To sand or not to sand?

[jsmith24]

Hi all,

I've built a custom computer case and have begun laying the paint. I'm using Rustoleum rattle cans, if it makes a difference. Anyway, the case is going to be black with a clear coat which I will wetsand and polish to a high gloss. My question is whether or not I should sand the black color coat before applying the clear? The color coat has some pretty noticeable orange peel, and I'm not sure if this is going to translate through the clear even after the clear coat is perfectly smooth and glossy. I'm attaching a few photos showing the level of the orange peel. These pictures are from fairly close up, but I can take more from farther away if it helps.




Thanks,

Jack

 

[TAZ]

Jack,
That is quite a bit of orange peel, so if you clear it without resanding, you're going to sand off a lot of clearcoat, just to get it 'flat'.
Your clear will only lay as flat as your basecoat.
So my suggestion would be to wetsand it down with possibly 1000 grit. Get the base as flat as possible, then clearcoat. This will make the clearcoat lay down flatter.
You could even just apply one more wetcoat of black before clearing if you wanted to.

 

[jsmith24]

Thanks, Taz.

I'd wondered about laying down a wet coat of black, but honestly wasn't sure if it would level out or if I'd just have more to sand off.

Now, the other pieces aren't really too bad. If the other parts aren't too badly orange peeled, would you recommend leaving them alone and just shooting clear?

Jack

Jack,
That is quite a bit of orange peel, so if you clear it without resanding, you're going to sand off a lot of clearcoat, just to get it 'flat'.
Your clear will only lay as flat as your basecoat.
So my suggestion would be to wetsand it down with possibly 1000 grit. Get the base as flat as possible, then clearcoat. This will make the clearcoat lay down flatter.
You could even just apply one more wetcoat of black before clearing if you wanted to.

 

[TAZ]

The should be all right. Since they've been sitting a while though, you may want to just scuff them down with some 1000 grit wetsand

 

[jsmith24]

Thanks! I have to ask - what kind of car is that in your avatar picture?

 

[TAZ]

This is a 1972 Mercury Montego GT (429/521).
Just had a pretty cool story written on it here.

Here are some pics and updates I did every month as I built it (look for the Monthly Update links in the yellow table)

Hope that paint job works out for you!!!

 

[jsmith24]

Those pics, and the work on the car, were fantastic! I haven't seen a Montego in maybe 30 years. My goal is to get my '75 Dart Sport back and get her back to showrooom new. Maybe someday!

Jack

This is a 1972 Mercury Montego GT (429/521).
Just had a pretty cool story written on it here.

Here are some pics and updates I did every month as I built it (look for the Monthly Update links in the yellow table)

Hope that paint job works out for you!!!

 

[jsmith24]

Taz, I just saw from that page that you're in Tampa - small world! I lived way too many years in Bradenton, just south of you. Also spent a few years in Orlando and Gainesville.

 

[TAZ]

Very cool.

Thank you for the compliment on the Montego.

Those darts are pretty rare to. I think all the 70's cars are scarce - probably even more than the 60's