Any paint or auto body guys....

busa186

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please move to correct section if needed.

I had my bike painted by a "friend"... long long story short I have my pieces of the bike back and they are covered in orange peel. my shops wont touch it for less than $400.

I have come to the conclusion that I must learn to cut and buff. :(

can anyone give me some advice? I have researched the net and have gathered as much information as I can

*wait a week for the paint to cure
*wet sand with 2000 grit
*buff with rubbing compound
*Wax

Going to start on the belly wing and work my way up.

Thanks again for any input. and its a single stage paint if it makes a difference.

Thanks. :thumbsup:
 
ive been in the biz 7 years, and here to help. You don't need to wait a week, sometimes we only wait an hour after a bake cycle in the paint booth to start sanding and buffing. all depends on the hardner and temp and how long it baked. But the sand with 2000 grit is correct. go slow though. if you go through then you have to repaint the piece. go easy anound the edges and high spots like the tip of your nose or mirror mounts. its real easy to burn through. sand slow and wipe dry so you can watch your progress and when it all looks smooth and you dont see any orange peel then you can start buffing. Now again, go slow. be careful if you are using a large (8 in) buffer or bigger. I suggest a 3 in buffer. more control in tight areas. remember to always roll the edge of the buffer off the panel. What i mean is if your buffer turns clockwise, and you are working an edge you want the left side of your pad to be on the panel and the right side off the panel with an emphasis on the top of your pad so the pad doesn't grab and hit the corner on the way around the 6 o'clock position. this prevents the "burn" from happening. Continue buffing till desired shine with finer gompounds and less aggressive pads. As for the wax leave it be for 90 days then you can wax it. The paint isn't fully cured until then and you don't want the wax trapping the solvents in the paint. Don't worry, you can ride and be fine. Any more questions feel free to ask.
 
man, thanks for the help. hold on need to activate my flame suite... Ok. I dont think this paint was "baked" it was in a garage for about 4hours at "90 degrees". the paint still feels a little tacky. is it still ok to cut right away? if you have the time would go over the step trough? I wet sand with 2000 to get the paint flat/level then I buff, but with what kind of compound? I see there is harsh to super fine. or do I start with a the harsh and work my way to the super fine? I also see the different kind of pads. looks like I need a foam pad a wool pad, is that correct? it looks easy on video but so does most everything.

Thanks again for the help!
 
By now the paint should be dry enough. Sometimes depending on the brand paint used it might feel tacky because its new and not buffed yet. As long as the painter mixed the base and hardner right. So go ahead and start sanding as you should be fine. Now with the buffing i would use a medium grit compound. It might take you longer but you have less of a chance messing up. Also i would find a foam pad for that medium compound. We hardly use the wool anymore because how aggressive it is. So then get a fine compound and fine foam pad and go aver it all again to get out all the small scratches from the first pass of compound. The first comp/pad pass should make it shine but have a little haze cause you have little scratches from the comp/pad. wipe everything down with a microfiber cloth and if you see any scratches left buff some more. Being a single stage your pads will turn the color of your paint because there is no clear on top. So don't get scared. But BE CAREFUL, cause that is your only layer and if you sand to far or buff too hard it will burn or go through. Like I said, take it slow and light pressure the whole time. you can always go back and do a little more if you need to but try not to push the limits.

ps make sure your pads are "wet" with compound. you don't want a dry pad running over your paint, that will make it burn too. So schmear your pad with the compound and get it all over the pad and the work surface. Dont be scared to add more cause you doo use it up during the process. If your pad looks liked and Iced cake clean it off and use a little less. wet is better than dry.

good luck
 
I did everything by hand just to get a feel and its turning out really good. Do you think I could go to a 1500 to start? or is that to aggressive?

before/after not there yet but with a buffer it should look niiicceee, Thanks again for the help:beerchug:

before.jpg


after.jpg
 
lookin good, :thumbsup:

have you slapped your friend yet?:whistle:

He feels really bad already and there is only so many times you can beat a dead horse.... buy that's easy to say now that its starting to turn out good. I did send a pic a tell him this is what is SHOULD look like.

It all comes down to getting what you pay for. A pro would have 2to3 times more... but it would have been no stress!
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looking good so far, that orange peel for a single stage paint is pretty rough but for a friend in a garage not bad. Thats why they invented sandpaper and compound.
 
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