Looks good.

NOW get it on the road!!!

Later
TT

 

I'm not sure about all the details you had on trading something for a paint job but,
On a deal like this all you can do is ask him why he didn't and if he will.If not do it yourself.I have did body work most of my life and i would of never let something like that leave my shop.I do understand that larger shops might not check every car that went out the door. It might be a oversight and he will make good.All You have is a reputation to uphold as a businessman and this might show you and your friends if this is a shop to recomend to others...

Good luck,
Steve

 

We have the undersides of fenders sprayed in urethane bedliner material, it saves the fenders from road debris that can be kicked up and cause outies. I also usually do the floors and inside firewall, and trunk areas as well. That stuff is thick and preserves everything really well...

 

Sounds like lack of information on both parts.

I'd start with telling the shop:

"I'm going to show this car along with giving you credit for the paint, so deal with lost potential customers because of the negative appearance or please paint the underside of the fenders".... then offer to buy the supplies.

I used to build houses so the contract is very explicit. Now, anything I have done I try to think of the details beforehand.

 

if you didnt ask him to paint underneath, why are you suprised that it isnt done? i dont live in the rust belt, so i have personally never painted the underside of anything, ever. i wouldnt assume he was being lazy, maybe it never occured to him to do it. i myself have never painted a model a, and i doubt i would have painted the underside either.(now i would tho) a rule of thumb is to never trade, just use cash. every trade the other guy always thinks that the other guy got the better deal. know what i mean?

 

You would really leave the underside of a car in bare steel with nothing on it?

 

it all depends on the price u payed, materials arent cheap,

 

kinda shitty how they oversprayed the wood bows for ur roof

 

Line-X bedliner.