1972 Cutlass - Wet-sanded and Ceramic Coated - PBL Diamond Paint Coating

[2black1s]

"On the other side of the trunk lid you could see D.A. Sanding Marks, called Pig Tails in the underlying coats of paint. The pig tails are actually UNDER the clearcoat and if there's enough clear paint over the basecoat we'll be able to remover or at least improve how they look."

I understand what you are saying, but how can you remove the pig tails by sanding the top clear as stated above?

Technically, you are not removing the pig tails... They are still buried within the paint film.

What you are actually doing is removing the appearance of the pig tails at the surface and as long as you can't see them at the surface, then they are for all practical purposes "removed".

[Rsurfer]

Technically, you are not removing the pig tails... They are still buried within the paint film.

What you are actually doing is removing the appearance of the pig tails at the surface and as long as you can't see them at the surface, then they are for all practical purposes "removed".

Just what I thought.

[Pulse Pro]

I would like to thank Mike for giving me this great opportunity to learn hands on with him. This was an awesome learning experience.

I look forward to using the techniques I learned in the future. The car has never looked better!

Thank you again for everything.

Kind regards,
Ryan

[PaulMys]

I would like to thank Mike for giving me this great opportunity to learn hands on with him. This was an awesome learning experience. I look forward to using the techniques I learned in the future. The car has never looked better! Thank you again for everything.

Kind regards,
Ryan

Which car was yours, Ryan?

[Mike Phillips]

Which car was yours, Ryan?

Ryan owns the 1972 Cutlass.

He also attended the May 3-Day Class.

[Mike Phillips]

I'm not Mike but I'll try to answer your question anyways...

Thanks for explaining the "hard to explain" John.


For those reading this now and into the future,


Here's the passenger side of the trunk lid where there were the most visible pig tails.







Here's the pig tails...










Here's the same area after hand sanding, compounding and polishing....









While the original defects, (the pig tails), were caused in the underlying layers of paint, these defects translated into all the layers of paint and thus sanding the top coat made them visually disappear.

[mc2hill]

Great write up from Mike and follow-up info from John!

My sister-in-laws 66 GTO clone had these pigtails in the paint. I tried for a long time to get them out before realizing they were in the paint and not the clear. Another learning experience!

[Mike Phillips]

Great write up from Mike and follow-up info from John!

Thanks for the comment, I almost forgot about this project and it's only been ONE WEEK since we did it!

My sister-in-laws 66 GTO clone had these pigtails in the paint. I tried for a long time to get them out before realizing they were in the paint and not the clear. Another learning experience!

And as you know, just like a great detail, the end-results all start with the prep-work.

[2black1s]

... My sister-in-laws 66 GTO clone had these pigtails in the paint. I tried for a long time to get them out before realizing they were in the paint and not the clear. Another learning experience!

What you are likely experiencing is the disruption of the metallic orientation resulting from the underlying scratches as I described in post #7.

... Another consideration when working with metallics is that even though you can sand and polish the surface smooth, there is always a chance that the scratch pattern will still be visible because the metallic particle distribution is irregular within the underlying scratch and will reflect light accordingly even though the surface is perfectly smooth...

[Mike Phillips]

Here's another explanation of dieback from forum member Ken Tuep

Take from post #3 in this thread,



Newbie advise on minimizing "paint dieback"



From Ken Tuep

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What usually causes dieback is applying too wet, or too soon between coats. The reducers need to completely flash before the next coat is applied. Fast reducers are more likely to cause dieback because they trap the solvents under the paint.

If I apply 3 coats of clearcoat, I'm sure to give ample flash time before the 3rd coat. If the film build is thicker than recommended by the paint manufacturer, it can cause dieback. I usually follow the manufacturers directions, and dont usually have issues.

Your best bet is to wetsand the paint to open it, and let it outcast for a day or two, then try polishing.
I'd recommend a rotary polisher if you don't have one. A Porter cable will work,( probably taking 3 times longer) but you'd need to finish out with a minimum of 3000 grit sandpaper.

You will have to sand it either way, but it might not completely remove all the dieback, time is gonna be your friend, depending on temperature and humidity.

Me personally, I'd block sand with 600 grit wet, let it dry for a week, and respray the clearcoat.

Perform a test spot on a panel, and see if polishing will work before sanding the entire vehicle down, to make sure you're getting the results you want.

Hopefully this helps ya out.



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Hope that helps...