Need Polishing Advice Old Paint

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.



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PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:09 pm
Four years ago, I had to repaint the driver's side rear end cap on my 68 fastback after chipping it. I used the same paint mix as originally, and cut and buffed it the same way. But, now I can see the same shine isn't there so I need to repolish it. At night, it looks like it has light orange peel. Can I just start over at about 1500 grit and work my way through the finer grain paper, compound, and polish, or do I need to respray some clear first after sanding? When I redid it, I put on two coats of basecoat and three of clear.

At the same time, I need to redo an area on the inner trunk lid. I just repaired it due to the latch working loose and gouging the paint. But, as you can see in the photo, the new area is not well blended into the original. And, there was a run I never could get out. I am going to resand and paint from stripe edge to stripe edge this time. Would 80 grit be the right one to start the sanding?

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:40 pm
Be careful wet sanding a second time. Chances are that you didn't measure the thickness of the clear you put on there before and how much you took off. So you don't know how much is left. Gently, gently.

Attacking a run with P80 is a bit like killing a mouse with an atomic warhead. The mouse is gone, but so is your house and the rest of the city. If I have a run I nearly always use the fine filler method to cover and protect then P400 wet on a small piece of very dense timber to take it out. It's very rare to go through using this technique and, since you haven't broken through the clear you can continue up through the grades to buff and polish, without having to resort to repainting.
Chris

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