"InfinityAero" (infinityaero)
06/24/2016 at 19:04 • Filed to: None
2
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"InfinityAero" (infinityaero)
06/24/2016 at 19:04 • Filed to: None | 2
| 9 |
You may have seen my posts as I painted my car. Like most amateur jobs, painting it myself (with my cousin’s gracious help) left the car in a quasi-incomplete status. I have a triple-bladed occam’s razor to deal with at this point, so I’m open to suggestions. First, here are some pictures to detail the, um, detailing that is required to complete the finish of the exterior(sorry for potato quality, my good phone got totaled so I’m down to the $70 Nokia):
Next, a primer(hehe): When we applied the base coat, we ran late and couldn’t apply the clearcoat that day (would have been at 9PM in a non-temperature controlled environment where lights (and bugs) would have been involved). How you like ‘dem double quotations? Takes me back to Calc 3.... That means it *only* has three fairly heavily laid basecoats. So, maybe 3 mil thick. Plenty to work with. It has cured for 1 week. 2 part acrylic urethane single stage, I believe...
As you’ll note (and as I tried to highlight), there are some flaws: orange peel, couple drip marks where the primer rejected the paint, striping in two places. What should I do?
I can think of three options:
1) Later this summer, Color-sand with 800 then 1000 grit, clean, de-grease and apply clear coat (+2b)
2) Color sand with 800 then 1500 grit now, clean, wait one month for it to fully cure, then use a swirl remover, (2b) polish and wax to complete the finish
3) Take it to a shop and pay to play....
4) Some other option....
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So what do you think?
Birddog
> InfinityAero
06/24/2016 at 20:11 |
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I’m going option 1.
You’ve come too far to “pay to play” and you’d be letting yourself down to just sand and buff at this point.
Did you add hardener to the base coat? That stuff is pretty soft without the clear.
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InfinityAero
> Birddog
06/24/2016 at 20:19 |
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Thanks for the feedback! I feel it’s close— just needs those finishing touches. I did add hardener to the base coat— at a 4:1 manufacturer recommended ratio. It’s pretty soft right now but does seem to be hardening up as it cures. I know you absolutely can’t polish/wax before it finishes curing, since it closes the paint pores. I’m unsure whether I should sand/clean now, or wait a month until it fully cures; it’ll harden so I’m thinking the sooner the better for that stage, then just a good clean and degrease before applying the clear.
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Birddog
> InfinityAero
06/24/2016 at 20:25 |
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Awesome!
This is something every car guy should do. Once you do it a few times it’s really fun.
I usually do an enamel base without hardener and then a Urethane clear. 1:2 clear to catalyst. It’s odd the first few times because the clear is still “wet” for a loong time.
Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
> InfinityAero
06/24/2016 at 20:45 |
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Sanding with DA or blocking by hand?
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InfinityAero
> Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
06/24/2016 at 20:50 |
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I was thinking hand, using paper and a foam sanding block. Thoughts?
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Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever
> InfinityAero
06/24/2016 at 21:04 |
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DA would probably make your life a lot easier, and yield a better result. I’m guessing you’ve got access to one if you got that far with painting. 3M Trizact is expensive, but worth it in the end for finishing abrasives, IMO.
Have access to a buffer?
Echo51
> InfinityAero
06/25/2016 at 02:08 |
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Defo needs a good wet-sanding to take the orange peel, but honestly it looks like you botched the paintjob for it to be that bad. I also home-painted my car, however with a thinner based paint, and it only shows this bad orange peel when the spray job wasn’t proper.
I’ve heard somebody makes Denim polishing pads that are supposedly really good for orange peel too, maybe worth a look once you get it sanded smoother?
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InfinityAero
> Echo51
06/25/2016 at 17:17 |
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Started the wet sanding today :) Using 600 grit to level and 800 grit to finish. Looks like it’s going to go smoothly and not leave visible sanding lines with 800 grit, which should be a good grit for getting the clear to adhere well and bringing back the sheen of the paint.
I think a big part of the problem was not getting the clear coat on— my understanding is that tends to flatten out and compress down the paint as it cures. I’m guessing we also should have thinned the paint, and we used a nozzle on the upper end of the recommended scale so those two factors likely contributed. Laying down 3 full layers didn’t help, I’m sure. Beyond that, I was shining a light on it to really illuminate it.
Will look into those denim polishing pads for finishing the clear layers. Hopefully it’ll go on a little smoother.... but if not I should be able to run over it with 800 grit, 1500 grit, 2000 then polish. The clear can be thinned— I should look into that; I’m sure that would help. Otherwise, I think it recommends a 1.1-1.3 nozzle instead of the 1.4 I have on the gun, so I’ll have to pick that up.
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Echo51
> InfinityAero
06/26/2016 at 03:44 |
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Using thick paint makes this result too, so that could well be it. I heard people normally go up to 3000grit before polishing, but given a good compound you should be able to bring up a 2000grit sanding too.