Okay, i dived into this project head first with no experience whatsoever.

I got a free car and decided to give the $50 paint job a try. At first it went on nicely, nice and smoothe, minimal orange peel. Then on the final coats, this is when i notice i started getting my problems.

Orange peel was more evident layer by layer, and i was heavily wetsanding in between. I tried a final wetsand with 1500 grit SP, then 3M Rubbing Compound but the paint came out like crap.

I noticed that i've gotten really good results with the spray can surprisngly so here are my last two options:

I can sand it down heavily with 800, then 1500, and spray on a layer with cans to preserve some of the natural shine of the paint, then just polish and wax regularly, as i got crappy results when i do a final wetsand.

Or, i can sand it down close to bare metal, prime it and let Maaco take care of the rest.

I'm leaning towards the second option, just becuase this whole project has been so time consuming, school has started and i just want to finish this project ASAP. If i do go on with this, can i just use a regular electric sander and sand it down? Will the regular spray primer be good enough? After that i'd let Maaco spray it.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/bro...61590

that is the sander i will be grabbing, if it askes fro a psotal code jsut type in M2N 1U8.

I guess my question is, can i just use that sander to sand down all the Rustoleum and prime the car with canned primers?

And Maaco here is charging me $800 just for shooting a single stage.. it sounds insane, cuz iv'e read guys down in Cali pay only $300 or so. I will be prepping all of it and that's what they're charging. There's not many Maacos here in Toronto.

(I'm in NO way bashing the $50 paint job, i've seen enough good results to conclude that wiht the right skills and tools, it can look amazing, but for an average Joe like myself who's relatively new to painting, it's not an easy task. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, as it is tedious work, but results can either be amazing or complete crap.)

 

I think you need to use a higher grit if youre getting bad results from your final wetsand.

But yeah, that sander would work i think, just make sure you get automotive sand paper and not wood sandpaper, wood sandpaper is too rough and youll eat up the metal, which will show through in the paint.

 

Ya i was using 400-600 when i first noticed the OP, but then it kept coming back. It's sanded pretty smoothe right now, and i'm contemplating throwing another coat of Rusto to see how it turns out but it'll just be more sanding if i do decide to strip it.

I'll prorably grab 120 grit automotive sand paper and sand the Rusto out with that sander then.