Paint/Body Corvette Materials, Techniques, and How To

Lacquer question

Old Sep 27, 2023 | 05:28 AM
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Painting my 59 with some old Lucite that I have. 5 coats applied with medium thinner, then wet sanded with 1000 to get it smooth again and painted with 5 more coats. First time spraying lacquer. I thought it went down dry, but nice, no orange peel or runs.

My question is how long should I wait to begin final sanding and then buffing, and should I begin with 1000, 1500 or even something else?
Thanks Joe
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Old Oct 1, 2023 | 10:14 AM
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Damn. This is how old I am. Wait about a week to let the solvents cure out "completely". I don't understand "it went down dry"--it should have been glossy enough to see your reflection in the surface as you sprayed. I hope you're talking about sanding the clearcoat. From your description of your prep for the last 5 coats I would think 1000 grit is plenty cautious--maybe knock down the "sharpness" of the sandpaper by VERY lightly wet sanding it against itself (including the corners of the paper).
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Old Oct 1, 2023 | 01:49 PM
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Lacquer need 7 to 10 days before buffing and 30 days before applying wax. If theres no nibs or dry overspray Id try buffing with foam pads and 3m or mequires 205 using a DA buffer first. If that doesn't work try 5000 wet using a wet orbital sander, then switch to 10000 grit wet. Lacquer inst very durable and its not hard to sand right through it.



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Old Oct 2, 2023 | 07:12 PM
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Thanks for the advice!

When I mentioned it went down "dry", it did have a wet sheen very briefly before drying and turning to a satin that wasn't slick to the touch. 1.4 nozzle, 20 PSI at the gun. Gravity feed.

Wasn't really sure about intervals, and never would have guessed 30 days to wax. I colorsanded yesterday 7 days out with 1000 and1500 and want to do some compounding/buffing by the end of the week. Smooth and picked up "some" shine and depth.

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Old Oct 3, 2023 | 08:58 AM
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The longer you can wait to wax, the better. Wax will seal the paint and the thinners won't "evaporate" through it.
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