Single stage...polish????

Easy question, can a single stage be polished? I painted my car a metallic and seems as though the masses dat no wet sanding,,,so what about polishing?

You can wet sand the clearcoat,but carefully........you did clearcoat it didn't you?

Its a single stage paint so I didn't clear it.

Easy question, can a single stage be polished? I painted my car a metallic and seems as though the masses dat no wet sanding,,,so what about polishing?

As one of the only "single stage" advocates left on the planet, I assure you you can polish it, wet sand it, re-paint areas you mess up, and get it as smooth as glass if you like that look (I don't personally).

You can also make the paint as perfect as you want it and then clear coat it (though you then eliminate the ease of maintenance of single stage if you do).

The beauty of single stage is that the more you wash, polish, and wax. The better the paint looks. You can use a power polisher on it aggressively, and If you rub, or sand through to metal, just clean and mask the area and re-spray.

Base/clear gives you about couple 1000th's inch of clear to work with. If you rub through, or get a chip, the whole panel needs to be sanded and re-sprayed, which never matches exactly.

When you are happy with the look of single stage, wax it, and it looks as good or better (no swirls) as base/clear.

My opinion anyway.

You can do all that to a solid color single stage paint job,but you better be careful on a metallic or you will screw it up.

As one of the only "single stage" advocates left on the planet, I assure you you can polish it, wet sand it, re-paint areas you mess up, and get it as smooth as glass if you like that look (I don't personally).

You can also make the paint as perfect as you want it and then clear coat it (though you then eliminate the ease of maintenance of single stage if you do).

The beauty of single stage is that the more you wash, polish, and wax. The better the paint looks. You can use a power polisher on it aggressively, and If you rub, or sand through to metal, just clean and mask the area and re-spray.

Base/clear gives you about couple 1000th's inch of clear to work with. If you rub through, or get a chip, the whole panel needs to be sanded and re-sprayed, which never matches exactly.

When you are happy with the look of single stage, wax it, and it looks as good or better (no swirls) as base/clear.

My opinion anyway.

I AGREE!!!

Another advocate for single stage. It has a much more "original" look to it. I hate the new 2 stage wet look that usually has orange peel in the base coat that is there to stay no matter how smooth the clear coat is.

You can do all that to a solid color single stage paint job,but you better be careful on a metallic or you will screw it up.


Your not going to screw anything up. The only thing you have to be aware of is that the metallic pieces when wet sanded break through the skin of the paint and if it is not polycoat covered or kept waxed to seal it from the elements it will oxodize quickly.

Hey duys, I appreciate all the input and info that you have posted. I consider myself to be lower than a beginner(if that's possible), but you gotta start at the bottom and you can only go up from there.

There are a few thin spots and a few places that I missed, so all this info is greatly appreciated. Thanks very, very much!!!

Do NOT wetsand and polish Mettalic SS paints! Solid colour SS is ok. As mentioned above you will immediately expose the metallics that will give you an awful effect. If you want a flat finish you should clear coat and then wetsand and polish.

Amen 66

And don't think that once you sand into the metalics,you can just put a coat of clear on it.That will magnify the shitty effect.You will have to refinish that panel.

Can you wet sand and shoot it again?

For a repaint, yes. If you haven't sanded it yet and want to clear coat the mettalic SS, you could use 600-800 grit and lightly sand the paint without removing any orange peel or leveling of the surface, then shoot a couple coats of clear, 3 coats if you want to polish/colour sand afterwards. If you had problems with inconsistent coverage, you may want to sand the surface with 600, and apply BC/CC. 2 coats of base, 2-3 coats of clear.

And yet for 80 years (give or take), body shops, and even highway gas stations, have been doing perfect repairs?

Not only that, detailers used high RPM, 12" buffers with harsh polishing compounds to achieve "knock your eye out" results of shiny (not matte) paint.

I guess it's a good thing that no one knew that you can't repair or sand/polish single stage (metallic or solid), or we would have been driving around (for generations) with cars that look like the failed base/clear paint jobs we have now! --- Hooray for ignorance.

q-ship...no one said that you can't polish a metallic SS, just don't wetsand and polish...where the heck does your knowledge base stem from?

q-ship...no one said that you can't polish a metallic SS, just don't wetsand and polish...where the heck does your knowledge base stem from?


My knowledge base comes from being there back in the day when they were new AND owning a body shop in the late 70s. I can tell you that we DID wet sand factory metallic paint with great results. If it was a custom metal flake paint job (with larger metallic pieces) no.

Guys, I apologize for starting this. I was looking for advice on how to correct my mistakes, but now that I have been able to walk around the car and see ALL the thin spots, rough textures, missed spots, my conclusion is to wet sand the whole damn thing and hit it again. Once again fellas, I do apologize.

