So I painted my lip with some duplicolor spray paint (black) and clear coat.

The finish is shiny, but it's not reflective like the car.

So I used some Turtle Wax medium and light compound (cotton applicator) followed by some wax, which helped, but not to the full extent.

What I want to know is will using some 3000 unigrit sandpaper help (wetsand)?

Essentially, I'm thinking of using the procedure in https://g35driver.com/forums/care-de...polishing.html.

I don't have a real buffer, so all this will be by hand (and the lip has awkward crevices).

Any input or suggestions are appreciated.

Here are some pics:





BEFORE:


AFTER:


GOAL (from car's surface):

 

You are painting your front lip? You are going to have to wet sand that orange peal down. Then you will have to buff it back up using compounds. Thats alot of area to wet sand and buff with out a buffer

 

Yeah, here's the lip (unpainted):



I don't really see how to use a buffer, it seems like the workable area is too small

As for wetsanding, can I use 2000 grit, followed by the rubbing compound, then polishing compound?

I know the Turtle Wax ones aren't top of the line, but will they work (or do I need something harsher)?

Lastly, after the polishing compound, so I need to follow up with something even milder? If so, what do you suggest for over-the-counter?

 

yes you are going to have to wet sand that with some 1500 or 2000. I really dont know about the turtle was compound so i can not tell you how well it will polish out. That is going to be alot of work to rub out by hand. It can be done if you have the time. Do small sections. Wet sand a spot down but not to much as you might go threw the clear and have to start over. Then buff it up using what you have and a towel. Then move on to another spot. Good luck and post some pictures

 

Will do. I'm going to pick up some 2000 grit sandpaper and ScratchX for after the compound.

 

Just be aware that you should probably take off the lip and work on it in your house or something. That's a big, big job, and it's gonna take you a while. Like 3 hours at the very least. You have to wet-sand it flat, compound out the wet-sanding marks, then polish it up after that.

 

^ Thanks for the tip

The lip is actually off the car. I mounted it before painting to make all the holes and check fitment.

It's sitting in my garage right now.

Here's the thing, the orange peel look wasn't there until I applied the clear coat. But, when I run my fingers over it, it feels pretty smooth. We'll see what happens.

Also, those pics above are from below the lip. I'm testing everything there. If wetsanding/polishing doesn't have a significant improvement, I'll leave the rest of the lip how it is.

 

it orange peeled most likely because the base paint wasnt cured fully before you sprayed the clear. It is either wait an hour then clear, or wait till the paint is fully hardened and then clear the next week. between those two times, the clear pulls the base slightly causing orange peel. Your best bet is to wetsand with 1000,1500,2000 and then re polish. wetsanding will fix the issues. just dont remove all of the clear, unless you want to start over.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I only waited one day, was getting kind of anxious to finish it up.

I'll wetsand this weekend and post pics. Thanks for everyone's help

 

wetsand with 1500 then 3000 until flat. Then compound the sanding marks out, then polish to remove compound haze, the polish to enhance gloss, then seal it up!

I would NEVER wetsand unless you have a machine to compound afterward!

 

I have one of those 10" Random orbitals, but will it do the job?



Bought the 2000 grit sand paper and some Ultimate Compound and ScratchX:



Here's the lip right now (upside-down):

 

Well I went ahead and tried wetsanding. Wasn't helping much and polishing by hand wasn't making it any easier.

As someone stated above, I think the problem is between the clear and black, so I'd have to remove all the clear and respray it. Maybe another day.

I ended up waxing and installing it. Not perfectly matched, but it looks good for $100 ($70 for lip, $30 for paint supplies):

 

You do not need to remove the clear you would need to sand all the orange peal down flat and respray. The problem is that using clear in a can you will always get orange peal its hard to spray it slick. Im sorry but the buffer you have will not do the trick. Can you take a picture up close during the day?

 

Yeah, I feel that if I sand down and respray, I'll get the same effect.

I checked the DIY black grill thread, and pretty much all of them suffer the same problem using spray paint in a can.

I'll take an up close picture with my digital camera (shot above is cell) tomorrow.

I honestly don't want to mess it up and respray the whole thing. I may end up test spraying some piece of plastic and practicing on it first.

 

I would have stripped the paint and redone the prep. That was not prepped at all.

Look at it like this, for every 10 minutes you spend spraying the piece, you need to spend 1 hour prepping it.

Sand it down and start over.