Paint feels smooth, looks wavy?

Alexshimshimhae said:
if the clearcoat is level and flat, but the paint under it has the orange peel, then you're saying wetsanding still fixes it?





Sorry, that was the confusing. I meant no, there's not really anything you can do if its in the basecoat.
 
AeroCleanse said:
Not unless you have a PTG and know your stuff.



Still not worth it IMO on a daily driver. Most cars have bad enough orange peel you can remove .3-.5 mils and still have noticeable orange peel. Remove that much and you can have issues in the future doing a hard correction if the owner doesn't take care when washing the vehicle. If it is a garage queen and the owner is willing to commit to proper washing techniques, then you are probably okay.
 
Thanks everyone! I now know that it can be corrected; and that I'm not going to risk trying to correct it. I'll just be content to make it stay as pretty as I can. ;)
 
It may be worth trying a small inconspicous test area. I clear coat a lot for a living, if I get orange peel i'll just wetsand it gently with 1500/2000/3000 then a quick polish T-cut or something similar and its smooth as glass. No harm in trying! I have wetsanded lots of parts of my volvo for scratch removal etc with awesome results. Although my volvo is considerably older than yours :)
 
Wow, I'm surprised no one mentioned your LSP. Wolfgang has that pseudo carnauba look to it, which seems to enhance orange peel. The polar opposite of that is the Klasse Twins, they will make your paint look flat, to the point that many people say it looks too sterile. Collinite 845 seems to lay down pretty flat too. Before you do anything extreme, try another LSP.
 
Alexshimshimhae said:
if the clearcoat is level and flat, but the paint under it has the orange peel, then you're saying wetsanding still fixes it?



If the clear coat is flat than more than likely the paint will not have orange peel.



Orange peel starts in the primer and is usually present through out each of the different layers unless the automobile is sanded flat in between steps. Ultimately it is the orange peel in the final coat that we mostly see. Think of scratched up black paint that is gray and hazy looking. If you run water over the surface and allow it to pool you will see a wet, smooth, highly reflective surface (since the top of the water is reflecting the majority of the light). When the water runs off you are left with the current finish.



However as an aside, keep in mind that you will thinning the clear coat more in the areas where the base coat has it's peaks, which means even less clear coat coverage.

The flatter you make the paint, the more clear coat you have to remove exponentially. This is because as the paint gets flatter the sand paper will begin abrade the valleys as well (unless you are using a VERY stiff sanding block). The flatter the paints the more this occurs until the point where you are removing material near evenly.
 
gigondaz said:
misc076.jpg



Is that a picture of a reflection of a halogen light?!!
 
I realize now that my Volvo had ResistAll (aka Cal-Tex) applied to it. I've read good and bad things about it. Wondering if it could be the culprit for the waviness? I'm not even sure how to get that off or if it's worth keeping on. I have already put Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 over it... Maybe I'm just grasping at straws.



The side panels look good, but I have not had time on a clear, relatively warm day to look at it outside. Maybe I'll ditch work a little early today and check it out.
 
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