Painting/orange peel question

Hello all. I decided to try my hand at some painting on my '81 XJ 750. I pulled one of the side covers, used a hair dryer to remove the decal, and some 220 grit wet/dry sandpaper to sand it down. I then used some 400grit to make it a bit smoother. I then primed it with some Plasti-Kote implement enamel sandable primer. I put on about 3 coats, and then went at that with some 1000 grit wet/dry (all sanding done wet). After I had that smooth (at least I thought it was smooth!), I laid down about 3 coats of Plasti-Kote gloss black enamel. I then wet sanded again with the 1000 grit. To make a long story shorter, I eventually put about 3 coats of clear on it (plasti-kote again).

My problem is that I can't get rid of the orange peel. I've never painted anything before, so I have to assume what I'm seeing is orange peel. The surface isn't "smooth as a babies *ss" like I think it should be.

Can anybody help me here? Do I need to use finer sand paper? Did I not spend enough time sanding? How long should I wait between coats to sand?

It seemed like every time I'd sand and then put on another coat (of either the primer, paint, or clear) the orange peel would just come back. It doesn't look too bad the way it sits, but I just feel like it should be more of a mirror finish.

Help!

Frustrated,

Muttly

 

Muttly"

You have to Buff-out the Orange Peel.

Take a ride to an AutoBody Shop and get the Stock Number of the Buffing Compound theat they use to Buff out freshly painted surfaces.

The counter man at an Auto Body Supply Place ought to know what you need, anyway. It's made by 3M.

It removes swirls and orange peel land leaves the surface a mirror finish ready to be cleared.
Then, you clear the paint and Buff the Clear when it dries!

 

sounds like you are getting some "blow-out" or "fish-eye". Most likely you still have some grease/oil that wasn't completely removed. That's tough to deal with and you may have to sand it all back down to clean plastic. If you do that, make sure you do a good scrubbing with a good degreaser. My favorite is Simple Green.
You can TRY this: do another round of sanding, and use some wet/dry sandpaper at 360 or 400 grit.Use the Simple Green for your liquid. Flush it off often with clean water, wet sand more with Simple Green. After taking several layers back off dry your cover with a good clean cotton cloth, like a tee-shirt. DON"T use the red shoprags like they have at harbor freight. Those have a gazillion tiny fibers that will give dust nibs all over the place.
Last step immediately before spraying.....wipe down lightly with a tack cloth to remove all dust.
I also make sure to wash my hands well with a degreasing dish soap, or a good shampoo just to make sure there's no grease, shop-wise, food-wise, body-wise that could get into anything a cause problems.
Good luck with the next go-round.

dave

 

Thaks Rick-O-Matic and Hogfiddles. I'll check out my local auto body place and get some of the compound you're talking about. Hopefully I can just apply this to the side cover the way it stands and get out any orange peel.

How do you apply this stuff Rick O Matic?

Hogfiddles--After each sanding I thouroughly wiped down the piece with mineral spirits to remove any grease or leftovers. Wouldn't you think this would have been enough to get rid of the grease you talk about?

Thanks for the help guys. Any more advice would be appreciated.

Muttly

 

wet sand primer with 400 wet with simple green as hogfiddles said
rinse with clean water, water should not bead at all, while wet it should look like glass
air dry, dont touch it with anything, now paint
the mineral spirits might be whats doing it

 

Some guys just squeeze the bottle and let it go on like they are putting Ketchup on a hamburger. I like "Dripping" it on and getting a thinner bead to work with.

The major factor is the Buffer and the SPEED (rpm's) of the buffer,
The buffer needs to be at around 11-hundred rpm
Too fast and you burn through the work!
To slow and it messy because the compound starts flying around.

Keep the buffer moving at all times and don't think you can make a spot brighter by spending more time buffing in one spot.

Buff areas.
Not spots.

 

The compound you want is a G3 cutting compound, and then to finish get a G10 finishing compound. Both made by 3M. They come in a yellow squeeze tube. Get an applicator pad as well,(white spongey pad with a cloth like material) and make sure the panel is wet when you apply the G3 with the applicator. A small dime sized dab is enough. Then, spray water lightly onto the compound, and keep it wet while buffing. Buff a bit, check it, wet it, buff more untill all white is gone. Do not press on it with the buffer, let the weight of the buffer do the work, and constantly move the buffer. Not too fast or you'll get swirls. Too slow and you will burn the paint. Preferably do this on the clear coat. You can paint plastic panels with car paint, as long as you have a primer on the plastic.

Usually a good 500 or 600 grit is perfect for getting a smooth surface to paint on.

The orange peel is also determined by how light your coats are. If they are too light, you will get heavy orange peel. If they are too thick, it will look like glass when wet, then orange peel like crazy. Also to make sure no oils or anything are on the panel to keep it from fish-eyeing is ideal. A "new car solvent" is usually wiped on with the blue disposeable rag, then tack cloth is run over the panel to rid any fibres. Then paint away.