Sanding out orange peel in clear what grit to use first?

[lee g]

Trying to sand put orange peel in my clear coat and what grit should I use first?

 

[1968FormulaS340]

1500 wet, then 2000 wet, then bring the gloss back with a buffer. Using the buffer is also progressive. You will need the appropriate pads and compounds (this depends on which system you go with).

You could also go 1500 > 2000 > 3000 then polish. (less buffing time but more wet sanding time).

 

[rmazess]

i just did a vehicle.. i used 1500 wet.. with a bit of dish soap in the bucket of water.. and a sanding sponge.. then i used 3m -3 step process.. cut it, buffed it... polished it.. amazing results..

 

[DRENO]

What he said. That' pretty much what I did. After that everyone asked me if I painted my car, lol.

 

[1968FormulaS340]

The above is equally correct. You can just do 1500 then buff.

But I hate buffing and don't mind wet-sanding. That's why I go finer with the sanding.

 

[Rocky_JS]

Be prepared for a novice it could take 40 hours or more to complete. Take your time do a panel at a time if you have too and cover the rest of the car.

Change direction when you change grits to remove scratches from the previous grit. Do NOT sand what you cant buff or you will end up hand rubbing it out which is not high on my list.. Actually, it is not on my list at all!

When you get to the buffing stage wash between compound stages and clean or tape off jams and corners. Compound once it is hard is like concrete. Get it off the car. I use 3m 3 step compounds. Others have their preferences and I am sure will chime in. Good pads and compounds will run you +/-150.

 

[74DartSwinger360]

I did on my dart last month 1500 then 2000 then 3000 to get the overspray off the car and hand polished it with Rubbing Compound followed up by Polishing compound

Took a week because I did the car in Rubbing Compound right after finished sanding to reseal the paint then did the car in sections with Polishing Compound only spending a couple hours a day on it and 2 Microfiber Cloths for each Compound

The paint looks a thousand times better
I wanna redo the polishing again to get it even nicer but i did it the way I knew how to and am learnig to use an electric buffer at the moment
Pics are a few years in time different but shows the before and after and are taken with same camera

 

[lee g]

Thanks for all the replies. I sprayed 3 coats then sanded 800 grit till the paint was flat and also to straighten a couple of runs (got to aggressive on one run and it still shows) then sprayed two final coats. Now it is time to wet sand. Tried a small area with 1500 grit and man is it slow progress. I am sure mine has more orange peel than some since I am still very new to this. I will continue to work on it. Thanks everyone.

 

[74DartSwinger360]

Oh yea forgot to mention my paint is straight enamel and had orange peel no clear coat

 

[Rocky_JS]

as I said it takes time and a lot of patience. You could go 1000 or 1200, but beware it cuts quick.
If you use it don't flatten the paint with it. Get it close and let the other papers do that and keep the paper real clean. Use a flexible block.

 

[1968FormulaS340]

Thanks for all the replies. I sprayed 3 coats then sanded 800 grit till the paint was flat and also to straighten a couple of runs (got to aggressive on one run and it still shows) then sprayed two final coats. Now it is time to wet sand. Tried a small area with 1500 grit and man is it slow progress. I am sure mine has more orange peel than some since I am still very new to this. I will continue to work on it. Thanks everyone.

So you are looking at 4.5 to 5 coats of clear on it?

Be careful..... You can easily sand waves, flat spots, and even dents into that much material.

I would wet sand it with a hard block, a good quality paint stick for example.

(but here too, you really need to know what you are doing or you can get into trouble)

 

[Kern Dog]

If I get a ton of orange peel, I will use 800 on a D/A to knock down most of the "texture", leaving just a little. I'll step up to 1000 wet/dry by hand on a block using soapy water. Recently I did this, followed by 1500 on the D/A and finally 2000. At this point, the orange peel and sanding scratches are usually gone.
I read online that some shops are doing D/A sanding with water up to 4000 grit!
If you don't like buffing, THIS would get you back much of the shine before grabbing the buffer.
I recently finished a 72 Duster for my brother-in-law. He chose Inferno red crystal pearlcoat with the 71-72 style hood performance paint. he wanted a gloss black instead of Organisol. The finish is so smoothe I can see my wrinkles and a few gray hairs in it.

 

[lee g]

Yes I sprayed 5 coats total. Thanks for the advise. I was planning on a dura block to knock the orange peel down and then a small Meguires wet sanding block with the 2000 prior to buffing.

 

[Oldmanmopar]

Do not sand or buff directly on any body lines or edges. always use a large stiff rubber block on flat areas It will help sharpen the lines up.