So I had a guy fix my rusty 93 Si Coupe. Car was in rough shape, he replaced all the rust with new metal and did a great job. When it came to paint, he quoted me such a low price there was no money left after the great rust repair, I think he prep sanded the car with 40 grit wood sandpaper then laid a BC/CC paint job that was as orange peely as I've ever seen. I can't really complain due to the price, although he assured me it would look good, but I'm wondering if the car can be polished and made to look a bit better. It has been a few months, can anything be done at this point other than doing it over? Car looks good from 30 feet with sunglasses on, but I'd like it to be a little better than that.

 

lol, I hope he didn't prep it with 40 grit sand paper, if so orange peel shouldn't be your biggest concern. Depending on how dry it's sprayed, you'll be able to fix it to some extent. If it's too dry, my only advice would be to get it re-painted. If he put 3 coats of clear down, and it's just orange peel and not dry spray, you'll be able to fix it.

 

could you post up some pics???

 

Let's all hope he didn't use 40 grit to prep it with! Damn, If it's just orange peel, find a block, and some 600 wet sandpaper and start blocking. If you don't use a block, you will have a " happy car " as we called them in the body shop. They tend to wave at you going down the road.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RollinEk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Let's all hope he didn't use 40 grit to prep it with! Damn, If it's just orange peel, find a block, and some 600 wet sandpaper and start blocking. If you don't use a block, you will have a " happy car " as we called them in the body shop. They tend to wave at you going down the road. </TD></TR></TABLE>

600 is a bit much if he's just trying to get orange peel out and buff it. I would just go with 1500 or 2000, wet sand it (with a block) then buff it out. If you are planning on re-painting it, then I would go with 600, 800, or 1000 wet, get it flat then re-clear it.

 

I'll try to post up some pics.

I'm sure he used nothing better than 80 grit, but I would guess 40-60.

The paint was soooooo soft when I first got it, and for a month afterwards, I'm pretty sure he tried to mask the mess he made with clear. AND he dropped it off at night. arrgh.

If I took it to a detail shop, what should I ask for? For them to buff it, polish it, what? I don't have anything better than a cheapy Simoniz random/orbital buffer, pretty much just a wax applicator is all it's good for.

 

This one shows the Orange peel quite well, whole car looks like this.



Whole car.



The car cost me 350$, 600$ total on the road so I figured 1000$ for paint and rust repair, 1600$(canadian) all in i'm good to go. It's a 93 Si automatic with working A/C.
Runs perfect, doesn't burn a drop of oil.

But the paint is worse than I expected, even for 1000$.

 

^ that paint job is itching for some 1000-1500 grit sand paper

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Masta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm sure he used nothing better than 80 grit, but I would guess 40-60.</TD></TR></TABLE>

There's no way he prepped the car with 80 grit, 40, or 60, then just painted it. If he did you would see mad sand scratches, there would be valleys in his paint work. Your best bet would be to wet sand the **** out of it and buff like there is no tomorrow. Don't go any less than 1200 grit...I personally would suggest 1500 then 2000. If you take it too a shop and tell them you need it wet sanded and buffed, they are gonna charge you a good bit, cause thats an all day job, possibly even a two day job. To me it looks like he single staged it and layed it on too dry.

 

do 1200-1500-2000

 

Thanks guys, that is what I will try. You can't see the scratches, but man they are there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Masta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks guys, that is what I will try. You can't see the scratches, but man they are there. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That sucks man, cause if there are sand scratches you will need to do more than just wetsand and buff the clear. You'll have to re-do everything to make it right. It needs to be sanded with a finer grit, and you will have to use a high build primer.

 

how does someone paint a car to make it look that bad? just wondering what NOT to do

 

lol mines worst my paint looks like 45 grid

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msinsky14 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how does someone paint a car to make it look that bad? just wondering what NOT to do</TD></TR></TABLE>

Poor technique, lack of experience, home-made spray gun lol.

 

also be careful not to sand through the clearcoat, sand a small part of the car, like the edge of a bumper, something not noticeable, and do your technique on that, if it comes out good, do the rest of the car.

1200-1500-2000 then 3m rubbing compound would be good.

 

There is alot of different ways you can go about fixing it. It all depends on time and money. If have time and no money, then do the steps above. If you dont have time,but have money. I would sand it flat and re-clear it. If you re-clear it will turn out so much nicer since there is already a layer of clear under it. If the sand scratches are as bad as you say, then you might have to spend some money. Meaning you will have to cut throught the paint and feather out(or even top coat) the ruff sand scratches. Meaning you will end up repaint the car or ccertain panels of t he car.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fventura03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">also be careful not to sand through the clearcoat, sand a small part of the car, like the edge of a bumper, something not noticeable, and do your technique on that, if it comes out good, do the rest of the car.

1200-1500-2000 then 3m rubbing compound would be good.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Optimum, Menzerna, Poorboys &gt; 3M

 

I figured I'd do the hood first, that way if it's that bad, I'll just get a different hood.

I'm so tempted to get a Porter Cable buffer/polisher, but I'm not sure how to even use those things, and the products, man I get lost on Autogeek, I've been researching for weeks this paint and body stuff, and it's still so confusing to me. (I'm a cert. Tig welder, done more motor swaps than I can count, but Paint and body stuff scares the crap out of me.)

I guess I'll go get some sandpaper and start sanding. woohoo.

And thanks for all the replies , I wish I could get a good pic that shows the severity of
the scratches, it's quite upsetting.

 

I agree, it all depends on your opinion. If its a daily driven old honda to you, just leave it and don't waist time trying to polish a turd. But if its your sweet ride I would recommend doing it right and re-clearing. If the sand scratches are that bad, I would try to get a free re-do. Thats hack work/ back yard **** to pay for sand scratches on a solid color paint job.

 

It is my DD, I have a CRX that I'm resto-modding, but I still like to have a nice car for everyday use. I should have spent more up front, I would have avoided this. I contacted the guy who did it for a re-spray. No dice.

It is a good car to practice on though, this may be just the right reason to splurge on Autogeek.

 

That sucks, how many coats of clear? IMO re-clearing would be a better use of your time. Your right, you will learn alot if you flat sand, buff,polish,clean up an entire black car.

 

well i got the technique and a decent spray gun, but im painting my rio red crx soon and its my first time, sorry to thread jack, but what precautions should i take so it doesnt turn out shitty?

 

properly reducing the clear and using a good quality clear coat, the orange peel might be due to imporperly reduced clear plus the flow of air vs paint.

 

I think thats like the orange peel on my $100 roller paint job...I think I have less though because I prepped it better just wetsand it out with 1500&gt;2000&gt;25000grit and then polish.