Need Rattle-can paint advice

[blkfordsedan]

Just painted the tailgate white on my F250 (it was 2-tone maroon & silver). I washed & degreased it, sanded it with 380 grit and sprayed it with 2 coats each of Primer Sealer and Duplicolor exact Match paint. I wet sanded it with 800 & 1000 grit between each primer and color coat. I then wet sanded it again with 1000 grit, applied one light coat of clear, and wet sanded it again. It feels smooth & looks "OK" but doesn't have any depth or much shine.

I realize it's a spray can job, but how do I get it to shine and have at least a little depth? Can I polish it out with mild rubbing compound? Steel Wool? Should I do that before adding another clear coat?

[deathegg]

First: DON'T USE STEEL WOOL ON PAINT!!!!
Second, you're not going to get "pro-quality" shine/depth with rattle cans, so I hope you realize that. However done right it can be very good can can last a long time.

I wet sanded it with 800 & 1000 grit between each primer and color coat

I'm not sure if I understand this; are you saying that you sprayed primer, then sanded, painted it, then applied more primer over the paint? Please clarify. I'm thinking that's not what you did, but it sort of sounds like it.

I then wet sanded it again with 1000 grit, applied one light coat of clear, and wet sanded it again. It feels smooth & looks "OK" but doesn't have any depth or much shine.

Ok, did you polish this at all after it was wet sanded for the final time? It will be smooth after color-sanding, but would have almost no gloss to it. Use a really fine grit to color sand it, then polish it out using progressively finer compounds, and it should shine up quite a bit.

Also, you only sprayed "one light coat" of clear, which isn't enough to get you a good shine or depth. Clear is meant to go on in multiple coats, because when you wet sand, you're going to lose a coat of the clear. So in your case, you may not have much clear left after your sanding. Really good paint jobs are so "deep" looking because of the layers of clear. Also, you don't have to sand between coats of clear.

It's hard to give advise on something from long distance, but I would put on a few more coats of clear; go back over it with a rougher sandpaper, clean everything as before, then shoot 3-4 coats of clear, with no sanding between coats. THEN color sand it and polish it out.

I know a rattle can job can look good: I painted my Festiva with cans in '04 (the whole car!) and did clear coats as described above, and it still looks presentable now.

Good luck, I hope this helps. Post some pics when you're done!!

[angrygocart]

Wet sanding will get the paint flat (removes orange peel) but not shiny. You need to use a buffer and compound after sanding to remove the fine scratches. This will get the paint shiny. Several coats of clear will give you some depth. Practice on a small scrap piece of metal. I'm sure there are several how-to videos on youtube.

[Evil D]

I've never gone through all that trouble....because once you do you have to buff it at the end. If you've ever seen a car painted the right way, the paint looks like total crap before clear is sprayed on, and then afterwards it looks like it was dipped in honey and needs wet sanded. When you sand it it looks like crap again and needs buffed.

The way i spray paint goes against every rule of painting, and i'm not sure you could make it work on something as large as a tailgate. Everyone knows you should paint 12 inches or so away from the surface....well i don't do that. I spray about 4 inches or so from the surface and i put on a coat that is just heavy enough to almost puddle up but you need to let up before it runs, and obviously it needs to be laying flat to make this work. You do a couple light coats just like usual but the final coat is really heavy. It's a little risky but here's what you get if you pull it off...

Stock wheels off my XR4Ti




Each coat gets a few minutes to get tacky before the next one is applied. The key is really just that last coat or even last 2 coats are heavier than normal, sprayed really close to the surface, and you spray and overlap coats really hard and let the paint almost pool up. If you practice it you'll see the paint collect and fill in and it won't look powdery like it does when you spray from a distance.

[blkfordsedan]

Thanks for your help Guys! I really had only a vague idea of what I was doing. The tailgate was originally 2-tone Maroon & Silver. What I did was as follows (in order):

Wash & degrease it
Scuff it with 380 grit
Wipe down w/Prep-All
Spray w/ Primer-Sealer
Wet sand w/800 & 1000 grit
Wipe down w/Prep-All
Spray w/ Primer-Sealer
Wet sand w/800 & 1000 grit
Wipe down w/Prep-All
Spray w/Duplicolor Exact Match paint (Oxford White)
Wet sand w/800 & 1000 grit
Wipe down w/Prep-All
Spray w/Duplicolor Exact Match paint (Oxford White)
Wet sand w/800 & 1000 grit
Wipe down w/Prep-All
Spray w/(2) light coats of Duplicolor Clear Engine Enamel w/Ceramic
Wet sand w/800 & 1000 grit
Wipe down w/Prep-All
Lightly hand buff w/Maguire's Ultimate Compound

It may not have been by-the-book, but it's just a tailgate on an $800 truck. I already had a 3/4-full can of the Engine Clear w/Ceramic, so I just used that. In retrospect, I think the Ceramic gave it a very slight yellow tint. On the PLUS side, my tailgate is good to 500*F! I hear there are Festivas on the road with flame-throwing exhaust, so I should be covered! LOL ...............here are some pics of the result........

[deathegg]

Looks good to me!

[angrygocart]

An electric high speed buffer will remove paint and give you a nice smooth shiny finish. You're not going to get the same results buffing by hand. Practice on a scrap panel because you can easily burn through the paint with the buffer. Or you can hire someone at a body shop to do the final buffing for you.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

You could try painting it with a brush. I once painted a whole $365.00 1973 VW Transporter yellow that way. Some people liked the "textured" effect.