Orange peel questions

[Junior007]

I have a question about orange peel. I have a 2006 Toyota Sequoia that is salsa red pearl. The paint is in great condition except now that I have fully removed the swirls and scratches I see orange peel. What are the recommended steps to remove? I have been detailing for several years and now feel confident in taking this challenge on. I mainly wash clay use 80 and 83 followed with a wax. I definitely want to increase my knowledge. Also I have ruined several of the old style pads and will be replacing with the new machine washable kind. Will the new red cutting pad work well with the above mentioned process? To date all of the finishes I have been working on are base coat clear coat. fficeffice" />

[PorscheGuy997]

Re: Orange peel questions

In order to remove the orange peel, you will need to wet sand the paint. Being a factory paint job, it's not recommended as the paint isn't very thick.


Are you using a PC or rotary?

[TimG]

Re: Orange peel questions

I'm with Chris. Its not recommended but its still doable. Provided you're willing to sacrifice the lifespan of the paint.

Things you might need - rotary, PTG, Mirka (or similar), sanding disc, #105,#83, #80... (thts the only thing I can think of now)

Tim

[tguil]

Re: Orange peel questions

Don't even think about wet sanding your truck.

Tom

[retrofinisher]

Re: Orange peel questions

Orange peel, your peel is likely the clear coat only- depending on the extent you maybe able to take 1000 or preferably finer grit wetsand paper to bring to level. use a thin flexible hand sanding pad. Then repolish in steps

probably not worth the risk- you decide- Mequiars may have a suitable finish to reduce the effect.

I'd also ask a DEALER-FACTORY paint shop advise you on the factory finish method used when new.

[Jokeman]

Re: Orange peel questions

Orange peel, your peel is likely the clear coat only- depending on the extent you maybe able to take 1000 or preferably finer grit wetsand paper to bring to level. use a thin flexible hand sanding pad. Then repolish in steps

probably not worth the risk- you decide- Mequiars may have a suitable finish to reduce the effect.

I'd also ask a DEALER-FACTORY paint shop advise you on the factory finish method used when new.

I wouldnt go near the car with 1000 gritt. You would want to use 3000. It would take forever to remove the sanding marks from 1000 grit.

[TxZ71]

Re: Orange peel questions

I also have orange peel on my 5 month old truck. I didn't realize what it was until I got on this forum back in May. Is there anything at all a novice like myself can do to help reduce this defect? I would never even think about wet sanding my truck (I would just destroy it). Should I try and get something back from the automaker? Or should I just live with it? Thanks for the advice.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Orange peel questions

I also have orange peel on my 5 month old truck. I didn't realize what it was until I got on this forum back in May. Is there anything at all a novice like myself can do to help reduce this defect? I would never even think about wet sanding my truck (I would just destroy it). Should I try and get something back from the automaker? Or should I just live with it? Thanks for the advice.

Drive it up to Dallas and leave it with me for a few days

Orange peel is just part of buying a new vehicle. It's on just about every vehicle out there. Some you notice it, some you don't. Some of the higher end vehicles have less or no orange peel at all.
You will get nothing from the auto maker if you try and get something back from them. You're either going to have to live with it, or take it to someone and have them wet sand and buff it.

Nick

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Orange peel questions

probably not worth the risk-

Probably not, especially if any person asking this question

Has never wet-sanded an ENTIRE car before
Has never used a rotary buffer over an entire car before


Besides those to huge factors then there's this that most people don't touch on...

The factory finish on a new car was baked on before the car had any fabric, upholstery, plastic wiring, etc. installed because the temperatures can reach 300 degrees plus, this would melt plastic wiring and cause things like seats to catch on fire.

Point being is the paint on a factory finish is 100% cured and hardened.

Here's what this means to you and I when we consider sanding down a factory finish. Now follow me on this....

It's easy to sand paint, that's where you're putting scratches into the paint. That's easy. The hard part is getting your sanding marks out of the factory baked, case-hardened paint. Now that's the tricky part, that's the hard part.

It's especially hard if you have never used a rotary buffer or only used one a little bit, not like someone that has buffed out entire cars using multiple step systems. It's hard work, it's dirty work, it's risky work and it takes a long time.

It's not like wiping a car down with Quik Detailer.

Can a Rotary Buffer like a Makita or DeWalt be as Idiot-proof as a PC?


People hear or read the word wet-sanding or color-sanding and what they don't understand is that most of the sanding that takes place is taking place on FRESH PAINT that was sprayed at a body shop. There's a window of time where the paint is still soft enough to buff your sanding marks out of the paint more or less easily.

Remember sanding any paint is easy, it's the removal part that's hard and most sanding is done to paint where the removal part is as easy as possible and that's when you're working on soft/fresh paint, not factory baked on paint that is usually also thin as compared to a body shop re-paint, thus the risk factor.


Also, it's unrealistic to think about sanding down a car and then using a DA Polisher like the Porter Cable unit to remove ALL the sanding marks. You can use a DA to make the surface shiny again but there's a huge difference between making the surface of sanded paint shiny and removing all the sanding marks. You'll read people on other forums recommending or stating that you can remove sanding marks using a DA Polisher and you can, but it's unrealistic to try to do this over an ENTIRE car. A spot, sure if you know what you're doing, an entire car? That idea is a joke, it's too much work to use a tool with a clutch that the spinning will stop or slow down as compared to a true rotary buffer. So be careful about taking advice like this so loosely thrown around on other detailing discussion forums.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Orange peel questions

The clear on the factory paint is too thin. You may be able to remove some of the orange peel by wet-sanding but you will run the risk of clear coat failure. It also leave you with less clear for future paint corrections that may be needed.

You have to either live with it or go the pricey body shop route...on a daily driver it's not worth it IMO.

[Mike Pennington]

Re: Orange peel questions

The clear on the factory paint is too thin. You may be able to remove some of the orange peel by wet-sanding but you will run the risk of clear coat failure. It also leave you with less clear for future paint corrections that may be needed.

Well said

[retrofinisher]

Re: Orange peel questions

Here's a piece of critical info copied from a toyota users site.

Pertains to most solid non metallic colors.

• Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
  
  We appreciate you considering Toyota for your vehicle needs.
  
  The black paint featured on our vehicles does not have clear coat. We recommend you review the washing and waxing information in your owner's manual for proper maintenance assistance.

Also Toyota vehicles are known for thin paint coverage particularly trucks..

I suggest you just drive the car as is or get a custom $$$ clear top coat applied.

[Nick Chapman]

Re: Orange peel questions

Here's a piece of critical info copied from a toyota users site.

Pertains to most solid non metallic colors.

• Thank you for contacting Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
  
  We appreciate you considering Toyota for your vehicle needs.
  
  The black paint featured on our vehicles does not have clear coat. We recommend you review the washing and waxing information in your owner's manual for proper maintenance assistance.

Also Toyota vehicles are known for thin paint coverage particularly trucks..

I suggest you just drive the car as is or get a custom $$$ clear top coat applied.

I've worked on several black Toyota's in the past. All have had a clear coat. What vehicle was this in refrence to?

Nick

[Junior007]

Re: Orange peel questions

Thanks points well taken...i sort of figured as much but wanted to put the question out there to see the responses.