Sanding Base Coat Paint

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crazyhorse

New Member
I painted my sports car this weekend and am not real happy with it. I primed it and wet sanded with 600 grit. Primer looked good. After painting I have a couple of runs and some orange peel I didn't have in the primer. I think my gun wasn't set up quite right. I didn't want to clear coat it if I wasn't happy so I didn't. I wet sanded the base coat in one spot with 1000 grit and this takes out the all the defects and I'm real happy with the smoothness. What I want to know is now the basecoat is dull from sanding so do I have to buff it or will the clear coat make it shine? Thanks for any input on this.
 
no, like kelsodeez said, as long as its smooth.
no need to buff before clearing, the clear coat will bring out the shine.

but, before clearing, you may want to learn how to set up the gun properly.
clearcoat is usually more tricky than basecoat. and you want it to be right the first time.
 
Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it. I'm going to do some testing first, I've got alot of time and money invested and I want it to look as good as possible when done. Thanks again.
 
just make sure that every part you are clearing, is dull like the sanded parts.

you dont want any gloss. if theres a glossy place, thats where the clearcoat is not going to adhere correctly and will start flaking off.
 
Well now I'm totally disgusted. I started sanding with 1000 grit and that left some scratches I didn't like. So I switched to 1500 to get the scratches out and now it's starting to look blotchy the primer is showing through. I don't think the paint was thin enough to start out with, first time I've used this brand and I think it needs to be reduced alittle more than they say. I've painted a couple of other things and never had these problems. I've still got paint left so I'm going to sand a couple of pieces (hood, trunk lid) and shoot it with a couple of more coats of base and then clear coat it and see what happens. Maybe less material and more air at the gun would help.
 
rules to base coat

1. dont cheap out on paint. pay the extra coin for top quality name brands. goes on smoother, less chance of solvent pops and stays fresh longer.
2. when wet sanding a base coat, only use1500 (you CAN use as low as rough as 1000 but only if you are skilled in not burning through)
3. dont sand base coat unless you have at least 4 thick coats on or you will burn through like you did.
4. with sanding, less is more. keep it uniform and quickly go over a large area, then come back and go over it again. never ever fixate on one spot.
5. clean your gun really between primer/base/clear.

sounds like your best bet is to respray the base. i assume you arent that skilled at blending, and you are already working with a thin coat. dont get discouraged tho. now you know what you should and shouldnt do.
 
OK I have a plan. First thank you kelsodeez for the info. I think this weekend after I sand the hood and trunk (which is half the car), I'm going to respray with basecoat (2 or 3 more coats), and see how it looks. If I"m not satisfied, I'll let it dry, sand it with 1500 and then clear coat it. If it looks real good I'll clear it right away. It's alot more work but there's no comparison on the finish with sanding on the basecoat. It is soooo much smoother it's not funny. I guess if I'm going to do the work, I'll go the extra mile and make it sweet. Some of you guys must think I'm crazzzzy, and I may be, but let me know what you think. Maybe too many paint fumes already!!
 
i dont think you are crazy at all. i am just glad that you have the drive to do things the right way. alot of people half ass it and it shows in their work. a paint job is only as good as how much time and effort you put into it. and the effort doesnt stop after the painting process. keep it protected with some nice expensive wax and if your paint job doesnt turn out great, just remember that no ones first paint job is show quality. good luck man. im sure it will turn out nice.
 
take your time.

do it as many times it needs to take.
hell, do one panel at a time. either way, if you take your time, and stay anal about every part, you will have an excellent paint job that shows quality.

and this being your first time, you are going to learn a lot by doing. reading it and knowing the concept behind something is easy. but putting it into practice and actually achieving great results is a lot harder than reading makes it sound.
 
