I was laying down the base coat on the 4 th gen parts tonight, and the first 20 ozs. got mixed right and was first coverage on most of the parts, the next 28 ozs. got mix with generic lacquer thinner instead of the reducer for the base coat. Now I have two runs on one fender, and fish eyes on the hood. The runs I don’t think are a major deal, but the hood got most of the stuff that was mixed wrong.
What can I do shy of stripping it all of and starting over? And will there be a problem laying clear over the bad mix?
i would say to sand the parts down and start over. you will need to at least feather the runs out and sand all teh fisheyes out. but what is causing fisheyes? are you making sure the parts are clean?
The parts were very clean. Clean with clear water first, followed the next day by lacquer thinner, followed by Acli-Clean (sp) by ppg, followed by a dry towel then paint.
I was thinking that the lacquer thinner in the mix, instead of the reducer was causing it. Would that be possible?
it is def possible. i have made the same mistake using lacquer thinner instead of reducer. but i just remember that it took longer to dry over reducer but it still turned out ok.
other possibilities how is your compressor? do you have a filter?
Compressor is drained every day before painting. Also there is an inline filter/water trap, and also a decessent (sp) filter right at the gun.
you said it took longer to dry, how much longer? The hood is the worst, i tried wet sanding on it before work this morning, and it just clogged the papaer with little balls of paint. it seem gummy, while sanding. The other parts really look ok, but not sure so I did not spray clear on anything yet. The is a little orange peal on the other parts, but nothing that a quick wet sanding wont take of quickly.
Going to try to go to the paint supply shop and talk with them today.
what kind of basecoat did you use? it almost sounds like you needed activator it should have dried even with lacquer thinner. to me it shoulds like you need to strip the parts down. i would be afraid of contamination at this point now. but that is what i would do. you can try to sand it out and spray the basecoat on dry. also did you seal the parts before you painted it?
I used Limco Base coat. THe only told me that I needed the activator in the clear. The parts were sealed with ppg omni surfacer primer. (I think this is a sealer too, right?)
And as for sanding it, if you atempt to sand it, it just clogs the paper with little gummy balls of paint.
I talked with the guys where I bought the paint today, and they told that they have a few customers that only use lacquer thinner to reduce. The also told me that the base coat never fully dries hard, that is the reason for the clear. I’m not sure about that. Because I have heard several guys talking about sanding the base coat before clearing to remove orange peal. Does that sound correct?
The bad news is I just ordered another 2 quarts tonight, that I pick up tomorow.
I guess I will give it one more try and see what happens. And then I will go back to paint that I have used before.
But you are right, after 24 hours it didn’t dry. it was dry to the touch, but it was far from dry. A little lacquer thinner on a rag, and it wiped right off.
So as for now the hood is back to primer, and metal in a few spots as I wiped to hard with the thinner rag. And the other parts are just sitting in thier various stages of orange peal.
Will the clear cover and of the orange peal of the base? Or do you need to sand it smooth before shooting the clear?
I would like to help you out but these 14 hour days don’t leave much time for anything…Try the Limco base with the correct reducer this time…don’t try to dump the paint on for coverage…base don’t like heavy coverage…as far as the orange peel parts go…wet sand the orange out with some 400 and give them 1 quick coat…you could cover the peel with some heavy coats of clear, but with you being new to this I wouldn’t try it…much easier to sand the base then to reclear…hope this helps.
One fender and the nose turned out fine for a first timer. The other fender had two runs, sanded down the runs, and re sprayed the lower fender and hood. This time the orange peel was HUGE. So I just got done sanding that down with some 600, and will try to get another coat on it by the weekend. I would do it sooner, but I have to hit the hospitial for a day or two for some heart shit…
orange peel is not a big deal. that can be sanded and buffed. but going the way you are doing it. reshooting clear will make it turn out better. i have done the same exact thing you have.
OK, now that all the hospital shit is over now, I got around to doing a little more this weekend.
Well here is the new list of what went wrong,
I sprayed the base, three thin coats, letting them flash 10-15 minutes between coats. Let the last one flash about 25 minutes, at this point there was a small amount of orange peel showing, but nothing that I didn’t think the clear would cover, and be able to color sand later. Well, after the 25 minute flash of the last coat of base, I begin spraying clear. Three coats of clear, flashing 15-20 minutes between each coat. After the last coat dried there was LARGE amounts of orange peel.
So fast forward a day later, I color sand the orange peel out of the clear. I didn’t go as deep as I needed to, to be able to remove all of the OP, but I got a lot of it out. Then I buffed with three step compound, beginning with a wool pad, followed by two foam pads.
Now for the problem, It will not shine. It will not buff smooth. I know I did not sand below the clear, as there was no color coming up while sanding. But it just will not buff up.
I’m lost as where to go.
sand more?
buff more?
:reloading myself?
pay someone to paint the whole damn car?
i had the same problem when i painted my grand prix with R & M that was about 9 years ago but it took like 4 months before it buff up not sure why… from then on ppg for me
And the other parts are just sitting in thier various stages of orange peal.