The factory clearcoat was starting to peel from my outside mirrors, so I decided to repaint them black... I went through the entire "proper" painting process - got some of the old clearcoat & paint sanded off, got rid of all the imperfections with very fine sandpaper, primed, painted and finished it off with a clearcoat. Now the mirrors look great! Much better than what I have started with... but... they're not as glossy as I would like them to be. I was wondering if there is an extra something I could do to really get them to shine? Maybe wait a few days for the clearcoat to set and polish it lightly?

Wet sand, then more clearcoat.

yep, me agree. just be careful on the wet sanding.. you want to take off the least amount of paint/clear.


-justin

Wet sand to get rid of all orange peel. Then for a very smooth finish sand with 1500 - 2000 grit sandpaper, then apply Rubbing compound.

Yeah, I think I'll give that a try and see what happens... thanks guys.

Not rubbing compound!!! Thats much more abrasive then 1500 wet. A finish poslish like Meguiars Deep Crystal Polish would be fine...

What do you guys think of the new look? I decided to leave it as is for now... I just couldn't wait to see what it would look like on the car. Note: I painted the "nose" the same shade of black as the mirrors, and cut out the ugly plastic grille out... I might put in a steel mesh grille in the future.

hmm.. what paint did you use on the mirrors and nose? the mirrors look great.. the grille looks great too, except the rest of the front end needs to match it.. looks great so far!


-justin

I used "Dupli-Color" paint, out of a spray can and topped it off with a clear coat from the same brand. As for the matching up... well I think I actually like the 3-tone look that I have now - it'* somewhat original. But, ultimately my goal is to paint the entire car black. The hood looks good in the picture, but it has a few scratches here, and a small rustspot there... and the clearcoat on the rook and trunk is slowly peeling off, so she really needs some paint.

I really think I need to try the dupli colour'* line of products.. a lot of people have used it, and I guess it'll be worth the money. Don't feel bad about the car having the clear peel off, mine is all over the place.. between the trunk, roof, and hood.. its just comming off.. you could take your finger nail and scratch it all off. the black would look great! I must say.. I really need to get some duplicolour stuff..


-justin