i have an 05, white that has orange peel basically over the entire thing. i hate it. most people dont notice but it is mine and i cant take it any more. is the any way to get rid of this with out buying a polisher? also on a side note, i have something on the tailgate that will not come off. kinda looks like an orange tree sap. tried clay, dont really help any ideas?

 

You need to learn to love the orange peel and or take photos of it at different angles during different parts of the day. Sad reality is that a DA won't remove orange peel but it can make a difference albeit only about 10-20%.

How bad is your paint? Can you provide some photos of the areas you think are bad and the tail gate with the problem area?

does your OP look like this? (This is the worse part on my truck)



Here is another shot at a different angle...see any OP?



It's not just Ford products, here is a Chrysler product


Same shot, different angle, see much OP

 

yeah i can get some pics. it will be tomorrow night, but i will let you know. the orange peel... my mom has a cadillac that actually has it worse than i do. it really isnt all that bad, it is just the fact that it is mine, and i constantly notice it.

real quick since i respect your opinion as a detailer, what is best for brake dust, and also what is best for plastic trim?

 

Brake dust can vary, so it depends on how bad it is...honestly I get really good results by using Megs All purpose cleaner (orange) non diluted. As for Trim, that is easy. I like Megs Trim Detailer and 303 but I like Megs better as it doesn't streak.

 

thanks, i will get some pics of the 05 up tomorrow night. weather permitting of course. thanks again for the help.

 

No worries, mine is just opinion, there are way more smarter people on this forum than me. I think you will get a lot of great responses.

This seems more of a case of you being just as overly **** about your paint like the countless others here and 99.9% of the population that would never comment about the orange peel on your paint.

Like RockPick said in anther thread...."orange peel is a standard option on Ford trucks"

 

Agreed. Juuuuuust kidding.

 

My girlfriend's x-terra has a horrible case of it. Luckily its silver so it's hard to notice. My black truck is pretty much a black orange.

 

Orange Peel is prevailant in most manufacturers nowadays unfortunately.

I have wet sanded a Truck before now and that has removed the majority of the issues but it depends on whether it is the clear coat or colour coat that has OP.

If its the clear then wet sanding will remove it. If it is the paint coat then you will have to wet sand off the whole of the clear coat which is not advisable as the clear is there for a reason and will lead to UV damage of the paint.

Wet sanding is really the last thing to do. I personally would not recommend it as it can lead to clearcoat failure. It certainly isnt something to do on a whole truck.

My 2003 F150 Harley had it bad mainly around the tailgate where it was noticable.

The mark you mentioned is probably a tree sap or bird lime burn mark. This is the acid in each of these that if not removed straight away can eat into the clearcoat. Claying may remove it but normally the only way I remove these is using a PC with some final finish compound. Remember to wax the area afterwards too.


Kev

 

The only "right" way of removing orange peel is a good wet sanding/ high speed polish with some good compounds. 3M has a good system, but leave it to a pro to do, not cheap but worth it. I just had my car painted and sanded after, the bloody paint looks like a sheet of glass, honestly it's gorgeous.

 

My wifes 05 Tahoe has a great paint job compared to my 05 screw. And my friends 02 Harley Davidson F150 and cousins 04 Lightning look like glass.

 

How much did that run you blue...just for future reference

 

dont know how much blue spent on color or wet sanding a car but starting with nothing...i would guess $700 or so.

wet sandpaper
grits 800/1500/2000 $150
(full size truck
need about $50 per grit
grade. one pack per grade
50 sheets per pack)

rotary polisher $275

2 stages of compounds
and one of glaze $150

at least 3 pads for
buffer $100

tape for edges
and pastics $50

thats just ball park prices...some might be higer or lower and might have other things not added to price like good selection of sanding blocks...good idea to have some harder and some softer, and have some larger and some smaller...getting good quailty ones in about 3 sizes and two stiffness grades could run you $100 per set so that would be another $200.

then the investment of time....you easy spend 4 days 8 plus hours a day doing the entire truck, not just spots.

 

So when it comes down to it, dont try it yourself.

troberts6874, you forgot the MOST important tool for wet sanding. A paint gauge!

 

no guage needed...dont colorsand a factory paint for the entire car...only do cars from bodyshop you trust and with 4 coats of clear to work with. know that clear is thinner on sharp edges you will be fine. i have colorsanded several cars from 33/34 ford coupe, 37 ford sedan, 69 camaro, 53 f100, 32 ford hiboy....and so on