Hi,
I'm an enthusiastic amateur and like to do everything I can myself. I'm currently restoring a 1973 Morris 1100 (you guys call it an Austin America) and have just completed painting. I'm quite pleased with the result but there's patchy orange peel all over the car. Strangely, it's mostly the large flat panels, the corners are OK.

My question is how do I stop it hapenning? I'm using celulose paint as I don't have an air fed suit.

My technique is to aply a 50/50 mix of paint & thinners for 2 - 3 coats and a top coat of 25/75 paint & thinners, I read that the higher %age of thinners means the droplets of paint/thinners have more time to settle before the thinners evaporates. I apply the paint about 8 inches (thumb tip to little finger tip) from the body, I move the gun about 12 inches every second with a 50% overlap on the return sweep. The gun set up is everything (air, paint, needle) about halfway along the adjustment.

I've even tried to apply paint like they do on car shows (Fantom Works, Fast 'n' Loud etc.) i.e. quickly but then I don't get the coverage. I feel I have about 80% of the skill level required but no amount of practice seems to advance my skill set.

I take it that your cellulose is what we over here call lacquer? O/P can be caused by many things. could you please list all you products, temp range of your thinners, your spraying temps and so on. COOL PROJECT! do you think you could send me a 1275 Mini, Cooper S would work.
Jay D.

Jay,
Thanks for your reply and offer of help, I'm not sure what you call cellulose paint but I can tell you that we call lacquer what you call clear...I think, does that help?

As far as what's on the containers:
Colour tin - contains xylene, tolulene and hydrogenated castor oil and has hazardous material code UN1263 (poss just EU code)

Thinners - Top gloss thinner contains butyl acetate, acetone, tolulene, xylene, butanol, isobutyl methylketone iso-butol, butanone and methanol no mention of a temperature range

I just asked at the shop for paint and thinners.

I sprayed in an ambient temperature of about 18 degs (64 degs F) in my garage with no heater or air filters, I used a Sealey HVLP gun model HVLP741 with a 1.4mm nozzle using 35-40psi air pressure.

I'd be happy to send you a Cooper 'S' but if I could afford that I wouldn't be painting my own car!!

I dread to think what you're going to say........probably it was too cold.

Generally orange peel is caused by the following:
- improperly adjusted spray gun
- spraying too far from the panel
- using too fast of an activator
- too small of a compressor for the spray gun

The droplets are large and not flowing together (laying down) so you end up with little bumps over the entire surface.

ORANGE PEEL
( Poor Flow, Texture)
Paint film having an uneven texture that resembles the skin of an orange.

CAUSE_____________________________________________________
(A) Under reduction and/or air pressure too low.
(B) Thinner/reducer evaporates too fast for spray conditions.
(C) Excessive film thickness or piling on of heavy wet coats.
(D) Improper spray gun set-up.
(E) Improper painting technique.

REPAIR _________________________________________
(1) Compound or polish to reduce surface texture.
(2) Or, sand smooth with 1200 or finer grit sandpaper, compound and polish to restore gloss.
(3) Or, sand smooth and refinish.

PREVENTION______________________________________________
(A) Use proper reduction ratio and spray at recommended air pressure.
(B) Select recommended thinner/reducer based on temperature, humidity, air movement, and size of repair.
(C) Avoid heavy coats and excessive film thickness.
(D) Use recommended spray gun, fluid tip and air cap for the material being sprayed. Always adjust the gun for best atomization and balanced spray pattern before paint application.
(E) During paint application, hold the gun perpendicular and parallel to the surface. Adjust speed of pass, pattern overlap, and distance from the panel to achieve the desired appearance.

im assuming its lacquer, so no its not to cold, cool is good for lacquer as long as its dry, low humidity. first off lacquer is always going to have a certain amount of O/P and the more you put on the more its going to show as it cures. thinner has a lot to do with O/P when using lacquer its best to use the slowest thinner you can find at moderate temps 65-70 and up. if you try and use a faster thinner your going to possibly run into a blushing problem and a heavier O/P. here when I used lacquer there were several ranges of thinners from very fast to ultra slow. your mix of 50/50 is close but 50/60 or more will help with the O/P, I would go 150 % somtimes you'll just have to put more coats on. your ready to spray mix should be the constancy of milk. I would put 6-7 coats at the 50/50 and maybe 7-8 or 9 with a 50/60. your going to want to let it cure for several weeks at least 2 or 3 then buff it buffs super easy wet sand the o/.p off with some 600 or possibly 800 then cut and buff. I always use a suction gun and air press at the gun was maybe 15 -25 psi sometimes lower. the 1.4 should be about right I would experiment with your air press. and see what happens. try and use the lowest setting you can and still spray smooth. there are several other things that can inter into this like your gun technique. you say it looks good and smooth on the rounded areas and rough on the flat areas. this could be from your distance of the gun and how wet the coat is, lacquer likes to be applied fairly wet. you could also be moving faster on the flat panels than on the curved ones. all in all it takes practice. I wouldn't;'t worry to much just spray 7 coats or so let it dry good and buff, it'll look like a show car. hope some of this helps
Jay D.

You should switch spary gun as well. I've tried spraying with that gun several times and could never get it right. Changed gun and had a wow moment. You seem to have made good work with that gun though.

Doesn't have to be a expensive gun, FLG-5 or airgunza would work great.

Thanks to all, I think I have something I can work with. I've copied the comments into a Word document to refer to. I have a spare MGB bonnet which I'll practice with. I also have a suction gun (one of the cheap ones that comes in a kit with tyre inflater etc.) so I'll try that.

I appreciate the time taken to reply.