TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:07 pm

OK I have a question. I did a rattlecan paint job on my car, and I am now wet sanding and polishing. It actually looks halfway decent.... I am wondering if it is worth clear coating with something? If so, what should I use?

Wed Sep 21, 2011 1:37 pm

I have a question as well. I'm working on cutting and buffing the paint on my 66 but want to know what method would work best for areas like the dash that a power buffer really isn't going to work?

Mike

Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:37 pm

A little off topic, but here it goes...
If you buy a brand new car, is it feasible to cut and buff it? Can you add clear to the factory paint?

Thu Jul 26, 2012 10:03 pm

No it is not recommended to cut and polish a new car. A new car typically has 2.5 - 3 mils of clear. A typlical color sand can remove 1 - 1.5 mils of clear, therefore leaving the vehicle without sufficient clear to protect the base coat and will result in a premature break-down of the clear. 2.5 - 3 mils of clear is really the least amount you want to have and still be able to manage normal polishing and care.

If you want to add clear, It requires a complete disassembly of the vehicle, sanding the entire car with 800 grit wet paper and being absolutely sure not to cut into the base coat anywhere!!! if you cut through, you would need to spot the base coat and completely refinish. I would not recommend this, as a refinished car is not a durable as any factory finish...period. The clear coats available for the aftermarket refinish indusry is not as good as the factory applied finish.

Here is a related article covering care of modern new car finishes:
http://www.goodspeedmotoring.com/advanced-reconditioning-processes/detailing-water-based-paint.html

Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:21 pm

j.goodspeed wrote: No it is not recommended to cut and polish a new car. A new car typically has 2.5 - 3 mils of clear. A typlical color sand can remove 1 - 1.5 mils of clear, therefore leaving the vehicle without sufficient clear to protect the base coat and will result in a premature break-down of the clear. 2.5 - 3 mils of clear is really the least amount you want to have and still be able to manage normal polishing and care.

If you want to add clear, It requires a complete disassembly of the vehicle, sanding the entire car with 800 grit wet paper and being absolutely sure not to cut into the base coat anywhere!!! if you cut through, you would need to spot the base coat and completely refinish. I would not recommend this, as a refinished car is not a durable as any factory finish...period. The clear coats available for the aftermarket refinish indusry is not as good as the factory applied finish.
Here is a related article covering care of modern new car finishes:
http://www.goodspeedmotoring.com/advanced-reconditioning-processes/detailing-water-based-paint.html

Hope this helps
Jeremy Goodspeed
www.goodspeedmotoring.com
Thanks man! I had a feeling it was a bad idea. Just thought why not know for sure!

Sat Aug 04, 2012 9:21 pm

thanx soo much for posting this!!

Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:53 pm

I saw somewhere in this thread earlier someone talked about 3000 grit somewhere and said they didn't really see a need for it. Depending on who you talk to that is correct except that the 3000 grit paper will make it that much easier to buff out. And for the hard to reach spots if you use the small air angle grinder he showed with buffing pads on it you can get the hard spots easy.

Well that's my 2 cents.

Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:42 pm

Sent a msg to the author of this thread, but seems he hasnt been online for months.
Anyone have an idea what color he is working on?
Looks like a darker sea foam green, but i dont know.

Anyone know the color i would appreciate a PM
Thanx

Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:48 pm

Java Green?

Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:36 pm

I saw tones of java looking back, but im not convinced, maybe a darker Turkis?

Mon Feb 11, 2013 10:15 am

Here's a full size photo of the car I found in his Gallery
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=311979

In this photo, yes, it sort of looks like a darker Turquoise.

I don't think this car is a VW color at all though.

Mon Mar 04, 2013 8:11 pm

Hello all! I have read this thread a few times and am still confused about something. I have painted with a single stage metallic acrylic enamel. I understand about not color sanding the metalic but can I spray a few coats of acrylic enamel clear and then sand? Or am I stuck with what I have. There is some orange peel and a little texture in the paint that I would like to get rid of. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:04 pm

yes you can sand the clear as explained on this thread, so long as you don't sand all the way down to the color coat.

Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:01 pm

Thanks fabforfan, but I guess what I am asking is do I color sand the color w/metalic and then spray clear or spray clear and sand.

Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:53 am

from what I understand, you are not suppose to sand the mettalic basecoat. you use the clear to build up enough material to cover the mettalic base and sand the clear flat. If the orange peel is a bit bad you can wetsand in between clear coats to knock down the orange peel so you don't build it up to much.
If the mettalic is too bad, you can sand it but you must respray base and then clear.
(I think) If it were non metallic you would be able to sand the base and then clear.

Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:47 am

Thanks for the help.

Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:30 am

rusty160 wrote: Thanks fabforfan, but I guess what I am asking is do I color sand the color w/metalic and then spray clear or spray clear and sand.

You cannot spray clear over unprepared surface, or it will peel off in sheets.
You need to color sand the orange peel out of your single stage Metallic with 600-800, then reapply two thin coats of the metallic first. By color sanding you will be cutting into the metallic and you don't want to trap that under the clear. If it were me, I would buy an inexpensive acrylic urethane clear and top coat with that over the fresh coats of metallic. Not sure what product line you are using, but I highly recommend BASF's Limco Supreme Plus basecoat, followed by Limco LC4000 clear. It is acrylic enamel base coat with acrylic urethane clear. You can paint an entire bug for around $350-400 in paint. Clear lays out beautifully with 1.4 tip at 35psi or so... By cutting peel out of your first paint job and applying a couple quick coats of color, your clear should lay down nice and smooth. This will make your final color sand and buff much easier, and you won't need to remove so much material. Pay close attention to anywhere you sanded too much of your first metallic away... add a few extra coats of color in these areas so your final color is consistent.

Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:26 pm

Painted one of my buses and it looked real bad. Read this and went for it! I used a ryobi 5" electric sander and a H F polisher wit variable speed. My paint is acrylic enamel in kansas beige.
Sanded with 1000, then 1200. Polished with meguiars 105, then 205. Finally meguiars poly sealant.
Very pleased. The paint looks stunning!

Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:36 am

Is there a recommended number of coats needed for color sanding? Also, does color sanding take the place of clear coat or can clear just go over the orange peel?

Thu Mar 31, 2016 5:21 pm

the paint looks like Volkswagen Turquoise code 95588 year 1960.

Thanks Great information