I know that preparation is everything when beginning any project. I would like to repaint the mirrors on my car, they have some pits from road debris and generally dull from the road. I have a few questions before I begin. I'd like to get back to the mirror finish like the factory paint job. Ia haven't attempted this repair because I don't want the orange peel effect.

1) How many coats of paint should I use?
2) When do you wet sand? It always seems that when I wet sand I take off all the paint that I just put on. I'm using 2000 grit. I know that the paint will have somewhat of a self leveling effect so sanding shouldn't be too much.
3) How many coats of Clear Coat?
4) Do you buff in between the final coat of color and the first clear coat?

I'd like to know what your experiences are with this.

Thanks for your input.

While I don't know how to paint. I might direct you to this for sale post.

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=60822

Driver side looks great, I didn't see a pic of the passenger side.

I've not done much painting, but I do know a few things. You can put on as many coats of color and clear as you want. You will probably want at least 2-3 coats of each though. Especially if you are using a spray can since those seem to be thinner than using regular paint from a gun. As far as wet sanding or buffing, DO NOT do it on the last layer of color before clear. It will look like crap. You should not sand or buff the color unless you have runs or other defects to fix. And then you have to do a new coat on top. The only time you should have to do it is after you put on the last coat of clear. I think the biggest reason for orange peel is putting the coats on too thick.

I've done some painting of smaller things plus some repainting of a fender on one of my cars. I never really sanded between color coats unless I had some runs in it that I wanted to get rid of.

I sand after the primer and before I apply the first color coat.

Then a few smooth coats of color.

Then 3-4 coats of clear.

I then sand starting with 800 for orange peel, then work my way up to 2000 and finish with rubbing compound. That gave me a very factory finish look on the fender. Turned out really well.

PeterG should have a lot of pointers.

Thanks for the replies so far. This is the sort of info I'm looking for. I didn't think sanding before the clear coat was a good idea I just needed to verify. I'd like to get a test mirror and try it out before I actually do the ones on my car.

So the stuff coming out of the spray can is thinner then the stuff out of a spray gun. I've never really had the chance to see the paint differences.

I don't know about stuff you can get at paint suppliers, but I've used the cheap stuff from Duplicolor and it seemed thinner and didn't cover as well.

to answer your questions
1.Q) How many coats of paint should I use?
A) color coat is usually 3 coats but you can go more or less depending on color coverage, clear coat is 2-3 coats but you can do more but youwill be risking runs.

2.Q) When do you wet sand? It always seems that when I wet sand I take off all the paint that I just put on. I'm using 2000 grit. I know that the paint will have somewhat of a self leveling effect so sanding shouldn't be too much
A)sanding between coats is only nessesary if yo uhave a flaw in the COLOR COAT and like stated never on the last coat of color. and NEVER between clear coats (obviousely)

3.Q) How many coats of Clear Coat?
A) see Answer #1

4.Q) Do you buff in between the final coat of color and the first clear coat?
A) NO



the best tip i can give so your panel has a smooth finish and doesnt look like a florida fruit stand is to not put to much matterial(clear) on at once a light misting will be good for the first coat (so it looks slightly rough) wait till it clear is not wet but a little bit "tacky" then apply the second coat a little heavier mist over laping 50% with every pass till it looks smooth. then let dry

I'm feeling a bit better about trying it. I just wanted to check the details first.

Thanks Again.

I repainted a whole fender with Duplicolor from a spray can. They have the spray cans that have the fan-like nozzel that spreads the paint out more like a real spray gun. Looked exactly like the factory paint when I was done. If you apply thin coats and do the misting of clear, followed by a couple wetter, heavier coats, and sand, you can get pretty surprising results from the spray cans.

what car was that!?!