10 replies to this topic

[reggie]

I have just managed to finish spraying my car with 2k, I have a fairly clean finish but have a few drips and runs, I've read that wet sanding them down and using a cutting compound to remove that sanding marks is the solution. I am probably going to wet sand the entire car to get an all-round smooth finish.

Just wondering what is the best compound(s) to use, especially if I am going to be doing the rubbing by hand. Also, how many days do I need to wait until I can start wet sanding

Cheers

[jack_marshall]

You need to leave the paint long enough so that pushing with your nail doesnt really mark it. Id give it a week if you didnt paint it in a booth, a day or 2 if you did.

As for the drips and runs it depends how bad they are. Small ones will flat out with 1200/1500 on a block and polish.

Bigger ones may not and if you keep rubbing you will rub through surrounding areas or you'll see the shadow of the run even when you think its dissapeared.

For larger runs your better off cutting the top of first. There is a cutting tool available for this which you will be able to get from your local paint supplier or try Frost.

For polishing Farecla G3 Advanced is what most bodyshops are using as it performs well and is priced pretty well. Its best used on a foam compounding head and mop/buffer (not grinder!)

[In-a-mini]

If you painted it in a garage ie not an oven/booth then i personally would wait a week or too just to let it go harder and sink back. Then would flat the runs with 1200/1500 then go over the car with 1500/2000 paper. polishing back by hand is quite hard you may want to borrow/hire a polishing mop. i would recommend farecla G3 and dependant on colour G10 for finishing. don't use compounds with ammonia in as these are meant for older paints and can rot 2k paints.

sorry jack i started the reply and got distracted

Edited by In-a-mini, 27 January 2009 - 06:39 PM.

[reggie]

Thanks,

Some of the runs are quite bad :\ So I guess I should cut the tops off first, especially on the rear valance. The weather ain't the greatest for spraying so I'll wait at least week.

Thanks for the tips, have ordered some G3 compound, maybe buy a mop, I'll see how the cash flow goes

[Saxo-Fiesta-Mini]

as said can take a week or 2 for paint to go hard has many people dont realise paint needs to react and go hard just like when you make something out of clay unless it goes i a kilm take up to a week to set

id would say if ur going to colour sand your car as its know make sure the wet and dry paper 1500 grit is wet as otherwise will make a mess of the paint

also if you use a polishing mod and rubbing compound u need to make sure it wet as otherwise it will burn the paint off

i would only advise either of these methods if uve done at least 3 coats of paint as otherwise ull be left with no paint lol

mainly used to remove orange peel effect when paint work is rushed or runs

its preferable to do more coats and take longer but each to their own ur main enemy is moisture as this give the dreaded orange peel

[In-a-mini]

be carfull with the runs some ties they are spongy in the middle and can peel really easy lso for minor rund you can use a razor blade at 90 degreessurfacnd gently scrape. also with some colours there is pigment setling that when you have a run it has settled at different rates so when pollished bach shiny you still see them. Most common with pastel colours.

[Burnard]

little tip my dad told me with the wet and dry; put some soap in the water, this helps stop the paper from getting clogged up with paint residue and also acts as a lubricant.

I painted the front of my car about a month ago now, and appart from the odd bit where my carless friends and family have marked it, it looks good. especially for my very first time with a spray gun, which i got for £12 lmao.



Chris

[Retro_10s]

its preferable to do more coats and take longer but each to their own ur main enemy is moisture as this give the dreaded orange peel

moisture causes micro blisters, Putting on too much paint in one go causes orange peel.

[jack_marshall]

And micro blisters will only appear in summer or winter as the damp in the paint tries to freeze or expand.

Bet you didnt know that!

[reggie]

Thanks to all for you your advice, my paintjob is comming up well using P1500 ang G3. the drips have settled down a bit so I am just wet sanding them down which seems to be doing the job fine. Tough going though!

I have done my Mini is black (maybe a bad idea for a first attempt) as it is showing up every dent that I never noticed before, even the slightest smallest dents become so much more visable when polished up, for example, where I filled over the previous aerial hole I can see where I have filled, it must be raised ever so slightly, but by touch it's not noticable, only by sight at certain light catching angles.

I would advice anyone who is going to do a DIY paint job, to think twice about doing it in Black (or any very dark colour) until you have gained enough experience to do a decent job. If any part of you is a perfectionist then the small inconsistancies in the paint job will drive you nuts, like it is doing to me /

In hindsight I should have chosen a light colour for my first attempt and been a bit more patient in the prep stage. I'd even suggest getting someone else to inspect the car at the primer stage and ask point out any inconsistancies, and tell them to be OCD about it! I've read suggestions that spraying a mist coat of black onto the primer before flattening it will show up inconsistancies when you flatten the primer. (Maybe I should have done that)

Thanks again for all the advice, I will post pics once I have finished the job...

[widerim_pickup]

I'm doing a black paint job myself, with graphics in metallic pink (as per siggy ) and pink metal flake. The trouble with filler is it is more absorbant than metal (obv.) and soaks up more paint which is a bummer best way around it is to use a few coats of high build primer on any filled areas.

For any paint job i would say that a light mist of colour is essential really.

When wet sanding i find a bit of dishwasher rinse aid helps a lot, it makes the water "wetter" that sounds weird i know but try it and you'll see. G3 is very good but personaly i would use 3m fast cut compound by hand or 3m high gloss compound by machine. I have a bit of a bonus in that my dad has a lot of bodyshop experience and it checking it over at every stage. Good luck and i'll put some pictures of my attempt up somewhere once done