Finished painting my grill, need advice!!

I sanded my chrome grille down with 200 grit, then 400 grit. Taped everything off and sanded it with 800 grit, wiped it down with alcohol, then shot it with 4 coats of grey duplicolor primer, then let it dry overnight.

The next day, shot it with 10 coats of duplicolor perfect match paint, with an hour between coats, let it sit overnight.

Today, hit it with 4 light coats of clear, then one heavy coat. its been sitting for 6 hours with a heater to keep the room warm.

My question is, it's not very glossy, and still rough to the touch. My friend said I needed to wait and then hit it with rubbing compound, then it will get glossy, and then finally buff with a polish. Is this going to fix the roughness? I feel like ive taken my time and done everything correctly but don't want to mess it up on the last leg. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

You probably should have wet sanded the paint prior to clear coat, but if you have not, no biggy. Wetsand the clearcoat with 2000 grit wetsand. Light and easy, just to knock off the high spots and get rid of any orange peel. Be carefull at corners because thisnis where you will sand through the clear coat first.
Now rub it good with rubbing compound, then the same with polishing compound, and then a good wax.

If you don't feel comfortable with all the sanding, and you still have paint left, paint a scrap piece of metal and go through all the steps to practise. Then go back to the grill and perfect it. Good luck. Post pics when you are done.

 

I'm not a painter, but that just sounds like too many coats of everything. 18 coats total? a little overkill?

 

If I wetsand it with the 2000 grit, will I have to reapply any clear coat? I feel sanding it at this point wont take too much off because there are 10 coats of paint underneath it all. Any other tips are appreciated.

Thanks for your input!

Oh, and I put 10 coats because all the people who have painted theirs and put two coats said it chipped within a few days.

 

The wetsand should just take high points off. You should not have to coat it again, because then you might have to wet sand again if the final coat is not smooth.

 

Wet sand then buff. U won't have to sand through the clear. Once u do that it will have less orange peel than factory paint job

 

I did my grill about 3 weeks ago and I still cant get it as shiny as factory. Think I'm just going to go buy a paint matched one. In the mean time it doesnt look bad though.

 

I used this when I did mine and it came out great...

http://www.google.com/products/cata...=B1RJT-SsLOHx0gHciOT1DQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEwQ8wIwAA#

 

Ok so I wet sanded it with 2000 grit sandpaper, and now there are black areas on the grill, I dont know if I need to sand more or if I sanded too much?

I took some detailed pics so you can see what I'm talking about.

At this point after 4 days worth of work I'm ready to throw it in the trash...

 

How long did you let the paint cure? That many coats is going to take a couple of days to gas out.

 

2 and a half days

 

Hmm...maybe too much pressure apllied? All is not lost. Just give it a good sanding and respray it.

 

Can't find anymore paint around here, I'd have to order some and then re clear it. At this point ive already spent $50 on it, I'd rather save my cash at this point and buy the grill from Toyota.

Thanks for all your advice, and if anyones looking to buy a grill cheap, let me know!

 

Take a breath. Sand it with 1500 down to the paint then 2000 to smooth it. Reclear it with 3 light coats and let dry. Polish and wax it. Go buy deep dish pizza.

 

Bad thing is, i noticed a few corner spots where it goes back down to the chrome, which tells me the primer didn't adhere as well as I thought. I'm gonna take a step back at this point and figure out what to do.

Plus my wrist is tired of rubbing and sanding.

 

When all else fails.....

































PLASTIDERP!!!!

 

I just recently did this same thing with my grill and had the same issue with that clear coat...and ended up taking it to a body shop to get professionally done. I am SO much more happy with how it looks now! It looks completely factory they did a great job. You probably will never get the high glossy finish you're looking for unless you get it done professionally..

 

Either way sand off 14 of your 17 coats; prime it again, paint it with 3 light coats of color, 2000 grit to sand it smooth then clear with 3 coats. You're fine.

 

I like the body shop idea. Gonna get good, warranteed results, and still save $$ compared to buying a new grill.

 

I followed this guys process http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/117163-painting-grille-5.html#post2255957


I'm at the orange peel stage now with the final clear coat...guess ima try one more light wet sand then a cleaner/wax tomorrow...

Definitely not as nice as Chris's is