# Burn through? Or Paint Transfer? Advice.



## Yippy13 (Nov 29, 2012)

Hi all.

Just going to brief you on what happened, leading up to the questions I need to know.

I was giving my pal's recently purchased Mk5 Edition30 GTi a good clean and seal for over winter.. We was working on the car together.

We foamed, washed etc the car then when the sun hit the car it was swirly to hell it was nasty to look at. I said all that can be removed with a machine polish, so proving it can be done, I used my DAS6 Pro with Chemical guys Orange Hex head and Menz FG500, followed up by CG White hex head wit IP2300.

Clayed the the little test area, (drivers 3/4) then IPA 1:10 wiped then machined with the orange hex head and it came out really well removed all the swirls. Followed up on the hex white head and IP2300, came out looking really well, reflection was great. But looking at the pad it had paint transfer..



















Here is the panel































So questions I've been asking is had it been recently been resprayed? as initially I thought German Cars are known to have hard paint and my mate believed it has not been resprayed, only the front passenger wing.

Have I burned through the paint? If I did, I raise my hand and take full responsibility.

Just to let you know too, I am no professional, just a amateur/enthusiast. I've read Dave KG's guide to machine polishing with DA many, many times. I've done my cars and my family's car before, only do this as a hobby nothing more, so eager to learn more here if any you kind fellas can tell me what have I done wrong.

Joe


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

You haven't burned through, but you may have struck through. It is very rare for a modern car to have single stage paint, that said the afters look good, could it be over spray you have removed, or a repaired panel? Also, did you have it on ALL pads, from over the whole car?


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

I have seen a strike through and under bright lights I could see a dullish area where there was no clear coat.

Although I went through Dave's articles I didn't leave it to chance and went on one of Gordan and Dave's courses to get a proper hands on with a DA. I also went to the added expense of getting a Paint Detective from the group buy on here so I could work out how much clear coat I have to play with.


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## Yippy13 (Nov 29, 2012)

stangalang said:


> You haven't burned through, but you may have struck through. It is very rare for a modern car to have single stage paint, that said the afters look good, could it be over spray you have removed, or a repaired panel? Also, did you have it on ALL pads, from over the whole car?


I believe I have stuck through as there is a very small tiny patch on the panel where it looks dull ish.. It's very hard to photograph I will l try photograph on my camera next time I meet up with him. 
When I saw the paint on the pad I immediately thought it had been repaired at some point of its life, but the owner said it's not been resprayed/repaired. And yes it's on both Cutting pad and polishing pad.

Thanks 
Joe


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## ddave05 (May 23, 2010)

If you can find the paint code, somebody on here should be able to tell you whether it is single stage or lacquered.

In my opinion, I don't think it is burn/strike through. It looks like you have removed the swirls/scratches from the paint surface which is a single stage paint.

As mentioned, it could be the result of polishing a panel/panels that have been resprayed in single stage paint.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Yippy13 said:


> I believe I have stuck through as there is a very small tiny patch on the panel where it looks dull ish.. It's very hard to photograph I will l try photograph on my camera next time I meet up with him.
> When I saw the paint on the pad I immediately thought it had been repaired at some point of its life, but the owner said it's not been resprayed/repaired. And yes it's on both Cutting pad and polishing pad.
> 
> Thanks
> Joe


If there is a small dull patch, then you HAVE struck through. But to do that with a da, in one hit, would suggest to me a smart repair of some sort. Its not unheard of for smart repairs to be carried out at the manufacturers or dealers level, sad but true


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## Damien89 (May 13, 2007)

Try to polish a panel with your hand and see if theres colour transfer, that much colour on the pad looks like paint transfer from single stage paint (no clear coat).


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## Dift (May 22, 2011)

At what point did you notice the red on the pads? It seems strange to carry on polishing an area you have concerns over?

If there is a dull patch, it certainly sounds like you have gone through the lacquer, but that is a lot of paint you've taken off.

If it's a single stage (which it shouldn't be if it's not had paint), then it's normal.

It's pretty difficult for anyone to say with any certainty without inspecting it.