There's no need to appologize 5.7, there's always a learning curve attatched to these things........your dertermination to get it right shows that you have a good attitude towards your workmanship......hang in there.

Yes, don't apologize. These forums/discussions help everyone sort through what is right and wrong and we are all entitled to opinions. I revel in helping people get things right and welcome anyone who needs a little help!
Good luck with your job!

I had a buddy come by and look at the paint job, he said it looks like the pressure was to high and it was too hot in the booth, paint drying before it hit the panel. He said turn down the pressure, and paint in the morning or evening and that will help. Any comments or sugestions? Thanks.

Could be right, post a couple of pictures an I'll do my best to suggest a solution.

Could be right, post some pic's and I'll do my best to suggest a solution. Too fast of a hardener, reducer etc can also be a contributing factor...

Going to order another kit, this time with a medium reducer instead of a slow reducer.

The paint on the car looks "dry" to me as though it was shot with too little air pressure. If you have a lot of paint on it (thick) then you may be able to salvage it by wet sanding it out, if not you still going to have to sand it smooth and re-shoot it.

Not sure what happened here, I had posted a lengthy response only to discover it was removed or lost somehow...5.7, a slow reducer would allow the paint to flow out, a faster reducer would be more inclined to cause your problem. likely your gun technique is the culprit. Too fast, too far away could be the problem, a good rule of thumb is 8-10" away from the panel with an HVLP gun, this should result in a pattern of about 8-10 inches in height and about 2-3" in width (elliptical pattern). As the paint strikes the panel it should appear medium wet with a slight orange peel, it will flow out as the solvents (reducers) evaporate. It is a learning curve to get the gun speed down to achieve the wet look. Overlap of the pattern is critical as well...50% overlap is recommended, this means starting 50% off the panel and finishing 50% off the panel. One thing to remember with catalysed paints, it will look exactly as you lay it on...dry is dry. Too high an air pressure will give this effect as well, too low and the paint won't atomize and will appear mottled. If you are using an HVLP gun it should be dispersing 10 psi at the air cap in order to atomize the paint correctly. Inlet pressure can vary, Sata HVLP's such as the NR 3000 need 2 bar or 29 psi, a Sata RP needs more, about 36 psi as an example...this is important stuff! Oh, and make sure the gun is always perpendicular to the panel or light/dark areas will appear...and never intermix materials from different manufacturers, I think I'm done now...
Cheers 5.7...Good luck.

Just to add to 66BBs post, the fast drying reducer has a tendancy to give you railway lines especially with a metalic paint, the metalic particals will be drawn to the wettest area.......the overlap.

I used a reducer for 85 degrees and up, is that slow or fast? My air was too high, I remeber asking myself, "self, why is the paint blowing back to ya after it hits the panel"? Guess I didn't pay attention to myself...live and learn. I will oficially lay the blame on my only eye. Turns out I nave a catarac, and the VA found it today, so surgery is on the fast track due to my drivers license renewal due in Nov.. So, thats what I gotta deal with and have been dealing with since the begining of the year. Almost ready to shoot it again, and how it turns out is what I'll live with, good, bad or ugly.

Tell me the kind of reducer I need for an ambient air temp of around 85 or so and I'll make sure to get it when I order another kit.

One other thing... all the trim parts, steering column, dash etc. came out fantastic...go figure!

At a guess 5.7,when you painted the smaller items, it probably went on wetter...hence the better finish.
Personally i've never bought reducer based on temp range, for color I use PPG AAA Normal.....it has good flow charicteristics in this predominantly warm climate.

At a guess 5.7,when you painted the smaller items, it probably went on wetter...hence the better finish.
Personally i've never bought reducer based on temp range, for color I use PPG AAA Normal.....it has good flow charicteristics in this predominantly warm climate.

I'm like you. I used to buy fast or slow depending on temperature, but it was too hard to get used to the new drying rate. So now I only buy Medium and I really got used to it. I guess the more you practice with a solvent dry time the better you get at it.

What's really hard, at least for me, is when I jump from enamel, to laquer, to urethane, to epoxy primer, and clears. I paint all kinds of things (not just cars) so i use all types. The technique changes each time. I use wax paper on 4'x8' sheets of plywood to setup my gun, patterns, and speed and sometimes I need to use both sides fo the wood to get it right!!

Randy

I know what you mean RAGZ, I never assume how the gun is going to spray, even after refilling the pot........better to be safe than sorry.

Lots of great info. I did get a medium reducer for the nexr go around, and I got some scrap metal to practice and set the gun up.

If you are spraying in hot temps you should use a slow reducer. The paint needs time to flow out before the reducer evaporates. They wouldn't waste their time developing these materials if they didn't have a purpose!

Gonna do it at night, so the temps will be alot lower, around 70-80 degrees. Hopefully this will help.

Let us know how it goes!