HamiltonRex

Hi, I just painted my car. Prep was good, primer was good, base went down no problems, and I was on the 3rd coat of clear and I got some nasty runs, huge eye sore. Mainly on a front fender, and the bumper.

I painted the car white, and im a noob. So it was hard to 'see' the clear going on. Also, It sprayed out much heavier than the base coat did for some reason. It was also cold out, well not 'cold'.. cool, probably 60deg.

I do have time and patience to fix this, I did want to 'cut and polish' the car, or wetsand and buff. So im guessing, I just hit the area's with a block and wetsand untill I get the run out? Than wetsand gradually up to 2500 grit? Just to take the 'shine' off in the area's with no runs i imagine.

I have also heard of the razor blade method to 'scrape' the clear down, I might try this on the fender, as there is about.. 8 runs, probably 6" each. I didn't see them as I sprayed, only on the 4th coat.

So any comments or suggestions? The car looks great and the finish is awesome otherwise, there is slight 'orange peel' and some junk in the clear (garage paint job), so I wanted to do this wetsand and buff anyways.

How long do I have to wait before I can start the wetsand and buffing process? Maybe 48hrs or longer?

Thanks, Looking for comments from experienced people only.

Also, I just want everyone to know that this is just a winter car, NOT a show car, so its a learning experience and dosen't have to turn out perfect, However, I do what it to look good when its done.

prelude1897

what I would do in this situation is basicly just sand down the runs and just reclear that area. This time be a little more careful. Always put a light coat on first, and then put a heavy coat on. That way with the first coat, the 2nd coat has something to stick to. As for the orange peal, that's just something that's going to happen. Even on cars straight from the factory have orange peal

HamiltonRex

sand down the area to what degree? Just with 600, just enough to scuff the clear and straighten out the area with runs? Then clean it up?

I WANT to wetsand and buff the entire car, I want to do it for experience.. So I believe that I can get these marks out during the wetsanding process.

Maybe I should re-clear the fender and bumper? And just cut/polish it after except the runs wont be there?







as you can see, the fender is pretty bad. There are a few 'sags' but I think they will straigten out pretty easily when I block the whole car.

gorillafart

iTrader: (1)

LOL those arent a few sags... it looks like your clear coat is running like a marathon...you're gonna sand that and for sure cut into the paint...you're gonna need to repaint it for sure

u can try getting a razor and cutting off the runs as flat as you can.. then come back and color sand it

HamiltonRex

This is what im going to try and do.

If I sand the runs, and just the runs down to the level with the rest of the clear how am I going to sand down the the base? Once the runs are out im not going to keep sanding.

There is a fair bit of clear there to work with. Even if I can get them much less noticeable (white paint), I will be happy. Just a learning experience. I got some heat in there now to help dry the clear to the point I can work with it.. It hasn't been 48hrs yet so I don't want to touch it.

If worste comes to worste, I will re-spray that fender and the bumper. There are a few 'sags' in the rest of the car, but not runs that look like that, very minor that im confident I can easily wetsand out during the cut/polish process.

prelude1897

For runs that bad, you could use 400 grit, cause it's going to take awhile to get those leveled, then move up to 600 grit, to thin out the scratchs, then I'd reclear the whole thing so that it all flows together instead of it looking glossy in one spot and not the other.

I've heard ups and downs about the razor trick, but I don't ever try it unless its along the edge. Any time a run is on the panel, I just wet sand. Next time around, remember to spray a light coat first, then give it about 5-10min before spraying a heavier coat. Also be careful with how far/close and how fast/slow you're spraying

notmightydx

tempature pending, let the first coat dry 10-15 mins this will help a lot! also spray 6-8" from the panel. goodluck

shocker911

man it looks like you were full blast on that fender....try the razor blade trick to get them dwn and wet sand hopefully you have enough clear on there that it wnt go to the paint

Fibercation

iTrader: (5)

normally razor then wetsand but those id just sand it all down 320 and repaint it and easy on the clear

HamiltonRex

easy there..

I sanded it tonight, starting with a rubber block and 1000 grit, and got all the runs out, I just sanded across them and stayed ontop, I could feel them, I kept cleaning it off and checking it often untill they just disapeared.. than I sanded the fender with 1500 to get all the peel out and scratches from 1000, now I just have to do it with 2000 and im going to hit it with some compound and polish and see how it looks.

Ill get some pics up as I progress.

Ive got 4 coats of clear on so hopefully I don't sand though.. Im guessing if you sand though you have a dull spot that dosen't shine?

The roof and trunk is black, but the white dosen't LOOK so that bad, because its hard to see the peel.

Civic-Kids

u know wat u doing... no need to ask for help.. lol

samba_green_sol

they make a razor blade holder that glides across the paint that will keep the blade from getting to close and possibly scratching through the clear.

ask about it at your local paint shop

mztykal

Why do you need a holder? Run it over some paper, bend it and you're good to go. When it stops cutting nicely, get a new one.

HamiltonRex

Well, I use a buffing compound and cotton wheel by 3M, as well as a polishing compound and a polishing wheel by 3M, got a variable speed buffer, kept it on a medium speed and went at it.

It turned out great, its nice and shiny, pretty damn flat and you can't tell there were any more runs. It looks much better than a unbuffed/sanded part of the car that still has peel.

I just take my time, i burned though in one VERY small spot.. I mean its like 1/4" long by 1/32" high and its on the edge of the fender about halfway rolled over into the wheel well (rounded edges on my dsm), and you cant even notice it... Im sure this is because its white.

The black on the roof/trunk will have a much bigger effect im sure since it is so much easier to see the peel VS the white.

I will get some finished pics of the car once its all together.

Thanks for all the help