Clear Coat Wet Sanding????

Hey all,

Ok, I have all my painting completed (images later), I have applied my first and second coats of 2 part clear where I have wet sanded between each and am ready to apply the final 3-5 clear coats.

Here's my question....
After revieweing almost every posting on the subject I'm somewhat confused why after the final clear coat some of you have wet sanded down again only to end up with rubbing compound and buff?

NOTE: The images and mirrored shine are sweet but my concern with this method is how will it hold up to gas and paint protections?

I mean the clear coat is for shine and in protecting the paint and if you wet sand the final coat down....

Or is it that the clear coat is still there and you're only smoothing it down (blemish, orange peel,dust particles etc...)

Thanks,

Old Man Rock

Old Man Rock wrote:

...
Or is it that the clear coat is still there and you're only smoothing it down (blemish, orange peel,dust particles etc...)

Thanks,

Old Man Rock

Yep!!

del

Most paint is not gas proof. lacquer certainly is not, I am not dead sure about clear urethane. The paints that are gas resistant are some kind of "catalyzed" mix where it undergoes a chemical reaction and hardens sort of like epoxy does.

Tell me about the two part clear and how it is working out!! I used one part, regular clear and now I want to convert to the epoxy type.

The two part, epoxy type clear is gas-resistant.

(JMKZH1, I sprayed enamel clear and it wet sanded wonderfully as well.)

The clear can only be as smooth as it was sprayed, there will be little hills-n-divots in the finish. This will allow the finish to be shiny, but it will not be mirror smooth.

Get that stuff sanded down to 2000 grit, and it will get more glass-smooth as it evens everything out. The difference is immediately apparent and worth the effort.

The buffing compound will shine the scuffed surface right up to shiny again. I believe the swirl-remover is a finer grit compound doing the same thing.

If your using a catalyzed clear, you should be fine. It will hold up but that doesn't mean to be foolish when spilling fuel. Always wipe it dry immediately. I must mention though.....2 coats followed by 3-5 is a lot of coats. Usually 2-3 coats sanded and polished is adequate. To much clear coat can work against you in the long run.

Thanks all,

I think I have it down now... Light 2000 grit wet sand for dust, hair, imperfections etc... then buff it out.

Just a taste of how it came out.... (No Buff, just Clear coat)...

Black: Dupli Color Acrylic Enamel
Orange: Dupli Color Metal Cast Orange (used Ground base, think metal flake primer)

Sherwin Willams 2 phase Clear Coat.
RS6200 Clear Coat
RS9202 Hardner



Old Man Rock

del

Beautiful job Old Man. I really like the colour combination. Is that a pin stripe between the black and orange? Hard to tell from the pics. Gold?

Post some pics of it on the bike when you're done.

Glad you liked,

Was a spray gun required for the Sherwin Williams products?
Nope, home depot/ace hardware and paint suppliers have Preval Power Units... Was surprised how well this worked.
It took a couple fo tries to get it right with no drips or extreme orange peel but after figuring out speed and distance off the piece, all good.

www.prevalspraygun.com/about.htm

And I guess they were mixed prior to application? 4:1 ratio, I just mixed it in the jar itself...

Ground base? - explain please
www.duplicolor.com/products/metalcast.html

In following the link, you'll find that the paint itself with some adhesive promoter can be painted directly on chromed pieces. If painting over old paint or non chromed pieces, use the ground base which is somewhat like a metal flaked silver primer... The Metal cast is a translucent color which gives the appearance of anodized.

As for the striping, well that was actually by mistake and my daughter said "Leave it, way cool" . Basically all that silver striping is the 1-2mm Ground Base point between the Black Gloss Enamel and the Metal Cast. What your seeing is the metal flake silver.


OMR

Old Man Rock wrote:

As for the striping, well that was actually by mistake and my daughter said "Leave it, way cool" . Basically all that silver striping is the 1-2mm Ground Base point between the Black Gloss Enamel and the Metal Cast. What your seeing is the metal flake silver.
OMR

Wow, even your mistakes are cool :laugh: Your daughter has taste too.