[vwohana]

Just painted our car with PPG acrylic enamel and it has some orange peel. Is it possible to fix it? If so, what would be the procedure and materials to do this?

[58Apache]

Originally Posted by vwohana

Just painted our car with PPG acrylic enamel and it has some orange peel. Is it possible to fix it? If so, what would be the procedure and materials to do this?

Some orange peel I found was almost unavoidable for us amateurs. You'll need to sand it out smooth by hand with 800 grit, preferably with a flat surface tool such as a sanding block, then polish with a high speed powerful buffer. I hired a pro to do this on mine. One area where you burn through to the base coat and you have a major repair on your hand.

I hope you put several coats of clear on? If not, I'd have at least 3 coats of clear on before you sand and buff.

...and unless you live in a dry climate make sure you drain your compressor tank, water filter is drained, and have a disposable water filter at the gun. Also wear a head band. Don't ask me how I know!

Steve

[mercmad63]

I'd leave the car in the hot sun for a couple of days.Then use 1000 rather than 800, try to get it as flat as you can and use water with a little liquid dish washing detergent in it. This helps lubricate the sand paper and make sure you sand with a motion that you can' hear' cut , Do not push hard with the paper and change it often . Once you have it flat go with a 1500 or 2000 paper ,very lightly before going over with buffer. The main secret trick is to get a flat Matt look to the paint with total coverage BEfore you go with the machine or hand rubbed compound.

[vwohana]

I forgot to mention is that it is Single Stage and the color is Yukon Yellow.

[perrib]

3M makes color sanding blocks. Get two, one to sand and one to squeege with. As stated its important just to take the least amount off possible or you will be doing a lot of blending and a bit of soap works wonders to keep the paper clean. The finer the paper the harder it is to sand and the easier it is to polish. One option if its a daily driver is to leave it alone color sanding removes the uv absorber from the paint. Without being garage kept the paint fade much faster. Chances are 1 out of 100 people will even notice.

[vwohana]

Thanks for the response! It will be a daily driver, kept out of the rain and sleeps in the garage. It was painted on the 31st in our garage. I might look into that 3m color sanding blocks and take off a little as possible to get it to look a little better.

[perrib]

They are small 2x3x1/4 and 1x2 x1/4 inch thick flexible blocks. I have also seen large panels color sanded with a water bug d.a. sander.

[vwohana]

Ok quick question, since I painted it on the 31st of July, when would I be able to do the 3m color sanding you recommended?

[perrib]

3M is just the brand of the squeege. They do have a complete selection of buffing compounds.Under the right conditions Ureathane is supposed to be fully hardened in four hours. Six days should be plenty. I would check with the paint manufacturer to be on the safe side.

[scrot]

Instead of wet sanding and buffing, just compound and polish it to smooth out the orange peel. This will not take off as much clear.