wetsand/buff or another wet slick coat of UV clear?

S

shawn2jz

Hello..

Wanted to introduce myself... My name is Shawn and this is my 2nd time painting..

Shaving an engine bay on my Supra which is also a new task for me (shaping metal and body filler etc).

Everything has went great so far..

Laid PPG DBC black base.. and 4 coats of UV clear/slow activator .. which i am shocked how great it lays down. Using a Teknalite Pro gun.. TE20 air cap.. 1.4mm tip.. 24psi inlet

I laid down the clear like glass.. 30 mins between coats and told myself after I snapped some pics to leave it alone.. but I had a little clear left over.. so I went to shoot another last coat.

well I guess the gun was a lil gummy from it being so long to get to the last coat.. and it sprayed fairly dry.. right on the front inner fenders and corners mainly. (right where you'd see the most)

obviously I could just wetsand and buff.. but it being an engine bay.. would be somewhat of a task to get all the corners etc.

It was only about 14 hours ago since last coat.. Can I just tack wipe and add another nice slick coat of UV clear today? without sanding anything?

The brake booster and coil cover I painted came out absolutely ridiculous flat.. very happy with that! this UV clear is astounding!

Hopefully I can just do another nice slick coat of clear today to give me that nice flat look without any wetsanding.. atleast in the tough to reach areas.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Shawn
 

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do a quick gray scuff pad job and reclear.

There is two old saying in this business going back the 40 years I have been in it:
More jobs are screwed up by not leaving good alone and doing one more coat. (I'm guilty as charged, many times.)
More jobs are screwed up by un-taping to soon.
 
thanks Barry!

yes absolutely.. it was so nice before hand haha.. I guess this is how we all learn this field!

I did go ahead and do another coat.. it was before I read about the grey scotch pad.. but from searching the forum i read that it was okay to throw another coat before the 24hr window.

However.. I did get the corners nice and slick.. but now I have a few runs and sags .. So basically.. i created 10x more work for myself because I didn't want to wetsand /buff some corners..

All i can do is laugh though.. this project has went about 50x better than I could have ever dreamed it would go on a first time doing it...so I expected something to throw a wrench in it.. (actually several hiccups so far).

I also didn't consider the fact that possibly the initial 4 coats of clear with 30 min intervals.. would be a more slick surface.. so runs could happen more easily.

The sags and runs..

I read alot about the glaze method/trick.. are there any downfalls to doing that? I would be concerned it could place something into the paint /clear.. or is it a pretty tried and true method by now?

If I cannot get these lil sags and runs tended by just some finesse.. I may just get them flat with a more coarse abrasive.. and then sand all the areas and reclear.

The good thing is that with the 4 coats of clear.. and then the last one about 16hrs from the initial ones.. is the clear is pretty laid on pretty thick.. so I think I have quite a bit of buffer to play with.

Or would you recommend.. just hitting it hard on the runs and sand 1000 grit everywhere and reclear the entire bay again?

My one friend told me.. that with painting.. "what can go wrong.. will go wrong when first learning".. so true!

I left the car outside this morning.. it is supposed to be nearly 100* index with bright sun.. I hope today outside will be enough to be able to get started on these runs asap..

any help is appreciated!

Ps.. you can see the run/sag next to the shock tower where it transitions down.. the toward upright behind inner fender will be a difficult spot to try and taper the sag.
 
what is a safe elapsed time to start working on sanding this run/sag out?

it's been sitting outside since midnight last night.. and today has been hot and sunny.

UV clear.. 5 coats.. heavy sag in one area.

I also have a IR medium wave but have not tried to use it yet. Am eager to get the problem area fixed so that I can decide on another coat or 2 of clear by sanding everywhere after trying runs blocked.. or just get them flat and polish.

thank you for the help!
 
well update..

I went ahead and attempted to get the run /sag out... but the one area of a sag was impossible to remedy..

I tried doing with finger tip.. the glaze method.. the tape method.. and no way I'd be able to without it showing.. even with the high amounts of clear thickness I had. I quickly realized it would just be a more smart move to sand the run/sag out flat with 400grit.. then stepped up to 600.. then 800.

then proceeded to sand the entire bay/clear with 800 dry.. then 800 wet.

wiped wax n grease remover.. blew out all water etc.. then tack ragged.

and reshot 3 coats of UV clear..

Only issue I had was there somehow was some water between the rad /core support.. that spit out during the first coat of clear and was trapped..

