Wetsanding Single Stage 2K Urethane Orange Peel

[DaveChurch]

I recently sprayed all the panels of my 83 Toyota Pickup with Eastwood’s single stage Pin Up Red. I have painted a couple motorcycles and smaller projects in the past, but this is the first time doing a full vehicle and it is turning out pretty good so far.

For the most part, the paint flowed out well, but I still ended up with a little bit of orange peel. It isn’t super bad and the average person would likely not notice it, but it will drive me nuts if I don’t sand it out (See pictures below). I’m not looking for a perfect showcar quality paint job, but I know a lot of custom car builders that have spent over $20K on paint jobs before and I simply want them to say “dang, you did that yourself?” So here are my questions:

1-What grit should I start with? I’m thinking 2000 to 2500 to 3000. I have all the paper already from polishing motorcycle frames so the cost of going the extra mile to 3000 isn’t anything but work.

2-What should I buff with to ensure that I don’t cut away too much paint? I should be pretty thick so I have forgiveness, but I don’t want to unknowingly get something too aggressive.

3-Should I wet sand with the panels on or off the vehicle? Right now, they are off but I wasn’t sure if there was a benefit to putting them back on the truck to wet sand.

Here are the pictures:
Doors really aren’t too bad:

Nor are the fenders (the first picture below all the way to the left is about the most extreme extent of the orange peel)

And the hood is probably the worst out of everything (again, it’s not super bad, but I can definitely do better).

Thanks for your thoughts and help,

Dave

[Author]

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