How do I get the yellow out of my new clearcoat?

[fredsav]

86 Vector,Here we go again! And I didn't even do it this time. Sanded the bottom to death, filled chips scratches and decided I'd had enough of the dust and shipped it next door to the autobody shop to be Gelcoated. Bought the guy the appropriate gun and 1gallon of white gelcoat and 1 gallon of clear. He sprayed 3 coats of white( using 2/3 gallon), looked o.K., little orange peally, then left for lunch, when he got back he sprayed 2 coats of clear using the whole Gallon!!!!! More orange peally than before and has a bad yellow tinge to it.
Will this level itself and the yellow go away or what is the solution?

[Superdave]

No, the gel will not self level. You will have to sand it smooth. That's the disadvantage of gelcoat. It the clear had uv protectant in it that would cause some color, but mine was a very light bluish tint. I used 220 grit on a da to start, but go lightly. You will work down to 400 wet/dry, 600 wet/dry, and maybe 1000 wet/dry. Then you buf with a rouge stick or buffing compund. You still got lots of work. My clear clouded up cause of humidity.
Dave

[Barefoot Bob]

They re-geled the clear. It looks clearer than when I purchased the boat new in 1983.

[fredsav]

I'M SICK OF SANDING. At least this is wet sanding. No dusk but, I hate sanding. Wet sanding starting at 400 grit then 600 then 1000. I hate sanding. Body shop guy wants to level it out with a coat of car clearcoat. Will this work? I wouldn't think so. Any tips on how to get done this quicker. I'm using a small orbital sander with 600 wet to get it down a bit but the rest will be by hand. Awlgrip is going on the DECK! Merry sanding Christmas. Did I tell you yet how much I hate sanding?

[fredsav]

That's a gallon of clearcoat and 2/3 gallon of white geloat on just the bottom. Is that normal amounts. Is the clearcoat supposed to be thinned?
If it is possible, what is best to use? I still may do the deck.

[Techno]

You can't level a surface by spraying more stuff over it. This would still need to be sanded and isn't easy either if it's catylized.
The good news is you can sand it with your RO right up to something like 3,000 grit. I think the name is 3-ms microfinish. You need a sponge interpad and the microfinish. After that you go to the buffer and compound and the usual ultimate gloss route.

[fredsav]

A sanding I will go. Any tricks to getting a smoother result from spraying?

[sho305]

I am not a gelcoat pro, but with paint you sand between coats if you have a leveling problem. The peel will get worse and worse if you keep spraying. Also if you have clear over nonclear, you can sand into the underlying color's peel easier while trying to get out the clear peel. However gelcoat is way thicker and this may not be an issue for you; seems like someone would have brought it up if so. I like to wet sand with a jitterbug air sander if useing power, not sure what you have there. It has a foam pad on it, and I go to a hand pad finer than 600 as it cuts too slow on car paint then. Just think of the free workout you are getting! Try some soap in the water, that helps sometimes to make it smoother if you are not now. Not anything else you can do that I know of. That is why I do not want to gel mine, but might anyway. Just remember if you are sanding your pad, you can skip that spot with the fine stuff.

I have seen talk on here of special clears, but not if they are smoother or not. If you went to the trouble of gel, I would not play with car paint/clear; and there is no way it will take peel out anyway. 90% of a paint job on a car is done before the paint is sprayed, ask anyone. Spraying is the easy/fun part, but can be a mess when it goes bad!

[Techno]

To get a smooth surface you have to have a smooth surface like sho305 said. The other part is the paint or gell or whatever has to flow when it hits the surface but dry shortly after. If it sets too quick it's orange peel. If it sets too slow it's a sag or run.
A guide coat is handy for making a smooth surface, it's a very very light fogging of a paint on the surface. When you sand it, you remove it from the peaks but not the valleys, the valleys show up as still foggy. The further you sand the deeper into the valleys you go, very visual.
Too deep and you've archealoged through the entire clear stratum into the past. This whole thing looks like a topographical map since thats pretty much what it is.

Most cars, well all cars have orange peel. The only ones that don't are the ones some one sanded- sanded & sanded. Some of the newer cars are pretty flat. If you want an easy way to tell, stand next to a door. Look at your reflection in the door and the window. If they are the same it's perfect, the more out of focus the more orange peel. Then look down the length at a reflection spot. You'll see the actuall surface bumping.
I mention all this since no orange peel isn't always required some is still acceptable.

[sho305]

Yes, I often use a contrasting color of spray paint. Hold it about 2-3' away and mist the surface so it has specks of paint you can just see. The less the better. Then sand with a block and you will see imperfections.

Factory paint is baked on now, and unlike anything you can buy. The mill thickness is very thin, like half of a sprayed job. Sprayed paint can not supply the needed resistance to UV at that thin of an application. This is much of the reason factory jobs look so smooth, because there is so much less paint there to begin with. More paint=more peel. Peel is good on a normal car, as it helps to hide light scratches and minor imperfections. A sanded, glassed out show car will show every wave in the metal, black even more. I have seen many that way, and that would not show near as much with a little factory peel and a good final polish. Get right next to the back tire and look at the reflection down the door. If not clear, it has peel; if waves then the body work was not done.

If I want good straight body work, I often wet sand the primer with 600 until I can see a reflection that is perfect with no waves or peel. Then I proceed with sealer/color/or more sanding. In the old days you sanded every coat or two of laquer to keep it smooth. You can't sand color now(sort of), but I have sanded clear between coats if needed, when something went wrong. Also have sanded clear and put more on to get it very thick. Looking for trouble if you try to do a lot at once. Urethane is very forgiving now, and pretty easy to spray nice and wet. It can still go bad if too thick and not allowed to dry, and solvents escape.

Using the jitterbug is slow anyway, but all you have to do is stand there and wait. I have not found anything else that will keep it straight. Once I did rip over something very carefully with 320 on a DA before wet sanding, and I made sure I left some peel so I knew I did not go too deep. I knew I was going to use a block later anyway. Hope this explains/helps.

[fredsav]

Think I've gotten through most of the sanding. It's going over to the bodyshop guy tomorrow for him to finish the job. He's going to compound for final finish. He originally wanted me to do the whole job by hand, starting with 600 wet!!! Thanks to you guys I think I'm finished with the bottom.It looks smooth, though quite scratchy. Hopefully, this goes with the compound.