ArtMetal

Hi all, I need some advice on permalac and buffing/additional coats.

Backround:

I took a job to refinish a steel chair made by another artist out of railroad components. The steel had been ground with a swirl finish and clear coated with a clear powder coat. The chair was used outside and over the years had started rusting of course. The client contacted me to have it stripped, remove the rust and put the swirl finish back on, and have it clear coated with powder coat.

Round 1:

I had the chair stripped, removed the rust, and put the swirl finish back on. I contacted the powder coaters asked if they could clear coat, informed them that it was freshly sanded raw steel, and that it was an art piece, they said no problem. One week later i called to see if it was done, and when i found out it wasn't i asked if had started rusting. It'd be easier to get the rust off before the finish was put on rather than have to strip it again. They assured me no rust and coated it two days later. As you could guess there was rust on the two arms, right up front, with the added bonus of fish eyes and runs. Told the company that this wouldn't do and that it needed to be redone, at which point they informed me that they now were not able to do the job. Nice.

Round 2:

The powder coat company stripped chair, very shoddy job at that as well. I finally got the excess powder and rust off and put the ground finish back on and contacted permalac for options. I ended up going with Permalac 2K and found a car detailer to put it on. He did a nice job painting the chair, however when he wiped the chair down with the degreasers, the rags left lint on the chair. In the end he painted over the lint and now there are all of these bumps all over parts of the chair. He tried buffing them out i guess, but said that didn't work. He's afraid to paint it again, due to worries about lifting(?).

The Problem:

I have a chair with some sort of curse on it that needs to be delivered Wednesday July 9th at the latest(that's the day they're moving to a new city). I obviously have almost no effective resources or knowledge base on finishes/finishing here in Lincoln, NE. Any suggestions on how to fix the finish on the chair without having to strip it and refinish it again(which I have no time for) within the next 2 days? Can you buff out permalac 2K, the painter says he's never worked with a product that acted like this, or do i just have to admit defeat, return the chair as is, cross my fingers that the client won't notice thousands of bumps all over her chair, and more than likely, eat it?

I'm quickly coming to the belief that there are very few people that truly know their craft, and it's starting to drive me nuts.

Jake