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## turboyamaha (Nov 18, 2010)

All sort of paint jobs go on on a brand new cars at dealers have even heard of cars being repaired at the dock side fresh off the boat! You sometimes don't know what you are dealing with, which is why pdg is always going to be so important.


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## xJay1337 (Jul 20, 2012)

Definiately burn through.
I would always start with the weakest combination and work up to the highest in the future.


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

I would suggest that the panel has been repaired/resprayed at some point in the past & the repairer has not lacquered the panel, hence the colour transfer.

A Golf of that age will be lacquered out of the factory.

A few years ago I had a Skoda which had obviously had a panel repaint previously as I suffered the same colour transfer too. I ended up selling the car in the subsequernt months but would have given it to a bodyshop to redo the panel properly if I was keeping the car.


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## Otto (Feb 2, 2013)

You have 100% burned through the paint. It is clearly visible from the 12th pic down. Even on my phone the colour difference is clear.
Sorry to be forward but FG500 is a real heavy cut to go in on which is likely why this has happened.
Someone good might be able to fan some laquer over it but you'll need to get a sprayer to check it properly and what is within their skill range.


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## Yippy13 (Nov 29, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the advice. Really appreciate the input and will take these and learn from them. 
I'm going to get hold of a PDG and measure the readings of the car. Will determine if it has had a respray in its life.


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## graham1970 (Oct 7, 2012)

Can i ask about smart repairs?

My car has a few car park dents that have been repaired,should i aim to polish around them(avoid the area)?

Cheers

Sorry to read about your misfortune yippy


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

graham1970 said:


> Can i ask about smart repairs?
> 
> My car has a few car park dents that have been repaired,should i aim to polish around them(avoid the area)?
> 
> ...


PDR repairs, or filling and painting?


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## graham1970 (Oct 7, 2012)

Not sure what they have done Matt,i noticed some small bullet sized dents when i first looked at the car and dealer got them sorted.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

graham1970 said:


> Not sure what they have done Matt,i noticed some small bullet sized dents when i first looked at the car and dealer got them sorted.


If they had the dents done by a pdr guy then there is no issue at all, if they did localised spraying then it may be worth avoiding


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## Yippy13 (Nov 29, 2012)

The Golf Edition30 paint code is LY3D if anyone on here can tell me about the factory paint. Thanks


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## xJay1337 (Jul 20, 2012)

It's Tornado red.

It's paint and it's red? Lol what else do you want to know.
It's a clear coated paint along with every other paint type on a Mk5.


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## Yippy13 (Nov 29, 2012)

xJay1337 said:


> It's Tornado red.
> 
> It's paint and it's red? Lol what else do you want to know.
> It's a clear coated paint along with every other paint type on a Mk5.


Haha:lol:! As said on here if I get the paint code someone on might be able to tell me if this car came out of factory lacquered that's all I wanted to know.


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## Will_G (Jan 23, 2012)

Otto said:


> You have 100% burned through the paint. It is clearly visible from the 12th pic down. Even on my phone the colour difference is clear.
> Sorry to be forward but FG500 is a real heavy cut to go in on which is likely why this has happened.
> Someone good might be able to fan some laquer over it but you'll need to get a sprayer to check it properly and what is within their skill range.


I thought I spotted that on pic 12 too above the fuel cap there almost seems to be half an ellipse to the right. Not experienced enough to say though


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## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

Strike through with a DA? I highly doubt it. Yes FG500 is fairly aggressive, but VAG paint is very hard and a DA is...well a DA. Unless you were on a spot on speed 6 for minutes on end, I still dont see strike through happening with a DA. Something is fishy about the paint. Ive wet sanded with 1500, 4 hits of FG400 and Wool on my golf and still have plenty of clear left. Also its hard to tell from pictures off a phone, especially on a red car as cameras hardly pick up red properly.


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## Damien89 (May 13, 2007)

I'm thinking its had some paint done in the past in single stage red.


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## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

You're not trying hard enough Yippy, this is what I did to my car last week



But then, when your dealing with thickness variances like this acroos a panel its kind of inevitable.

These are 2 readings off my bonnet:


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