Hey guys, just after a bit of advice from people who actually work with 2K paint.

I went to pick up my guitar from a painter today. He also paints cars and had been spraying 2K paint on a car in his workshop. He'd finished spraying only 20 minutes before we got there which I didn't know until right at the end.

The big garage door was open and it was a cold night with a bit of wind, so there was definitely airflow through the workshop. I was inside for maybe 10 - 15 minutes. It smelled pretty strongly of paint, but there wasn't any visible paint mist or anything, but he was more of a "backyard" person who didn't have a full booth and just sprayed in his garage.

I've since stupidly gone down the rabbit hole reading about isocyanates and have freaked myself out a bit. A lot of the stuff online makes it sound like even one exposure can cause permanent lung problems.

For anyone who actually works with 2K paint, how significant would you consider an exposure like this? Would most of the airborne stuff have dispersed/diluted after 20+ minutes with the garage open, or would there still potentially be a significant amount in the air?

Just trying to get a realistic idea of how bad this sort of brief exposure actually is rather than the worst-case stuff you read online.

Cheers.

I just moved back to Florida bought this 2002 Mercedes ML320 like 2 days ago (haven’t even gotten a chance to detail it!!) and when I tell you every single part is falling apart I frikkin mean it. Now today this happened?! So 3 of my doors the entire interior door
Covering is separating from the actual clips. (There has been record heat temps not sure if thats why?)
And now the handle of my drivers side door which looks like it was glued poorly before. I am sort of a girly girl but I love a good DIY project. Anyone know where to start on how to fix this? What professional grade adhesive works the best for this? I do have a sander as well and a lot of different tools. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you 🙏

My bumper was just replaced HOWEVER, there are like several paint imperfections and it looks as if it's not sitting flush? Like am I being too picky orrrr......

Miscommunication btween wife and me.....i thought she washed the car before i started priming to fix a deep scratch.... I just wiped with alochol wipes.... I'm about 3 primer layers deep. What's the best move?

I took a gamble on a 2011 sierra 1500 sle with 147k miles. I was in desperate need of a work truck and the price wasn’t terrible. It started up beautifully and drove smooth and didn’t think to look under the body. How bad is this and will this thing snap after I hit a Chicago pot hole?

I recently got my 2019 RAV4 back from the body shop after an accident repair, and I noticed that the panel they repaired/replaced looks like a different shade than the rest of the car.My boyfriend thinks it could just be because the original panels have been exposed to the sun for years, while the repaired panel has newer paint. I understand that a 2019 vehicle can have some fading, but the difference is pretty noticeable to me. Does this look like something that can happen normally with a newer/repainted panel, or should the body shop have blended/matched the paint better? Should I take it back and ask them to correct it?

Tried to do some DIY repainting in the home garage, please be gentle. Applied some 2 stage spray paint (QAA) and then got some flaky residue after applying the second step (pearl?). Didn't think much of it at the time and then applied 2k clear. 3 coats of each paint with 10min wait time between coats. For the 2k clear, i applied 1st coat light, then 2nd and 3rd coat medium thickness.

Will this smoothen out after a wetsand and polish? I was thinking 1000>2000>3000>5000 then a polish.

For a long time, I figured that if you coated the bottom of a car with rubber or something hard, it was good. Up until I bought one with the coating and found a soft spot, then stripped the coating off.

I am curious what you think on this. My daughter went to the Honda dealership and bought a 2025 van. The finance guy came in at the end and sold an extended warranty, but then also sold an undercoating to her.

Here is what was said
There is nothing on it now so an undercoating is a good idea to have.

For 1500, we apply it and you come back every year for 5 years and we check it and touch it up if needed. After 5 years. It’s fully done and will last forever.

She knows the car I’m working on and going through hell with so she bought it but it hasn’t been put on yet.

These things have a 5 year rust protection as it is, I believe. I am going with a wax based product now but she was told today that it’s a horrible product and she shouldn’t change her mind on this.