I proceeded with my other 2 flow coats of clear..

pulled it outside again in the AM and let it sit in the sun all day again..

the water spit areas.. I lightly went over with 400 dry to break the tops open and hopeful that I can just wet and and buff those out. (very small area) and I did still get a run.. but fairly hidden which I do think I can tackle with success. The run I did the same thing with the 400dry.. just to allow them to breath some..

Hoping they become small craters which I can dry to drop some clear into and wetsand hopefully won't need to respray those areas

I am pretty happy so far how it turned out.

Today being the 2nd day it will be seeing the bright sun and heat be enough to tackle the problem areas? Or should I give it a full week?

few areas with light peel.. no where near the glass slick from the first go around.. but atleast no sags!

PS.. every area with a red dot or mark is showing the either welded holes or metal patch panels welded in and smoothed.. atleast there is zero distortion /wave in any of those areas! Used evercoat kitty hair.. and metal glaze ultra products!
 

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Based on the timeline that you described, there is a pretty good chance that the run you sanded out and cleared over will come back.
 
You have more clear in the engine bay than most cars have on the outside.
 
Based on the timeline that you described, there is a pretty good chance that the run you sanded out and cleared over will come back.


why do you think it will show up?

what is the proper Timeline then? or better yet.. what is ideal?

The small specs from the water spitting.. I lightly sanded the tops off. which leave small craters.. luckily not in a main panel area.. but to fix this.. do you think i could just individually fill each and wetsand/buff? or would a respray in that area be the proper fix?
 
anything that you guys think would be helpful I would appreciate!

I'm learning here... and eager to learn more so I can stay away from mistakes!


Some questions that I have that I think were missed.


---How long to wait to wetsand and buff UV clear? if sitting outside in sun/heat after it has dried. (also what about indoors?).. I have a infratech medium wave IR heat lamp too.

---How long to wait to tend any runs (lightly sanded the tops of run) also sitting outside in sun/heat

---The small area where the water sprayed on the panel while laying clear. which made very small craters. What is the best remedy? sand flat and reapply clear? or individually fill each one and sand/buff?

---If I were to reapply clear in that spot area.. how do you transition into the area where it does not need work? just 800/1000grit wetsand and feather the spray? Or is it more wise to completely reclear over the whole panel?

This is just an engine bay.. and it's not a show car.. but I would like it "perfect" as I can get it... because I don't want to pop the hood and always see the things that bother me.. plus I don't want it to look like I just can't do it right and that it "tried my best".. yet it has its small flaws.

It has never bothered me to put effort or double work into something.. if it is worth it.

I appreciate the replies! thank you! Shawn
 
I definitely understand your mentality. I read a good quote that reminds me of this... "being a perfectionist is when you know it's not good enough before you even start".

I'm following this to find some good tips, hopefully someone can help you out.
 
I cut and buff universal clear the next day. If you set it in the sun it just gets harder to cut and buff. I don't set it in the sun until I am done cutting and buffing.

Don
 
hey guys.. i went ahead and got started on the cutting and buffing.. turned out great for the most part.

I do now see what member Strum was saying..

even though I got the run sanded out flat.. and blocked all over. (curved panel).. I could not feel the run it see it before it was cut and buffed.. and right out of the gun was very slick.

But now that I cut and buffed.. I can see the slight shimmer of light angle change.. it is very hard to notice and I believe most won't see it.. (and my Intake pipe will probably cover that area anyway).. it does bother me alot.

Just amazing that it was not noticeable at all before I cut and buffed.. the paint looks beautiful and soft.. but man.. it does show absolutely everything! You can see the 2nd pic where my face kind of looks like a monkey haha.. that is where the run was before.. and I tried hard to get it flat/even.. It is very hard to pickup in person because the panel does start a curve around that section.. I just noticed because I knew it was there before hand

I do have a question on the area where specks of water spewed out while doing the clear.. i wetsanded and buffed to where I cannot feel them at all.. but what is the best method to get the white polishing residue out of the speck so that i can attempt to individually drop some clear into those areas? just wax and grease remover and compressed air? then wetsand and buff that area again? Or if I decided to spot clear spray that area.. how could I absolutely insure the polishing compound is out of the trouble area so I don't have contamination issues?
 

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you can clean the specks out with a soft tooth brush dipped in soapy water then rinsed or you can get a detail brush from your jobber and repeat the soapy water and rinse.
 
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