finishing help required

[mickmick]

ok, i work to a very small budget before anyone starts on me!!!

my rear LH quater, just behind the fuel filler cover was looking like a bad case of exzehma (if thats how you spell it) with the origional clear laquer flaking away

so, i used a fine wet n dry paper (1500 i think) and plenty of water to remove it and be left with a patch of unlaquered paint

i then added 5-6 layers of clear laquer, but, as i dont have options of garage with paint gun etc etc i made a small over spray on one area and have got a bit of a "sag"

now, the rest of the laquer looks good(not brilliant but its shiny and no longer flaking away) but i want to know whats the best method of flattening down the "sag" area


also, but nothing i can do about this, i noticed that when i rubbed the old top layer away the paint underneath was slightly brighter than the old higher layers, so i do have a slight two tone effect going on, but its not flaking away


anyway, back to the question..........what can i use to fatten out the sagging laquer

tyvmia

Mick

[F1 LOTUS]

I don't believe there are any shortcuts here, so you'll need a rubber sanding block and a few grades of wet/dry paper 800/1200/1500 and use soapy water. If you're using aerosols it will probably help if you place the can in hand-hot water just before you spray, this will give more pressure and a finer spray. Also, keep the can moving all the time as you press and release the button

[Elanlover]

I've seen "cans" that you can buy where you can fill your own paint in them and then spray like an aerosol can. Close as you'd get to a paint gun look without one I think. Unfortunately, I can't recall who makes them or where you'd get them but perhaps you could Google for it unless you've got that covered already or are using a aerosol dispenser.

Interesting tip on sitting a can in hot water before spraying Brian!

[surfboardfiller]

Don't worry about it, you can get p1200 wet and dry and lightly cut back the sag and T-Cut to give a nice finish.

for flat areas just (double sided) tape the wet and dry on to a bit of perspex, or sealed MDF if you are desparate.

The trick with hand spraying is to start spraying off the job and work in sideways strait lines one below the next, then wait before giving the next coat.
Check your distance from can to job too and shake well before use.

Lots of thin coats usually works better than fewer thick ones.

The two tone is probably the difference between base coat and top coat or a respray at some point.

Cheers,

Phil

[GeoffSmith]

With a new sheet of wet and dry, rub it on a bar of soap first.

[surfboardfiller]

With a new sheet of wet and dry, rub it on a bar of soap first.

?

[GeoffSmith]

Bit of lubrication and makes it less aggressive the first time you use it! As Brian says, use soapy water as well.

[surfboardfiller]

Bit of lubrication and makes it less aggressive the first time you use it! As Brian says, use soapy water as well.

Ahh, I sometimes rub two pieces together to reduce the risk of scratching, just to cut the most agressive peaks off the grit.

[GeoffSmith]

I just use old sheets but that's because I'm a tight git!

[surfboardfiller]

I just use old sheets but that's because I'm a tight git!

[DeanG]

It's nice to see someone else tackling the paint problems. Let us know how it worked out as I have been afraid to re-clear coat one spot on my headlight pod.

A few years ago I finally attacked the car with a full program of wet sanding and polishing. By using a succession of 1500, 1700 and 2000 grit papers (all with a bit of dish washing liquid in the water to keep the paper from gumming up) I was able to get rid of most of the orange peel. In a few areas I was afraid to keep sanding as it seemed that I was taking quite a bit of clear off the car so I didn’t remove all the orange peel. I then worked through various levels of polishing compound and ended up with a nice shine.

What I learned was: 1) Plan on spending a great deal of time. 2) Wash - Wash – Clay – Wash the car before starting with the compounding or sanding. 3) Wash the car immediately before any sanding or polishing or when changing product. If there is any road or atmospheric grit on the finish when you start sanding or polishing will be ground into the finish. 4) Start at the least aggressive method and then go to a more aggressive method if the first doesn’t do the job. Because of this I spend about three days doing the driver side door because I started off with a fine polish working my way step by step learning what each polish or paper would do before ended up with 1500 grit wet/dry paper as my most aggressive method. After this bit of leaning thing went more quickly although the drivers side door is still the nicest panel on the car. 5) Stick with one brand of polishing compound. That way you can easily get a good idea of what the differences there are between the various levels of aggression (girts). 6) A good orbital sander with foam waffle pads gets results a great deal faster than by hand. 7) Ease up around edges. I have light scratching around the antenna because I was too heavy handed. Park on a plastic tarp. Having a nice clean place to put down your tools keeps grit from getting on thing and ruining your work. 9) Don’t skimp on supplies. Having plenty of waffle pads, sandpaper, towels makes things go more quickly and keeps you from cutting corners. Remember to mark each polishing pad so you don’t use a pad contaminated with aggressive product late in the process. 10) Always use a rubber backing pad when sanding. It distributes pressure more evenly than your hand can. 11) Do one panel at a time. It helps you see and compare the results. 12) Finish the process with clay. If you feel the clay doing anything it means that you have not done the polishing correctly. It acts as a final quality check.

I am sure I learned and forgot more about the process but that will have to wait until another time.