The Honda dealership does it themselves, I figured it was a third party thing but it’s not.

I assume that the guy thinks she will be like most people and trade it off but she keeps her cars for a very long time.

What are your thoughts on this?

Had this wing sitting in my garage I was wondering if and or how I can repair this and if it would be worth it?

me and another guy backed into eachother in a parking lot 😪

Hey Yall,

It has been awhile since I posted about my car and some things have happened, however first I will give some context about my car.

I have a Dark Polo Green 1991 C4 Corvette base model with a ZF6 manual and a square 275 tire setup on factory 17" sawblades. The car has a saddle brown interior, and I am trying to build a clean, understated "vintage motorsport/GT" look.

The previous owner had a loud, bright and shitty application of a gold 3-piece racing stripe down the center of the front bumper. When I removed it, the tension of the old film pulled up craters of the clear coat and factory paint right down to the raw urethane bumper (I believe?). I am looking to lay down a new 3-piece custom layout (a 12-18” wide center stripe flanked by two thin pinstripes, same shape as before) to perfectly track the remaining clear coat ghosting from the previous vinyl job. I want to change the color to "3M™ 2080 Matte Charcoal Metallic Vinyl Wrap | M211" (or other colors I am open to suggestions) to tie into my aluminum sawblades.

My target budget for the bumper prep and wrap is $700-$1000.

However here are the annoying problems: regular wrap shops won't touch it because they don't do in-house paint sanding, and traditional collision centers are quoting me $1,700 for a full-panel strip and respray because they won't touch a localized "sanding only" job due to liability.

If I cannot find an independent shop to handle the mechanical prep, I am preparing to wet-sand the bumper myself. Since the late C4 front bumper is reaction injection molded urethane and relatively soft, I want to make sure I don't gouge the material.

Any critiques, shop recommendations near Central PA, or tool advice would be awesome, the pics are listed below. Also I don't know if this is the right tag or not since this is a project but I am asking a question, I do apologize for that in advance.

I have very very little experience in body work, I am more of a mechanic. With that being said I plan on painting my motorcycle (fenders, gas tank and corresponding parts) over the winter. I can use the auto tech shop on fort Riley (I am a veteran) and was looking at different paints. Would it hurt to use the spray paint cans that some of those auto paint companies sell on their pages? What about the spray cans that you can by at autozone, O Riley's and such?

Just wondering if you guys think this level of rust is gonna bite me on the ass in the next year or 2 is all!

Thanks in advance :)

Did they try to scam me? Give me a ball park on mobile repair? I already went to a reputable body shop and was quoted 9k at a body shop. Is this an involved repair?

Have some cracks on the lower part of the bumper on my Hyundai i30. Will this need a full bumper replacement or is there a procedure where it can be welded back together? Thanks for the help

Hey everyone,

​Working on sorting out some cosmetic details on my 1975 Pontiac Grand Ville convertible. I'm tackling two specific areas right now and wanted to see what methods or products this community recommends.

​1. Front Grille Chrome Delamination/Bubbling

As you can see in the photos, the front grille has these raised, flaky, bubbly spots right along the lower chrome-finished surfaces where it meets the header/body. It definitely feels like molded plastic with a metallic/chrome vacuum-plated finish that is starting to pit and lift.

​The Goal: I want to know the best way to safely smooth out those raised areas and restore or re-coat the finish. Since it's plastic underneath, conventional metal plating or heavy sanding can go sideways fast. Has anyone successfully restored these vintage plastic grilles? What grit sandpaper or filler do you recommend before applying a chrome spray or wrap?

​2. Faded Rear Bumper/Trim

The rear bumper has an area that has gotten quite dull and hazy/faded.

​The Goal: Bring back the deep shine and remove that oxidation haze without damaging the surrounding trim. Should I hit this with a specific metal polish on a rotary buffer, or is it clear-coated in a way that requires cutting compound?

​Appreciate any advice, product recommendations, or step-by-step tips from folks who have restored these mid-70s full-size GM parts!