Ok ive done my clearcoats and due to the metal flakes i used on the first 2 coats its jagged like sandpaper.... I need to go over it one more time on the left side real quick to even out the flakes but my question is....Do i need to wetsand it to take some off the right side or do i need to just put more clearcoat on it and hope that it will settle out....
Sounds like somethings real wrong here,bad paint,bad mix,not applied correct, too much heat,don't know what to tell ya! Other then start over.
The way I read this, you put some metalflake in the first coats of clearcoat. Then you added more coats of clearcoat. You state it is rough like sandpaper. Do you mean rough as in orange peel? Or rough like you can feel the metalflake? On a job like you are explaining I would put 4 -5 coats of clearcoat over the last metalflake coat. Then when cured, I would wetsand and buff. If you are feeling the metalflake, then most obviously add more clearcoat. Paint goofs can be very very forgiving if you have the knowledge of how to correct it.
I agree with Dan. If what you are feeling is orange peel or dry spots, that can be wetsanded down and buffed. If it's the metalflake you are feeling, you should add a few more coats of clearcoat and then wetsand and buff. Just remember, each time you wetsand the clear you are actually removing a few layers of it. Be certain there is enough clearcoat applied so when you wetsand again you don't end up back with the metalflake sticking up again.
I don`t know much about this but I`ve heard that you should have the car grounded when painting with metalflake, with a chain around the rear axel ?
A friend of my dad's did a car in metalflake years ago. I saw it before he started sanding it, and the impression was of a car with severe orange peel. But I would be cautious about 2 things here. One would be that you start to sand before the paint has cured. If you do that, and get a nice smooth surface, you might end up with orange peel again after the paint finishes curing. In the old days, 2 weeks or so were recommended to cure ppaint, but I don't know what the new stuff is like. The other concern would be that you start sanding before you bury the flake under enough clear to allow you to reach a smooth surface without hitting the flake. I also believe, but am not sure, that if you get down thru the clear to the flake it will spoil it, and it will not be repairable. I don't think 2 coats is very much paint. You might want to get some help from http://www.autobodystore.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?index This is a great paint and body message board. You'll get a lot of help here. Good luck. John B.
Dan & Jean give some good advice. One thing about letting the new clears cure is that they cure fast and hard. If you can sand it within a couple days you'll save yourself some time and intensive labor. After a couple days the new clears get hard as a rock and it is like sanding a rock. Seems as though they buff good after time but I wouldn't wait long to sand it.
Good point Ward,, I have sanded as early as 12 hours then waited a few days to buff. Another thing I thought of, If you scuff the car up to add more clear, and it sounds like you need multiple coats, becareful of solvent popping. Usually caused by too much product applied to quickly. As the clear cures it moves around, or flows. If it cant flow it can solvent pop. They look kind of lke fish eyes except usually fish eye will be zillions in the area it does that in. Solvent popping might appear 10 times more or less on a panel. Sometimes they sand and buff out, other times they dont and actually appear white. So allow for flash time, which is usually on the directions somewhere. Now to mess you all up is some people never stop going around a car and keep painting as fast as they can put it on. I have done this too and had no solvent popping, but usually I do this on something that is production type work and NOT show car perfect. On stuff that I dont intend to sand and buff I usually put on 2 coats of clear. I have been accused of putting alot of product on each pass, which means, I probably put two coats worth on each pass. Dan
