Grill surround clear coat help

I painted my chrome surround to BSP and it came out pretty nice for a 1st attempt.

But, about 90% of the way through my 3rd layer of clear coat the can ran out and spit drips all over the most visible part.

It left me with a bunch of drips and a visible overspray.

I am going to wet sand the clear coat, after drying, with 1500 grit and the use rubbing compound to bring the shine back out. Per http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spray-paint-directions.htm

Is that the right thing to do?

The rubbing compound should bring the shine back out and be a permanent fix right? Basically, will rubbing compound alleviate the sand marks from 1500 grit wet sand?

 

Just be careful and take your time. I have to redo mine because I got a little crazy on the wet sand and buff.

 

I would try 2000-2500 grit before I used 1500. Compound may remove the wet sanding marks but you will need something to remove the compound marks. You will need a finer polish to get that thing to shine again.

 

Yeah, what i've been reading I think 1500 is a little much.

So, you think 2000 then 2500 then rubbing compound then polishing compound?

 

A rubbing compound like Meguire's heavy cut cleaner might be enough to remove the imperfections that you have. Just do it in light steps so you don't go past the point of no return and have to do a re-paint. It's easy to get down to primer if you're not careful.

 

Yea I'm going to be doing my Grille surround this weekend and i'll be using 2500, turtle wax rubbing compound, then a finishing polish and wax.

Just one question, did you leave the chrome on Or popped it off?

And post pics! I wanna see!

Pearl of wisdom: wet sanding means MORE STROKES and LESS PRESSURE.

 

Well, I when to get rubbing compound from walmart and they where either out of stock or they just don't sell it. I ended up with meguiars ultimate compound.

Didn't do much besides clear up the dust and the VERY minor imperfections. A clay bar wouldve yeilded the same results. I think I'll just leave it the way it is for now. I'm out of paint and clear coat so I don't want to overdo anything. If it bothers me too much I'll redo it over the winter.

I did remove the chrome surround and did the satoshy and paint separate. Most the tabs broke even though I tried the soldering iron first. It's left me with a small problem with reatatching but epoxy will probably be involved.

I'd give the finished product a C+. Mostly cause I'm a perfectionist but it's really not bad considering I have never painted or bondo'ed anything before.

I'll post pics in a bit.

 

OP, is BSP=Black Sand Pearl? Just wanted to make sure I understood what color you used for your grill. If it is, where'd you get your paint from? I searched another forum and someone posted some crazy sounding mixture to come up with this Toyota factory color.

Looking forward to pics!

 

Here are some pics of my progress so far. You can see the orange peel and defects in the clear coat. These are all just after drying. No compound was used yet.







I got both the paint and the grill material from ebay.

Grill
This was the cheapest grill mesh i found. It was a 12x48 in piece that i cut down. Won't matter for satoshi. It's not too bad, but it came with the edges slightly gnarled and the paint was flying off while i dremeled it apart. It's not powder-coated, it's painted. I think I'll probably opt for a denser mesh in the future.

Paint
The paint matches pretty well for a rattle can. I'm super new to paint of any kind so judge the color not the technique.


And here's whats left of the tabs for re-mounting the front.



All the pics were taken with my iPhone 4. Not bad.

 

Yep. BSP = Black Sand Pearl

 

I'm DONE!



For now at least. I might repaint over the winter. Plus I need do move the horns and paint the radiator.



You can see the orange peel. It's not too bad. In fact, it resembles the paint on the fender flares. Ebay paint is close but not perfect and the ultimate compound did bring out a little more shine. Not perfect but screw it, it's done.

 

Looks good man

 

that grill came out real nice! im in the same boat right now that you were in. your grill gave me hope haha, maybe mine will come out that good also.

 

So WHAT did you end up doing to make it nice and shiny? 2500 grit, rubbing compound and then polish?

 

Is this thread still active? what was the final procedure used to achieve the finished look?