Freshly Painted with Orange Peel

[RobR93]

I am restoring a 1984 Mustang GT. I have painted it with a product that NAPA sold me….unfortunately, I didn’t do much homework on paint products……and took their advice. Anyways, it’s my first time painting a car in it’s entirety but it’s a winter project and Im in no hurry, other than I wanted to get it painted before snow flies.

First I did the body work and completely sanded down the car and removed all oils/waxes. I sanded the primer down with 600 grit sandpaper and it was very smooth. I wiped the entire car down with tack cloths before I sprayed color. The color, I painted it with Martin-Senour’s Brilliant Black Pearl and the LeMans stripes are their Galaxy Silver. I shot the first coat and it looked pretty good (so I thought how hard can this be….that was pretty easy), although I didn’t have complete coverage and had some runs……..so I sanded the runs down and shot it again with a little more air and more spread on the paint trying to avoid runs, and got a high degree of orange peel. The third coat actually looks better as I went for more paint and less air, and moved the gun faster to avoid runs which the fender picture you see is representative of where it stands now today with the third coat of black on it. It was the picture I had that you could best see the orange peel effect.


I have the time, and the patience, so what would you recommend I do to remove this orange peel? I do not own a rotary buffer but am willing to buy one to do it right, or do you recommend I just do it by hand by wet sanding? If you think it’s bad enough where I need a buffer, can you recommend a brand and where to get one? Thanks for any information you can provide to me. I have learned a lot from the forums and it has prompted me to stop and ask these questions before I do anything more.

[Blackthornone]

If you have bad orange peel, wet sanding is about the only way to remove it. Part of the reason you are getting so much orange peel is that you are painting in cold weather. Paint atomizes best when it's very warm outside. When you paint a car, first, you must get a couple passes of the gun on the nooks and crannies, like the jambs and the rain gutters. This is because if you spray the rest first and THEN go for the nooks and crannies, you will put runs in the paint in the areas right next to the rain gutters. When you shoot the paint, you keep the gun pointing straight at the car, and at the same approximate distance the entire time, as you bend your wrist back and forth as you make quick passes across the car, each about 1 second each time you move your hand from side to side to full extension of your stroke. You will probably want to wet sand every 4 coats, just to make sure it stays smooth and flat, as you paint the full 15 coats on the car. You should be able to get complete and wet coverage in two overlapping quick strokes until you get each panel done. Any more paint than that at that point and you will risk runs. You could try one VERY light coat after that if you had to, after a few minutes, if you needed to even it out a little, provided it isn't too cold, and the paint atomizing nicely out of the gun. I assume that you are painting in a heated room, like a garage or a spray booth. Of course, you are also using a respirator, if painting in an enclosed space like that. I've been able to get orange peel free finishes using spray cans, and I've sprayed in various temperatures before, and I can tell you that temperature makes a big difference in how paint sprays. I would never paint a car in cold weather.

[RobR93]

Originally Posted by Blackthornone

If you have bad orange peel, wet sanding is about the only way to remove it. Part of the reason you are getting so much orange peel is that you are painting in cold weather. Paint atomizes best when it's very warm outside.

No.....it's been in the 70's this week....I shot it the past few days.....but at ambient air temperature in NY.......I was trying to get the paint on before it does start getting cold here. I don't have a paint booth or a way to heat to 120F. So I was hoping that in the summer I could get the paint on and hope for minimal sanding.......but I have some work to do. I have the time. Just want to know what the most mistake free path would be and if a rotary buffer is what I really need.

[RobR93]

PS- I do have a mustang fender in the barn that I can paint and practice on.....Ive read rotary buffers are something you want to practice with before putting one to your car.

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for taking this topic to the forum. I have a meeting to go to so I don't want you to think I'm ignoring your post but I'll be offline for a few hours and then when I get back I'll chime back in.

Again, thank you for bringing this to the forum, I'll do my best to answer all your questions.

[Blackthornone]

Originally Posted by RobR93

No.....it's been in the 70's this week....I shot it the past few days.....but at ambient air temperature in NY.......I was trying to get the paint on before it does start getting cold here. I don't have a paint booth or a way to heat to 120F. So I was hoping that in the summer I could get the paint on and hope for minimal sanding.......but I have some work to do. I have the time. Just want to know what the most mistake free path would be and if a rotary buffer is what I really need.

After seeing that picture, you need to wet sand that out. You could use the buffer to get the sanding scratches out. Speaking of temperature, 70 degrees F is cold as paint is concerned. at least 80 degrees in ambient temp to get the paint spraying really nice. 90 degrees works well, but the paint dries a little quick in 90. I like 85 or 86 degrees, myself. You need to sand the orange peel out of this and then see how much paint is left on the car, and maybe re shoot one or two more coats. After you sand, you can buff. That is really bad orange peel there. In fact, it's about the worst I've ever seen. Don't even bother with a buffer for that. I would try 1000 grit paper, and if that doesn't cut quick enough, then go to 800 or even 600. You wouldn't need more than a minute per foot with 600, though.

[Blackthornone]

Originally Posted by RobR93

PS- I do have a mustang fender in the barn that I can paint and practice on.....Ive read rotary buffers are something you want to practice with before putting one to your car.

I strongly suggest you do so. Painting is an art, and you should really get a decent hang of it before you try and paint your car and make a lot of extra work for yourself. You need to figure out how fast to move the gun, over a certain area, how far away to hold it, about 12-18 inches, depending upon the pressure, ect., and you need to figure out how much paint you can put on something before it runs. Now, once you know all that, you have to be able to adapt your technique to the temperature. If it's hotter, then the paint will spray more evenly and thinly. If it's colder, then the paint comes out a lot thicker. Great automotive painting is mostly an art, which only comes from experience. There IS such a thing as too much paint on a car, though. If you get too much paint on a car, built up over many coats, it can crack over time, looking like a dry riverbed. I doubt you will get that much paint on your car, though. But you might on your practice hood.

[RaskyR1]

Originally Posted by Blackthornone

After seeing that picture, you need to wet sand that out. You could use the buffer to get the sanding scratches out. Speaking of temperature, 70 degrees F is cold as paint is concerned. at least 80 degrees in ambient temp to get the paint spraying really nice. 90 degrees works well, but the paint dries a little quick in 90. I like 85 or 86 degrees, myself. You need to sand the orange peel out of this and then see how much paint is left on the car, and maybe re shoot one or two more coats. After you sand, you can buff. That is really bad orange peel there. In fact, it's about the worst I've ever seen. Don't even bother with a buffer for that. I would try 1000 grit paper, and if that doesn't cut quick enough, then go to 800 or even 600. You wouldn't need more than a minute per foot with 600, though.

I concur. I actually think repainting may be the best option...as long as you have the time and $$$ that is. Maybe get some test panels to dial in the gun and technique first.

What type of gun are you using?

[RobR93]

It's an HVLP gun. I have the time and energy to wet sand if that's what you think I should do. Im not afraid of a little elbow grease and doing what needs to be done panel by panel......or if reshooting is the best bet, I still have about a half a gallon of the paint left. do I sand out the paint on there now if I repaint?

[RaskyR1]

Maybe try sanding a section and see how it comes out. I've just never seen it that rough before so it's hard to say if it will safely come out or not.


I came across a good thread the other day on painting...let me see if I can find it again.