The paint mistake.
The bad paint job came with the wagon. The orange peel, the body filler, and the mystery repair work underneath are now my problem.
What the paint recovery has revealed.
What was wrong with the paint?
The previous DIY finish had heavy orange-peel texture across the wagon. The hood and roof were the areas that bothered me most.
Did sanding remove all the orange peel?
No. Sanding improved the surface, but primer still revealed remaining texture. More leveling work is needed.
What did the primer show?
It made the remaining uneven texture easier to see. I also sanded through the primer in several places while trying to level the surface.
What is under the roof paint?
I found a substantial amount of old body filler. I do not yet know what damage or previous repair it covers.
Is the paint fixed?
No. The hood and roof remain in preparation, no finished color coat has been applied, and the mechanical work now has priority.
Not my mistake. Still my problem.
When I bought the wagon, the paint was one of the biggest reasons it was affordable. From a distance, it had the right shape, the right vibe, and enough charm to make me ignore a lot of things.
Up close, the paint was rough. The more I sanded, the more I realized this was not only ugly texture. Old repair work was hiding underneath it.
What I could see
What I found underneath
Sanding down somebody else's paint job.
Start with the orange peel.
The previous paint had heavy texture. That was one of the first visible problems when I got the wagon.
Sand more than expected.
I sanded the hood and roof repeatedly. Progress was visible, but the surface kept showing that this would not be a quick cleanup.
Apply primer and inspect.
After sanding, I added primer and hoped the surface would look smoother. Instead, the remaining orange peel became easier to see.
Sand through the primer.
While trying to level the panels, I burned through the primer in a few places. It was annoying, but it also showed how much work remained.
Find the roof filler.
Sanding exposed a lot of old body filler on the roof. I still do not know what is underneath it.
Accept the larger job.
This is not just fixing bad paint. It is uncovering previous repair work and deciding how much needs to be corrected before finishing the body.
Pause before color.
The body is not ready, and the engine problem now comes first. Spraying color over visible problems would only hide unfinished work again.
Watch the paint mistake unfold.
The first video shows the sanding process. The second shows what happened after primer made the remaining problems easier to see.
What I learned
Where it stands
What supports this page.
The two embedded videos and the original notes document the sanding, primer, remaining texture, burn-through, roof filler, and unfinished status.
3M's product information explains how guide coat can reveal pinholes, scratches, and uneven filler or primer before top coating.
Rust-Oleum's guidance describes using guide coat to highlight low spots, scratches, pinholes, and other surface imperfections during sanding.
The companion preparation page documents the tool change, detailed sanding work, and decision to pause before color.
The low-compression diagnosis explains why mechanical work now takes priority, while the repair archive connects the wider project.
Still better than yesterday.
The paint is not fixed yet. The roof is hiding something. The primer is already burned through in places. Somehow, learning what not to cover up still counts as progress.