Had a customer rip me a new one about my filler work last spring

This guy brought his 2018 F-150 back after 3 months because he saw a ghost line through the paint. He pointed right at the spot and said 'you didn't feather that edge out far enough.' I was using 80 grit only back then. Now I always step up to 180 before primer and feather out at least 4 inches past the repair. Has anyone else had a customer teach them something embarrassing like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

drewr151mo ago

Switch to 180 grit after shaping, I learned this same lesson the hard way on a blue Ford.

alicecraig1mo ago

@drewr15 yeah man 180 grit is way better for that final pass before primer, I switched years ago and stopped chasing ghost lines on my repairs. But honestly emery290 has a point about going wider with your feather edge, that's something a lot of people skip on. I usually feather out 8 to 10 inches past the repair now, not just 4 or 5 like I used to. Grit helps with the finish but if your taper is too short no amount of grit change will fix that.

-1

emery2901mo ago

Wait, you really think stepping up to 180 grit is the answer to feathering? I've been doing this for almost 15 years and I'm pretty sure the grit isn't your main problem there. If you're seeing a ghost line after three months that's almost always a failure in your filler to metal bond or you didn't grind enough of a taper with whatever grit you used. I use 80 grit for shaping and then I blend the edges with 80 grit too but I go way wide like 6 to 8 inches past the repair not just 4. Stepping up to 180 before primer is fine for your final sand but it won't help you if you didn't get that feather edge right in the first place. The customer might have been right about the feather but he didn't tell you to switch grits, he told you to go farther. That's what matters.