This isn't my first paint job, but I am a beginner. This one just happens to be giving me fits. I am a quick study though, and the internet is a very valuable tool and should be used whenever possible in all fields of expertise. You have to weed through some info some times, but generally it is very helpful. One thing I am not is a quitter and maybe more of a perfectionist than not, but I believe if it's worth putting the effort into, it's worth doing it right. I must admit this painting can be a challenge but it's not rocket science. I'll keep everybody posted and maybe it will give some inspiration to others. I'm not going to settle for a second rate job since this is the last time I'm going to do this car, so whatever it takes I'm up to it. Thanks again guys for the encouragement. When I'm done I WILL be proud of it! I'll be in touch.
 
This isn't my first paint job, but I am a beginner. This one just happens to be giving me fits. I am a quick study though, and the internet is a very valuable tool and should be used whenever possible in all fields of expertise. You have to weed through some info some times, but generally it is very helpful. One thing I am not is a quitter and maybe more of a perfectionist than not, but I believe if it's worth putting the effort into, it's worth doing it right. I must admit this painting can be a challenge but it's not rocket science. I'll keep everybody posted and maybe it will give some inspiration to others. I'm not going to settle for a second rate job since this is the last time I'm going to do this car, so whatever it takes I'm up to it. Thanks again guys for the encouragement. When I'm done I WILL be proud of it! I'll be in touch.
being a perfectionist is becoming a dying breed of craftmanship people. i'm one of those too. painting cars is something i have always wanted to do myself but i dont have the space yet. are you just painting in your garage? or do you have a more professional set-up? i've been lookin into how to build my own paint booth so if i paint any cars i wanna build a booth. but i have seen many excelent paint jobs come from people working in their driveways. i just wanna not deal with issues such as wind, dust, and temperatures. post some pics for us if you get a chance
 
visqueen, pvc tubing, air conditioning filters, duct tape and a very strong tubular fan is all you need. thats how i made my booth. you just have to create positive air flow within the booth. have the exhaust high up and the intake medium height. ill take some pics of my booth when i set it up this weekend.
 
visqueen, pvc tubing, air conditioning filters, duct tape and a very strong tubular fan is all you need. thats how i made my booth. you just have to create positive air flow within the booth. have the exhaust high up and the intake medium height. ill take some pics of my booth when i set it up this weekend.
yeah i would have done that same set-up myself but now i wanna just build a permenent one with all the trimmings including AC and heat lamps to help dry the coats faster to paint a whole car fast. and theres the filters for the exhaust to consider. if i only wanted to do one car i would do your set-up. but since i wanna do more cars i wanna build a better booth. post some pics still for us to see :)
 
OK time for an update. I decided to color sand about half the car (hood, trunk deck and some assorted pieces) using 1000 grit wet. I didn't take out all of the orange peel, maybe about 2/3, I didn't want to keep going through the color since it was kinda thin. I made some adjustments in my gun and sprayed another 3 coats on. It was also quite a bit warmer and I thinned the paint a little more. It looked really good this time so I clear coated it after about an hour (4 coats). The clear now is a tad rough looking but is very shiney of course. I guess my next step would be to wet sand (2000?) and then buff? So far so good.
 
yes, i would use 1500 grit to start, make sure you keep it very very wet.
use the 1500 enough to just make it a little dull. then switch to 2000. after that, if its not where you want it to be go find some 2500.
its a very long, very messy process.

personally, i would just get a water hose, and turn it on to get a decent flow, not full blast, just a steady stream and have that spraying on the area you are sanding. go slow and pay close attention to how much you are taking off.
 
Thanks for the info. Do I squeegie it with the rubber pads like you do with the basecoat to check your progress? Also what do you recommend to buff with after the sanding, I have a variable speed buffer. Thanks ahead of time.
 
yeah, you can do that, or just have some paper towels or something nearby.

after buffing make sure you have a polishing pad for the buffer and polishing compound.
make sure they both specify polishing, you dont want any cut in it.
 
I'm in a similar situation and was wondering how this turned out. Thanks.
 
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