Topic: After the clearcoat dries

[428 78T/A]

As I have just got done painting and clearcoating my first car, I have found that 95% of a good paint job is good metal prep.  For a firsttimer Im very happy with the results but I did end up with slight orange peel. What is the process of getting this smoothed down to have a "new" car shine? Im apprehensive about polishing compound on a buffer because I dont want to ruin what I just did. Any comments about the products to use and the procedure?

[ta78w72]

Gee, the volkswagens in the 60's used to have orange peel paint.  I asked a painter friend of mine about it and he said they were sprayed improperly.  Too much paint if I remember correctly.  I'm not sure that you can polish it out.

[turbota80]

Actually you can polish it out.  It takes a lot of time and patience though, and once you start, if you decide to quit your paint is going to look like crap.  The paint must be completely DRY (I usually wait 15-30 days after I paint.).

Start with 1000 grit sand paper and WET sand the car.  I can't stress WET enough.  I usually just have a hose running fairly slowly and constantly rinse off the area you are sanding.  Make sure you use a block and not your bare hand.  It can be a flexible block but just a little flex.  Every so often squeegie off the area to check it.  It doesn't take long to make a difference in a small area.  Sand it until the orange peel starts to flatten out (you'll be able to tell by dark and light spots).  Once you've done the whole car with 1000 grit, you do the same with 1500 grit, but only enough to thake out the scratches left by the 1000 grit.  Then go to 2000 grit and do the same.

Use EXTRA CAUTION on ridges on the body (center of hood, spoilers, etc.).  Its best to just lightly go over the ridges with 2000 grit because the orange peel doesn't really show up on high points.

If you break through the clear at all you will have to reclear that panel, and that means even more work, but I'm sure you could guess that one.

Now the fun part.  After all that sanding you get to buff it.  The buffer you use lookes like a grinder (I can't remember the proper name) but you use a cotton or wool pad and buffing compound.  Once again use caution on the high points and don't go through the clear.  When it starts to shine up a little, go to the next step up in compound (finer).  Then use a hand polishing glaze to finish it off.

I hope this helps.  Yes it is a lot of work, but if done right you'll have a mirrior finish on your car.  If it's too much work, you might be able to check at body or street rod shops to see if they do it.

Good Luck!

[ta78w72]

So, you're saying the orange peel is in the clear coat?  I always thought it was the color coat under the clear coat.  I also thought you are suppose to wet sand the color coats before the clear coat goes on....is that correct?  Then wet sand the clear coat and buff...correct?

The reason I'm curious is I'm looking for another T/A and I'm sure anything I find at the price I'm willing to pay will need paint and interior...and lots more!

Of course Volkswagen wasn't going to sand anything...but I always thought the orange peel looked good on those cars.

[Jonnyscotti]

Isn't there a process called color sanding? I don't know much about it but when a friend of ours painted my brother's truck it had a bit of orange peel. He color sanded it and took out most of the orange peel.

You can ask the guys over at TAC, there's some people over there that are painters.

[turbota80]

Yes color sanding (wet sanding the color coat with 600 grit sandpaper and a block ) removes orange peal, but only from the color coat.  The process I told earlier is if the clear has orange peal in it.  Yes most paint jobs are color sanded before clear is applied.

[Hitman]

This is why I do not do body and paint work myself......  

[turbota80]

you should've seen how perfect we had to do everything in school :roll:

[hesster]

I just finished my black SE.  I used acrylic urethane.  You will always get some orance peel.  Do you really want that paint to be like glass - here is what I did to get a #1 appraisal rating on my paint:  wet sand with 1000 and then 2000 grit sand paper until it is dead flat and water shines like a pane of glass.  Stay away from the edges!.  Then buy or rent a varible RPM polisher (not a orbitsal buffer here!).  Set @ 1800 RPM.  Buy a GALLON of heavy cut polishing compound, and at least 3 reversible wool pads from a paint store.  Spray a little water each time on the pad and use lots of compound - let it do the work.  Buff it until it is smooth and you hate yourself, as this is messy.  Dont be shy about working the crap out of the paint - just stay away from edges and orient the buffer so it will not "grab" any edges.  Final buff with swirl removal compound, and then finish with wax and a orbital buffer.  You can make a garage paint job look like it was done in a booth by a pro.  If I knew how to post pics, I would.  My appraiser could not believe I did the paint in my garage![/img]

[evilways]

color sanding will elemenate orange peel in the base coat. If you clear coated before sanding, you're kinda stuck with it. If it is in the clear, you can buff alot out, but be careful, as the earlier post instructed. Usually orange peel isn't as prevalent in clear, but other issues such as solvent pop and dry spray occur.

[428 78T/A]

Thanks for all the replies. I used a full gallon of clear at a ratio of 4:1 catalyst. Do painters typically use more? Id venture to say that there's 5 or 6 coats of clear, as well as paint, which I didnt have any peal in. Ill go ahead and do the 1000-2000 wet and see what transpires. Im afraid to guess how much a gallon of polishing compound must be. Time to empty out all my beer cans for recycling money.

[steve18in78]

You won't always get orange peel.  But if you do...
The first reply was dead-on to my technique.  Because you can't dare cut through the clear, I double-clear my cars.  Here's a secret to keeping a double-clear shoot from looking 'fat'...don't mask off anything.  Remove it all with the utmost care, and roll the clear into the trim cavities just like the factory.  And 'roll' doesn't mean use a roller and pan--it's the way you taper clear into cavities or other areas which will be covered permanently by something after assembly.  READ THE LABEL on the clear coat cans and wait the maximum time stated after spraying before finishing the paint job off.  I NEVER finish a shoot less than 30 days after I clean up the gun.  The car should not be driven, washed, or exposed to the elements during this curing time while the esters bleed out.  The clear needs to be completely cured for maximum hardness before finishing.  Buffers generate heat, and heat improperly and too soon applied to the layers of clear which are in various stages of set and cure is what kills paint jobs before they ever leave the shop.  It looks great, but it's already dead.  It soon gets hazy, so you buff it again.  You just can't figure out why, but it gets hazy again.  And again. And then you see large areas of paint without clear start to appear.  And then you're screwed, only two to three years out of the garage.  A good paint job will last YEARS with proper care.  And that starts when you shoot the first mist coat.
You reassemble the car after it's been buffed, and then the shine looks deep and hard and wet and stays that way.
I like to use three coats of base, hand-rubbed between each, and six coats of clear--one mist, two medium-wet, one wet, max flash time, two medium-wet, one wet.
This gives you lots of clear to finish without the buffer burning it, and enough to survive the very occasional subsequent buffings.  Do not buff the car often!
I apologize for the verbiose post, but I get carried away sometimes...







"I'm going to need a fast car...faster than that."