Painted the Fiero yesterday...

All went well until the clearcoat. Apparently the activator kicked too soon and left me with a nasty refrigerator door texture. It looked like it was flowing out nicely, then it just froze. Looks AWFUL. Now what? Can I hit it with 600, then 1200, then buff with some compound, or hit it with the DA and start over? Some of it is smooth, some is like frosted glass and some is like the aforementioned fridge door. Crap.

The activator was good to 85 degrees, and it was 80 outside and 83 in the booth. Guess I mixed a bit too much in?? It was Nason 497-00 clear.

------------------
1986 SE 350 V8

How many coats of clear do you spray? What brand of clear did you use? In most cases you can hit it with 800, wipe it real good, spray another 2 to 3 coats of clear. Let it cure for a week or so (depending on climate) hit it again with (wet sand) 1000 then 1500 then 2000 then machine buff.

Depending on how many coats you put on the first time you maybe able to even it out pretty good even though it has some orange peal on it. I would try some 1000 (wet sand) then get some super heavy duty buffing compound (you can get some pretty cheap on ebay) and a high speed buffer. Be sure to be real careful around the edges and corners or you will eat through the paint real quick!!! In the end your going to be so sick of wet sanding, but it will be worth it!

I feel your pain- I sprayed my Diablo Roadster replica this past spring. Got in a hurry, and now have to redo the entire paint job......

If this was your first and only coat I would put another two coats on and then color sand it and shoot another two coats. If it was 4 coats I would just sand it down put one more coat on sand that and buff. Urethane clears are pretty forgiving if you get orange peel you can always sand it down.

The texture will increase as the clear cures. The only option you have is to sand it smooth and reclear. If you try to sand all of the texture out without reclearing, you'll lose all of your depth of image.

Pro tip, use Nason 498-00 and the high temp activator. 497-00 dries too fast, even with the high temp activator.

I think I would try to sand it smooth first. I cant tell how bad it is without pics but try starting with 1000 on a block then 1500 then 2000 on one panel to see how its going to work out. If you haven't burn through your clear after that you may be able to buff it out. OR if you have enough clear built up and do not feel like spending the next two days cutting and buffing you could block it out with 600 and re-clear. Just dont burn through to your base coat.

I can sand the clear with 600 and re clear it? It will look OK if I do that? What If I go too deep and hit the color? Will I be good as long as I don't go through the color?

Thanks for the replies, and especially the tip on the Nason clear. Good info.

------------------
1986 SE 350 V8

Yep be careful and try no to hit your color base. Just get that clear smoothed out. I think you would be ok sanding with 600 and reclearing. make sure you wet sand and keep your sandpaper clean.

Hopefully you have enough clear on it. Ive sanded others screwed up clear with as rough as 400 grit on a DA to knock it down, then went over it with 600, 1000 and buffed it. STAY AWAY FROM EDGES. Clears are all VERY critical about correct ratios. Its best to buy a measuring stick to mix it so you dont make errors. An ounce or two either way can ruin a job. Id try sanding and buffing first. If you got the mixture very wrong, it didnt catalyze right and reclearing it may cause it to wrinkle and bubble up. Then you will have to start all over completely from primer up again.

It's a 3:1 mix, so I'm sure I got it right. I have been searching all over the net for the past few days and have come to the conclusion that the clear and activator that I used is notorious for drying too fast. It is billed as an overall clearcoat, but it dries super fast like for spot use. Anyway, I'm going to hit it with 600 and see what happens. If that goes good, and I think I can get away with it, I'll move on to 1200 and finer, then buff. Buffing scares the hell out of me, so I don't know about that. If it looks like I can reshoot the clear I'll do that. If I go through the color at any step, I'll DA the whole damn thing and start over.

Anybody paint guys here make house calls?

------------------
1986 SE 350 V8

If I was near you I would help. However Roger is closer, and he has way more experience than I do

Thanks.

Ya, im in Columbus (middle of Ohio) and pretty much retired. Your welcome to bring it over and see what we can do with it. I just need some advance warning to make sure im not gone. I go cruising, flying or boating but the weather is starting to get crappy. Just cost you any material or supplies we use.

I'm about 8 hrs away. Hmm...

4 hours from me lol.

You will need to repaint it. You wont sand off the clear leaving the base coat. The clear was too dry and was dry before it hit the car by the sounds of it. The only was to get all the clear off is to sand part of the base coat off as well. What you leave on the car was still dry before it hit the car.