Hi all... Here's the situation: Painted my '52 Plymouth and then wetsanded the whole thing with 600 and then with 1000. Taped and painted flames on the front. Wetsanded the flames with 1000...maybe it was 1200. Sprayed 5 coats of clear, but it was too shiny. Wanted a satin/flat look, so we changed the recipe, and then sprayed 2 or 3 more coats and got the finish I was looking for. Here's the problem: The paint/clear feels rough. It's rough enough so that when I wash the car with a mitt, it snags fuzz off the mitt and I spend most of my time spraying the fuzz off with a hose. Parts of the car feel nice, and other parts feel like you're rubbing a shark backwards. What can I do? If I wetsand, how do I avoid the whirl marks? Can I use a wheel and some rubbing compound? Being a newbie to the painting situation, I'm hoping some of you more...errr...seasoned guys might be able to shed some light on the subject for me. I'd REALLY like to be able to avoid any more spraying. Thanks a ton, guys... Eric
I wonder if a Mother's clay bar would do the trick. Or McQuires clay bar. http://www.challengertalk.com/forums/f40/first-hand-wash-clay-bar-wax-vid-41912/ http://www.autogeek.net/motcalgolcla.html
Being a flat finish you wouldn't want to sand and buff it as it will add gloss, but if you really want it better then either you need to reshoot the clear and keep it as dirt free and smooth as possible or you can sand it down with some 1500 grit and follow it with 3000 wet which will give you more of a dull shine.
Your choices are limited... you have to much orange peel, dry spray and (probably) dust and dirt in the finish. Sounds mostly like dry spray as you say some area are smoother than others.... I would just blocksand the entire car with 1200. This will even out the surface, but the sand scratches will be to obvious. (But by starting with 1200, you'll actually save about 50% of the sanding time vs just starting with 1500, so don't skip this step...) I'd then block sand it with 1500. Make sure you use a BLOCK and make sure you do a thorough, even sanding job and you will have a nice, semi gloss finish. If you want, and your sanding arm hasn't fallen off, you can sand it yet again with 2,000. I've used 2,000 many time to "flatten" the gloss on clear.. This flame job is done that way. the redoxide is old acrylic primer and the flames are base coat/clear coat sanded as discribed above...
I hate flat paints ,Reshooting is one way ,Id wet sand and try polishing by hand If that doesnt work settle for the gloss
Hey Eric, I never tried to pet a shark backwards, but I've repaired a few bad paint jobs before! My public school math say's you have as many as eight coats of clear on the job, no? Try this: block sand the entire job with 400 wet & dry with dish soap and plenty of water. Sand back and forth, with no circular patterns! This will level the dry spray and peel and leave you with a surface you can choose how much sheen you want. You can jump up to an 800 grit or go with a cutting compound and polish out the job, again with back and fourth strokes, no circular patterns. A buddy of mine uses " Lemon Pledge'' over his semi-mat finish to seal it. " Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "
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