wet sand single stage paint (orange peel)

[zns]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and new to painting. I just painted my bmw 335i coupe viper red single stage and it has alot of orange peel. What would be the best way to remove it? Best compound to use etc.

Thank you! Ill post pictures.

[zns]

anyone?

[jamesboyy]

Welcome to autogeek..as for your question you could use denim polishing pads or either (since its a single stage) color sand the vehicle with sand paper ranging from 1500 to 4000 grit rage these methods will take a nice chunk of paint away leaving it more prone to UV damage(oxidation) therefore I would use a combo like merzerna FG400 and SF4500 (make sure to do a test spot first) this will remove some orange peel but not all but its better to have more "skin"(base color) in the long run and just apply a sealant if you don't want to go the paint coating route

[Vortech5.0]

I also just repainted my car and couldn't stand the orange peel. I did a three stage wet sand 1500, 2000, 3000 and it took care of it. It was a TON more work than I had originally anticipated but it turned out good. If you do attack it my one word of advice would be to spend a lot more time on the 3000 grit than the others. Even though you'll see the most progress on the 1500 its the finer grit that will make it easier to remove the sanding marks by compounding.

Mine was not a single stage paint so there may be some differences in the process but i'm not sure. Good Luck.

[Andr3wilson]

Was it baked or not?? That will really affect how the paint will sand and how it will finish.

For baked. Personally. I start 1200 with block. Then machine 2000, then 5000 on DA sander. Wool and rotary, then polishing pad with finishing polish, then black pad finishing polish on DA, then seal.

For fresh unbaked paint, I start 2000 block, 3000 DA, 5000 DA. Then wool and compound on rotary. Black pad and compound, black pad and finishing pad DA.

Some people here are going to recommend the carpro velvet and denim OP removal pads. I personally am not a fan. They junk up fast really aren't all that much faster. You still need at least two steps after!

[chet31]

^ As predicted, CarPro denim pads w/ Meg's M105. The pads do gunk up fast though. You'll get one panel per pad max. I did not have to do an entire car with them, just a repaired area. If you want to do an entire car in one session, you'll need a lot of pads (a dozen or more). If you're willing to do in shifts, you can get by with fewer pads.

P.S. Be extremely careful with concave panels. The edges of these pads will damage. I have never damaged a car before, but I did with these pads while practicing on my old Mazda w/ 190K miles.

[Blackthorn One]

I have always wet sanded. Depending upon severity of the orange peel, 1500, then 2000, 2500 and 3000. Don't go flat with the 1500. Just use it to get most of it out. Flatten with 2000, then remove the scratches with 2500 and 3000, then compound by machine, for the most uniform results. Then use a DA like a Rupes, Flex, Griot's, ect to remove any ultra fine buffer marks.