Doh....I screwed up

[Shermanator]

Long story short, I was stupid and manged to burn through my clear coat on the hood of my SHO over the weekend, after scratching it accidentally doing an oil change (forgot about the kayak I had hanging from the ceiling when I jacked it up to get under it)

 

Anyways I went through the clear coat on one of the ridges on the hood, totally my own fault...so anyone care to give me a SWAG on how much it would cost to get fixed? Would it be possible to just to get the clear resprayed or am I looking at a hood repaint? I know the car has a special pear clear coat, so I'm thinking that its going to need a repaint

 

 

[Chewy]

They may be able to just clear over it, but a lot of times they can't hid the imperfection under the clear and it'll be obvious.  I total respray of the hood will be in the 400-700 dollar range. 

[toddimac]

Ouch.  If it makes you feel any better, I burned a spot in the clear on the back deck of my Porsche Boxster while trying to remove a scratch using a 4" pad on the drill.  I cringe every time I see that spot now.

 

Looking forward to seeing the other replies on this!

 

Todd

[Chewy]

Yeah, don't feel bad.  I dropped a garden tool on the hood of my car along with a dual halogen setup  from about 6 feet above my car.  All while trying to get a bloody watering can down off the shelf.  Was I pissed?  Just a little...  Then the people that did the paint leveled the clear but not the color coat so I can see the imperfections below the clear.  Am I pissed?  Just a little...

 

Chris

[THE Mook]

The best and most honest way to find out is to go to three different shops with good reputations in your area.  Get their opinions.  I would expect it to cost under $1000.00.

[Chris@Adams]

Bummer, so sorry to here........If it were me I would take the hood off myself and take it to the body shop for the repaint.

[HFX Detailing]

our of curiosity, how long did it take to go through the clear? how can you tell?

[paoutdoorsman]

Bummer.  Sorry man.  What process and products were you using to burn through?  Any pics?

[Shermanator]

Its raining now, so I can't take a picture of the damage.

 

I was using my cordless drill with a 4 inch orange microfiber pad with the new 2 step polish. I broke a couple "rules", the pad wasn't cleaned from its prior use (I fixed a co-workers door that got scratched/paint transfer from some idiot opening his door up a few days prior to this), I should have broken out my Groits small polisher first before breaking out the cordless drill to start with, and the biggest one was trying to hard to get it perfect...the scratch is right on one of the ridges in the hood. I had it about 90-95% fixed before I took the clear off with the orange polish/pad....I forgot the rule about being extra careful with ridges on cars. The pad didn't get warm and I made 2-3 passes with it before the last pass took the clear off. 

[HFX Detailing]

it only took 2-3 passes?

 

this discourages me lol

[Shermanator]

how can you tell?

 

The color is ever so slightly off (lighter red) vs the rest of the car...its hard to see if don't look hard, but you can tell. I tried reapplying clear over the damage (which I later removed), but it didn't match up since I think the Ruby Red process on my car has a special candy clear to it to give it more depth to the paint. 

[Shermanator]

it only took 2-3 passes?

 

this discourages me lol

 

It shouldn't...it was a combination of a slightly dirty pad, me applying too much pressure/trying to hard, and it being on a ridge, where paint is naturally thinner. I've had no problems using the focus pads with a drill on flat surfaces. 

[HFX Detailing]

Ive read the sides are worse.

 

I have a lancer which I am told is thin to start.

 

Live and learn! This post is helpful though, it is not often i see post about burning through the clear so it is a mystery.

 

It shouldn't...it was a combination of a slightly dirty pad, me applying too much pressure/trying to hard, and it being on a ridge, where paint is naturally thinner. I've had no problems using the focus pads with a drill on flat surfaces. 

[Chewy]

Bummer, so sorry to here........If it were me I would take the hood off myself and take it to the body shop for the repaint.

THIS is EXACTLY what I did!  

[mc2hill]

Ive read the sides are worse.

 

I have a lancer which I am told is thin to start.

 

Live and learn! This post is helpful though, it is not often i see post about burning through the clear so it is a mystery.

 

Remember Scott was using a drill, which is the same a using a rotary polisher, not a DA polisher.  You are safe if you stick with Cyclo, PC, or Flex. 

 

:pc7424:

[LFairbanks]

Hood repaint is easy.  And yes they have to repaint the whole hood then clear it.  They can't just spray clear on it.  1k is way high.  I would say $500 or less.  There is nothing to remove.  I wouldn't even bother with removing the hood and taking it in.  They paint it right on the car.  And no this doesn't make for a shoddy job it they know what they are doing.  They spray the top and the wrap the clear on the bottom edge to make a clean break point.  I have found that a good dealership is the only place that I will take my vehicle for paint work.  I found a place where I live and they blend the paint perfectly.  Ever see a car where the front fender is a different shade than the rest of the car?  

[Shermanator]

Here is the photo of the damaged area, for those interested 

Edited October 8, 2013 by Shermanator

[blackws6ta]

that is a small spot but it would annoy me also.  What I would do is remove the hood and take it somewhere.  I have yet to find a paint shop that will not cause minor damage to surrounding areas when leaving the hood on.  What I would do if I were painting it is spray the hood on the topside and then wrap clear around to the underside of the hood.  That would make it so that you dont see any "ridges" or breaks in the finish/clear. I paint myself and my suggestion is to find hot rodders or custom car shops that do body work and paint.  Dealers are good but they are not perfect.  A hot rod shop that has a long list of satisfied customers and pictures is the way that I would go.  

[Shermanator]

I asked my Insurance agent for list of approved body shops they've dealt with since I'm kinda new the area (moved 2 years ago) I have a shop in Jersey I'd trust fixing it, but its about a hour/hour and half away.

 

Other issue is my Mustang is in Winter Storage and I can't drive it till next March due to me dropping it down to bare minimum coverage.