[markha]

OK... I have finished painting the '32. And although the clear went on what I thought was pretty good, I am having some trouble getting the little bit of orange peel out of it. I am wet sanding with a spray bottle with a few drops of dish soap, a soft block wrapped in 2000 grit.

I am knocking the peaks of the orange peel and then trying to follow up with 3M Perfect-It Rubbing Compound on a Wool Pad followed by Perfect-It Machine Polish on a Foam Pad followed by Perfect-It Ultra Fine Machine Polish on a soft foam pad. But when I am done I still have some orange peel. I even tried sanding again and getting close to the base of the valleys, but still had orange peel when done. What am I doing wrong.

Should I be sanding the clear completely flat (all the way to the valleys) before polishing or am I not pushing hard enough on the first pass of polish.

I am just deathly afraid of burning through to the BC. I have 3 coats of clear on it, but I am terrified of ruining all my hard work.

 

[markha]

I added a couple of photos. It is really hard to see the orange peel in the photos. But I promise you would see it in person.

 

[302 Z28]

It's impossible for me to tell how much clear you have sprayed on. If you feel you have on enough, say four good coats I would go ahead and remove all orange peel. Orange peel is virtually impossible to remove by buffing IMHO, especially if the clear is PPG DCU2002.

Vince

 

[da34guy]

Hit it with 1200 to get it flat, 1500,2000,3000,4000 (if ya want to go that far)
Then buff!

 

[markha]

So I guess it needs to be flat before I buff. I really hope I don't go through to the BC. But I guess if I do, I will have a nice flat surface to repaint. :sweat:

 

[cyclopsblown34]

Get a 3M squeegee or a towel and dry the surface every so often as you sand, look for the shiny pits to almost disappear, then step to the next finer grade. Use the 1200 grit and a rigid enough backing to cut the orange peel and then work the finer grades to get it slick. I've used cut down stir sticks, aluminum blocks and several other items in places where a regular sanding block wouldn't fit. By the time you hit 3000 grit, you should be feeling really good about it. Work it a panel at a time. Once you have the car color sanded, then polish it. The polishing should go really quick if you color sanded thoroughly.
Good luck,
Chip.

The shiny pits you see as you color sand are the minimum thickness of clear you have. Once all those are gone, go no coarser than 2000 grit.

 

[kenseth17]

You need a hard block for flattening, and 2000 is really too fine to cut flat much of anything. Start courser and step down in grits till you reach your 2000 before buffing.

 

[markha]

You need a hard block for flattening, and 2000 is really too fine to cut flat much of anything. Start courser and step down in grits till you reach your 2000 before buffing.

Yep... Actually I am thinking about using 500 on a long block until flat and then shooting two more coats of clear. Then I will see if I need to color sand again.

 

[V8 Super Beetle]

Yep... Actually I am thinking about using 500 on a long block until flat and then shooting two more coats of clear. Then I will see if I need to color sand again.

Then you would know for sure you have enough clear. :thumbup:

 

[302 Z28]

Yep... Actually I am thinking about using 500 on a long block until flat and then shooting two more coats of clear. Then I will see if I need to color sand again.

If you feel confident enough about your ability to shoot the clear you can over reduce it by about 2%, crank up the air a little bit and really lay it on slick.

Vince

 

[markha]

If you feel confident enough about your ability to shoot the clear you can over reduce it by about 2%, crank up the air a little bit and really lay it on slick.

Vince

That is how I laid down the first three coats but still came out with some orange peel.

Now... This time I leveled everything with 500 and then used the maroon scotch brite pad it areas that did not need to be leveled. Then went in and sprayed the same way three more coats of clear and holly crap, what a difference. Very smooth. I need to sand with a 2500 or 3000 to knock out some dust nibs but almost NO orange peel. I am not sure why this works, but it does. I will be using this method from now on. Thanks everyone!

 

[V8 Super Beetle]

Glad to hear it worked well for you. Post some pics if you get the chance. I'd love to see how it came out.