txbigdog00

At first I thought it was some kind of parking lot STD... you know? But now I realize my car has it and it won't go away. I've talked to a dozen "experienced" body and paint dudes who have a dozen different solutions.

Here's the long & short of it: I had my car painted (very long story) a couple of years ago. I'll spare you the gruesome details of the process and just say the paint is really good........ for a chevy S-10.

It's not really all THAT bad, it's just that it's not perfect and I want it to be.

I need to either try to save it by polishing or buffing or ??? the paint or call it a very expensive lesson and have it painted again.

Help...... please........ I'm begging you

Thanks

PorscheDude1

Wet sand then polish.

Damian in NJ

Factory orange peel to some extent on my car.

RajDatta

Most German cars have a certain amount of orange peel in them, be it Porsche, BMW etc..
Spray gun pressure setting can affect the orange peel in the paint.
Too much and it looks gaudy. Chances are, they didn't get the pressure right and now you are left with too much orange peel.
Raj

Stephenwz968

The way to get rid of it is to wetsand with 2500 grit paper, then 3000 grit paper, then to polish it out with a rotary buffer/wool pad (heavy compound), then a foam compounding pad (heavy compound), foam polishing pad (medium compound) twice, then a finishing pad with a jeweling polish, then wax or seal it. It's a LOT of work, but can be done by a competent detailer.

Steve

StewHatch

Steve - you've seen my car. I think my paint might send any competent detailer running ... away. Seriously, will the aforementioned process help car suffering from poor paint? What would you recommend for scratches caused by some cretin who keyed my car?

txbigdog00

Steve, Thanks for the tips. Wow, it sounds as though I might want to start shopping around for a competent paint shop rather than a competent detailer. Holy cow, how much would a detailer charge for the aforementioned orange peel fix??? Is it something I could do over a few weekends??? What would the special tools for a project like this cost someone like me??? Yikes!

Thanks again for your expertise!

rdhayward

Ditto on the wetsand. Or you could drive it through a tortuous muddy trail and call it "character." We're talking about an S10, right?

Stephenwz968

Stew,

Depends on how rough shape the paint is-the peeling can't be fixed, but the microscratches and abrasions can be sanded/polished out. Black always looks nice after being polished out, but it also highlights the imperfections since your eyes are drawn to them as opposed to the shiney clean parts of each panel. Drop me a line and we'll discuss.

Steve

StewHatch

Steve - I will be driving out to East Windsor NJ to look at a 914 for sale. is that anywhere near you?

RajDatta

Stew, if are in the area, make sure you say hello. I am next town over .
Raj

StewHatch

Really? I'll drop you a line when buddy agrees to a date - it'll be a weekend obviously. I think I owe you one of John Molson's finest. I'll make the trip with my 968. We can take snapshots of your RB cab next to my car and use the photos in Steve's "before" and "after" marketing campaign.

Stephenwz968

I'm 15 min away and would like to hang out with you guys, let me know when this is happening.

Steve

Damian in NJ

Somebody ping me when we get a date.

pazzer

hi bigdog, i had a black 68 and it was in pretty poor state, then had it proffesionally detailed and WOW what a difference, the first drive i took it to fill up at the local shell garage and 3 people commented on the finish, asking if i had just had it resprayed, cost was £400 but it was well worth the effort the guysput in over the weekend, nearly every panel was different paint thickness, over the years it must of had many a bump, imo get it detailed. it makes sense. pazzer.