Can this be done?

I

imported_Intel486

New member
I've done some automotive painting before and know someone who does motorcycle tanks so he could really help me. I'll also do a lot more practice painting before I do this.



Do you think it would be possible for me to colorsand my truck of all the orange peel and then re-spray the clearcoat myself? Would help remove a lot of the scratches too.



I would be taking it one panel at a time so I would be able to work carefully and fully mask off and cover everything, remove trim, decals, etc.



Would be pretty hard but would be a good experience if it can be done. What do you think? Possible or impossible?
 
Not having painted in years, I don't remember too much about applying clear. But if memory serves me correct, it's the heat that's applied to the clear that does the curing, and that's critical.

Most places I'm told by a friend who does paint, says that they try and cure the paint too fast. That leads to pulling out all the solvents too quickly. It eventually leads to premature failure of the clear.

Must be some websites or books on the latest info about the new paints. ( The paints have changed dramatically in the last few years.) Check around, I'm sure you can find something on them.

My friend has told me that they have just installed a second state of the art spray booth at the dealership where he works. So I guess it's getting even more technical. The new paints are more chip resistant, and need to be monitored more closely.

Whatever you decide, please let up know how you make out. I for one would be very interested in the results. Enjoy!
 
I've "color sanded" AKA "wet sanded" 4 complete cars and several partials, including 2 of my own, and I've checked with a few auto painters in the process to see what the long-term consequences would be, including the enevitable failure of the clear coat because you've removed so much sanding out the orange peel. Modern clears usually have a drying "accellerator" added to speed up the process. In the process of re-painting some panels on my son's Prelude, I used laquer paint and clear to allow me to color sand between each coat and do several coats a day. As far as re-clearing your whole car, unless you've got real good equiment, including a good place to do it, I'd look around for a body shop guy that will do it for you at his own "side job". Every body man/painter I've ever known does some work on his own time in his garage, and a good one will usually do it for next to nothing (compared to shop rates) and do a much better job than time allows at his "real job".

Jeep_top.jpg
 
I've done a fair bit of painting - large radio controlled airplane models. The biggest problem you'll have, provided you have decent technique, is DUST. Spray booths have filtered air passing through them to remove the nasties from the air. If you have access to a spray booth (which will also give you far better light than you're likely to have elsewhere) then go for it. If not, you might not be so happy with the finish - and you'll end up having to do a good bit of sanding and polishing.
 
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