Paint Gurus?

imelmo · Apr 30, 2012

So I painted my '05 bumper and Harley Davidson grill this weekend. The paint laid down nice and smooth but the clear came out a little orange pealy. For whatever reason I do ok with paint but I suck at shooting clear. LOL

Can I buff or wet-sand the clear to make it smoother? Pretty sure I've heard of that but not sure what I need or what the process is. Thanx!

Here's how it looked BEFORE the clear. LOL

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MINK · Apr 30, 2012

Start sanding! You should be able to get most of it out granted there is enough clear there.

imelmo · Apr 30, 2012

MINK said:
Start sanding! You should be able to get most of it out granted there is enough clear there.

It was two coats but I put it on fairly thick trying to get it to flow. What grit and wet or dry?

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MINK · Apr 30, 2012

2000 wet is what I have found for best results, take your time.

Rmartin-97 · Apr 30, 2012

At work I start with 1500 then go over it with 3000 grit.

chappy · Apr 30, 2012

Well first off without baking it I would not wet sand it yet. I like to wait a week after painting for the clear and paint to fully cure and flatten out as much as its gonna on its own. I like 2000 grit as well and sand for a bit and check progress by wiping off. Once its not orange peely looking after wiping dry then its ready to buff out. I use a DA porter cable and meguiars 105 followed by 205 and then meguiars ultimate wax. Perfect results every time and I do the same with tail lights when I tint them.

Powerstroked162 · Apr 30, 2012

Pics of the clear coat job please

Worstenemy453 · Apr 30, 2012

Wet sand and buff.

Use 1500 or 2000. Keep the sand paper clean no matter what and keep the paper and surface as wet as possible. Your ok as long as everything is whiteish as far as the water and all while youre sanding then buff.

At the paint shop on higher end cars, we would do 4 layers of clear. Start wet sanding with 400 grit and end with 3000 and then buff. It doesnt look any better after that.

You can wet sand and buff as soon as the paint is cured enough to not finger print, about 6 hours usually. Wait at least 30 days before you put any wax/polish or anything on it.

chappy · Apr 30, 2012

Worstenemy453 said:
Wet sand and buff.

Use 1500 or 2000. Keep the sand paper clean no matter what and keep the paper and surface as wet as possible. Your ok as long as everything is whiteish as far as the water and all while youre sanding then buff.

At the paint shop on higher end cars, we would do 4 layers of clear. Start wet sanding with 400 grit and end with 3000 and then buff. It doesnt look any better after that.

You can wet sand and buff as soon as the paint is cured enough to not finger print, about 6 hours usually. Wait at least 30 days before you put any wax/polish or anything on it.

Yes you can wet sand it then but then it looks crappy just like the work that comes out of body shops. Like I said, Wait for the paint to flatten out for a week or so beforewet sanding or it will need to be done again. Also there is no reason why you can't put a polish on it since its not a sealer like wax.

Worstenemy453 · Apr 30, 2012

chappy said:
Yes you can wet sand it then but then it looks crappy just like the work that comes out of body shops. Like I said, Wait for the paint to flatten out for a week or so beforewet sanding or it will need to be done again. Also there is no reason why you can't put a polish on it since its not a sealer like wax.

Here in Virginia, it doesnt look any different whether you wet sand 6 hours later or a week later. Never seen any difference what so ever, but everyone does it different.

Rmartin-97 · Apr 30, 2012

Our ppg clear if you don't wet sand and buff within an hour it won't hardly buff. With our old 2082 clear we'd bake them at 150 degrees for 30 min before buffing. We've never had problems with the clear dying back. If its dying back like that the person buffing don't know what there doin.

Rodslinger · Apr 30, 2012

Cutting the clear hours after painting will polish a lot easier. If you wait to polish it after it fully cures, you can cut out any shrinkage or sand scratch swelling. Now if you've prepped it correctly and waited the correct flash times between coats, you should not have much shrinkage.
Our show jobs get 3 coats of clear then baked. Next day get cut with 800 wet then recleared, wet sanded with 1000,1500 then 3000. If its black we go to 5000.
If its got heavy peal, hit it with 1200 to get it flat, then 1500 to get out the 1200 scratches buff it and call it a day. Hitting it with a 1500 or finer does not get it flat.
Hope that helps.

imelmo · Apr 30, 2012

Rodslinger said:
Cutting the clear hours after painting will polish a lot easier. If you wait to polish it after it fully cures, you can cut out any shrinkage or sand scratch swelling. Now if you've prepped it correctly and waited the correct flash times between coats, you should not have much shrinkage.
Our show jobs get 3 coats of clear then baked. Next day get cut with 800 wet then recleared, wet sanded with 1000,1500 then 3000. If its black we go to 5000.
If its got heavy peal, hit it with 1200 to get it flat, then 1500 to get out the 1200 scratches buff it and call it a day. Hitting it with a 1500 or finer does not get it flat.
Hope that helps.

Hmm. I may have to post some pics to determine how bad it is.

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Rodslinger · Apr 30, 2012

If you think it's that bad, cut it with 1000 and reclear it. It will look 10x deeper that way. It's also a pain in the azz buffing grilles and small detail parts

Powerstroked162 · Apr 30, 2012

Pics please

fordfreak4life · May 1, 2012

imelmo said:
Hmm. I may have to post some pics to determine how bad it is.

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I always put down a light coat of clear and let it cure b4 I spray my heavy final coats on top..... Has worked so far.... Just time consuming

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imelmo · May 1, 2012

Keep in mind this is far from a show truck and the whole thing is gonna get wrapped eventually which is why I didn't really bother with any body work:

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83f350 · May 1, 2012

clearly i'm not a paint guy at all lol. but I really can't see anything wrong in those pics could someone who knows about paint explain whats wrong?

imelmo · May 1, 2012

Wow, that bad? LOL

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Dzchey21 · May 1, 2012

It really don't look that bad Danny.

If any thing sand and recluse. They look awesome doing it like that.

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