Cleaning up paint on a budget...(more research for me)

[gerard@dockside.co.za]

Hi!

Call me a cheap-skate, I don't care. All I want is to
clean-up this car within the next 2 months. I thank
those who have given help and knowledge about where to
spend my money w.r.t tools and good parts that will
make the repairs easier and quicker and safer while
still allowing me to live a normal life by not spending
loads of my precious money. :)

I am ordering and looking for the parts I need, so I
might as well do some research on fixing up the crap
paint I have.

description of paint problems on 1989/1990 200t:
------------------------------------------------

1. Paint is metallic burgundy or wine-red or
   candy-apple red. Uhm...this is not a problem,
   I actually like the colour when the car is
   clean ... but it so rarely is. :)

2. Car seems to have evidence of rear end smash.

3. The trunk lid has a huge "water mark" in the
   centre, can be seen at an angle.

4. There are paint runs on the lower edge of the
   trunk lid and the corner edges at the c-pillars
   are faded and rough.

5. Roof has long fine scratches down to the primer
   coat as if the car was parked under a thorn tree
   with long sweeping branches.

6. Deep scratches below fuel filler cap, down to the
   prime coat.

7. Leading edge of hood is stone chipped beyond
   belief. They're down to the metal, but the people
   who sold the thing had them "touched-up" by just
   colouring them.

8. Driver's door handle (colour coded flat handles)
   has huge chip in it down to the plastic.

9. The entire car is a huge swirl mark thanks to my
   stupidity and bad product labelling for STP car
   wax. Have tried other products to remove swirls,
   but they're there for good.

10.Cannot tell if the entire car is clear coated.
   Did Audi clear coat all their cars? The 2 half
   of the car have different shines, the front half
   half or 2/3 of the car is shinnier than the rear
   section as I suspect the rear accident fix did
   not add clear coat, and this is the part of the
   problem.

11.Standard orange peel, which I hate

12.Biggest problem is the rear quarter panel where
   the C-panel is. In my opinion this is where
   the rear section was worked on. There is a
   faded scratchy section running vertically from
   where the rear edge of the c-pillar meets the
   rear fender. Along the upper edge of the
   rear quarter there is blotchy paint work that
   might be related to thin paint and body filling.
   I am organising a digital camera to get pics
   of this as it is the best way to explain it all.

13.There is overspray on some of the doors, probably
   from spraying the rear section. Heck, the mirrors
   are speckled with paint!

Basically, evidence shows big rear-end work that was
a completely rubbish paint job.

what I am thinking:
-------------------
1. I have a air compressor, I will buy a small
   automotive touch up air brush for $10 - $20
   (I can always sell it later)

2. Get a small can of touch up paint from VW/Audi
   to match the paint exactly.

3. Remove the clear coat (I think factory did a
   clear coat, did Audi always clear coat their
   paint jobs? Since the rear is a respray it has
   no clear coat, which is part of the problem).
   Do this with 800 - 100 grit water paper.

4. Paint in the deep scratches on the roof, below
   the fuel filler flap, the door handle.

5. Smooth off the trunk lid paint runs and the horrible
   water mark.

6. Sand off the front of the hood edge and prime and
   respray to get rid of the stone chips.

7. Give the rear quarter a new layer of paint to cover
   up those horrible marks where body filler and perhaps
   ground-off welds are coming through.

8. Colour sand with 1200 grit paper.

9. Buff the sanded paint with the old buffing machine
   or angle grinder and a wool buffing pad and suitable
   compound.


What do you think? Or should I do the proper touch
ups before using the 800-1000 grit paper to get rid of
the clear coat up front? Is removing the clear coat
simply a matter of water sanding with 800-1000 and
perhaps buffing with a compound? The aim is to patch
up the scratches, get rid of the horrible swirl marks
and restore the paint to the original shine (so I
can perhaps get some cash back when I sell this thing).

This is going to be time consuming, but I'm willing to
put in the effort in order to cut back on costs.

Where are there good paint resources online for me
to look at?

So, any advice on completely renovating existing
paint would help my research in budget paint
restoration. :)

Another silly question: anyone know someone who
can make badges in the same fashion as those
put onto the 89-91 200/100? The badges will be
coming off the back and I'm thinking "why put
the word 'k26' in place of the 'turbo' on the
rear lid?". :) hee hee. yes I'm bored at work.

Sorry for the long dull messages once again, I like
researching before fixing, info from this list has
helped alot in the past so why not get more info
from the people that know? :)

Ciao.

G.

PS: I do not claim to be an paint expert, so please
    bear with me if the stuff I mentioned above seems
    laughable to those who are more knowledgable on
    the list.

-----
Sent using MailStart.com ( http://MailStart.Com/welcome.html )
The FREE way to access your mailbox via any web browser, anywhere!