Orange Peel Experts, Q's

[gb387]

Orange peel... is the "texture" of the orange peel in the color or the clear? If it is in the clear, can it be minimized with a rotary or say over time (a great deal of time) with the use of a PC? or is wet sanding the only way to clear up orange peel?

[Mikeyc]

OP can be in any layer of the paint. From what I've seen it can sometimes be reduced with wet sanding, but that will likely leave your paint very thin. The only good way to get rid of OP is to have the panel re-painted by a good body shop. However, the best way to deal with OP is to just learn to live with it. Unless this is a show car of course.

[showtime]

It's painting that causes OP in the first place. Even the best painter will have OP to some extent.

The only way I'd ever reduce OP is wet sanding. A rotory will generate too much heat and a PC would take you the rest of your life to finish a panel.

The best way to reduce OP is with a Mirka Bulldog or the like. They are VERY fine grit but move fast so they knock OP down efficiently. Because of the fine grit, it's not as hard to buff out as using 1500 or even 2000. You'll also have a more uniform "cut" and don't have to worry about tracers as much. Some DAs even have a water hook up to continuously flow water over your work area.

Personally, unless you're competing in a car show, I see no reason to wet sand a factory finish. Factory finishes are notoriously thin and are easily sanded through. Even if you wet sand to perfection, there won't be much clear left. My Mustang will easily win trophies at car shows and it's got original paint. Most cars at shows have swirls so any car with perfectly polished paint will always have a one up on the competition.

[gb387]

Thanks for the info, very helpful... its not that I want to get rid of orange peel, just want to learn a little more about it.

[Mike Phillips]

Just for everyone else that will ever read this thread and is considering wet-sanding the factory clear coat on their car, truck or s.u.v.


The factory clear coat on new cars is baked on in high temperature ovens before things like the wiring harness, plastic, and interior fabrics are installed, by the time the car leaves the assembly line the paint is completely cured and in most cases, as hard as it's going to get.

Factory clear coats are also typically thinner than what you would get at a quality body shop, so here's the deal, it's easy to sand down a finish, in essence you're removing paint and leaving sanding marks behind, (either by hand or machine), it's the removal process that can be tricky. If the paint is hard, then the sanding marks are going to buff out hard, of course it will be a lot easier if you use a machine system like the Mirka system, but it's still no picnic and you still have to be extremely diligent when you buff around edges and raised body lines.

Something to consider...

[Mikeyc]

wet sanding should not be attempted by unsupervised novices. I've chosen the easiest solution and just decided to live with the OP in my paint.