Paint finish

[namass1]

In the past, I have sprayed many panels on the various cars I have owned; including Moggy wings, and I always did 3 coats and left the paint to dry and that was it. The gloss in the paint gave a perfect finish with no further work. I intend to give my mm a respray soon and I have been told I should flat the last gloss coat with fine wet and dry and then polish the paint. would this give a better finish?; and if so, why?

[MrIan]

I can understand flatting it with wet n dry to key it and give the new paint something to stick to but not polishing it as I'm sure you rely on the surface gloss of the new paint.

[johngrigg]

The flatter the finish the better the depth and gloss.Its nothing to do providing a key. Yes its hard to bring yourself to sand your newly painted car but believe me its worth it. sand lightly Using 1200grit wet with a squirt of detergent in the water.leave it to harden for a couple of weeks Then buff it up using medium/fine buffing compound and finishing with swirl remover if necessary.you should then have a finish that surpasses your previous notion of perfection Cheers John G

[tysonn]

You failed to say which type of paint youre using.If youve always been happy with your finish straight out of the gun why change it?I've painted my own cars for over 40 years and have always wet flatted then machine polished.1500 grit is a safer bet to avoid sanding swirls,then Farecla G3,then G10.In my opinion there is a world of difference between a straight from the gun and a polished finish.
Mick

[bmcecosse]

Used to be the norm with celly to finish off with a very thin 'blow over' - which always left a perfectly satisfactory/shiny finish. Can't imagine BMC hand flatted and buffed Minors on the line.....

[tysonn]

Neither can I Roy.Its the same now although the mass market cars are painted by machine.Thing is the finish now is as almost poor as it was then.Orange peel!You can either leave it like that or do a bit of extra work and get a finish like glass.
Mick

[bmcecosse]

Best just to spray it properly in the first place - without orange peel. My mate repainted his MGC using a 'vacuum cleaner' spray gun - and the deep red finish is honestly BETTER than the original factory finish!

[MrIan]

In the past, I have sprayed many panels on the various cars I have owned; including Moggy wings, and I always did 3 coats and left the paint to dry and that was it. The gloss in the paint gave a perfect finish with no further work. I intend to give my mm a respray soon and I have been told I should flat the last gloss coat with fine wet and dry and then polish the paint. would this give a better finish?; and if so, why?

I've just noticed here I read your post wrong as ref my first reply. I thought you wqere talking about the paint on the car now to prep for paint !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd see what finish you get straight out of the gun but the norm i've used in the past with celly is to flat with fine WD with lots of water then leave a few weeks then polish.