How to Remove Orange Peel - Fresh Paint Job

[67Rocker]

How to Remove Orange Peel - Fresh Paint Job​

Hello Everyone, I am new to the forum, I am looking for some input on a issue I have, I recently painted my truck (1 week ago) with single stage urethane paint, solid red, 3 coats.

Have some orange peel and trash in paint.

Some input I have received is wet sand 1500/2500/3000 , rotary buff with mcguires 105, then polish with da,

Does this sound like a good plan?

Assuming just buffing not aggressive enough, just a daily driver, my first paint job, did not get paint on quite wet enough I guess.

I currently have a dewalt 7" rotary buffer, porter cable 7424xp and Mirka 5.0 pneumatic, I am open to all options, I have several more cars going forward so want to get proficient at this.

Thanks for any help with this issue

Scott

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Scott,

I approved your pending account yesterday, thank you for joining the forum.

I can answer your questions when I get off work and I do have some suggestions, but I want to invite you to an upcoming class where we'll be covering

1. Hand wet sanding - using Nikken Finishing Papers.
2. Machine dry sanding - using Eagle Abrasives by KOVAX.
3. Rotary Polishers - Wool pads for the first cutting step.
4. Orbital polishers - for the secondary polishing step.
5. Installing a ceramic coating.

Here's the training car, fresh out of the paint booth.

Sunday Wetsanding Training Cars

1963 Chevy Impala SS
This car is fresh out of the paint booth with 4 solid coats of clearcoat over white basecoat.

Context Shot
This is called a context or frame-up shot. It's a wide shot to show you where on the car I'll be zooming into for the next picture.

Here's a close-up of the same place to show the level of Orange Peel and Surface Texture

Context Shot
This is called a context or frame-up shot. It's a wide shot to show you where on the car I'll be zooming into for the next picture.

Here's a close-up of the same place to show the level of Orange Peel and Surface Texture

Detailometer Readings
In the class, we will be taking before and after reading using the Detailometer.

These numbers don't actually look bad
But your eyes can see the paint is definitely not flat and there's lots of room for improvement. Sanding will flatten out the paint, then buffing will restore gloss and clarity. I expect to see much higher readings for the DOI and the RIQ after you're done sanding, buffing and ceramic coating this 1963 Impala.

The beautiful body lines for the iconic 1963 Chevy Impala

I practice what I preach and teach
I don't know about all the other car detailing instructors on planet Earth, but I actually do the thing I teach. See the 1967 Camaro in the background? I did a full wetsand, cut and buff to this car in November.

Mike

 

[Mike Phillips]

Here's a past class sanding car, some really good before and after pictures plus you see the students doing the entire process.

How to Wetsand Cut and Buff - 1949 Chevy Fleetline Streetrod


Saturday Afternoon Session - Removing Orange Peel - Dry Spray - Surface Texture
I can appreciate any person that takes on the huge task of restoring a car, or in this case hotrodding a car and this includes learning how to paint a car for the first time. The paint on this car had a lot of orange peel and dry spray plus surface texture like graininess. I'm so impressed with the class as they completely turned this paint job around and the final results are nothing short of phenomenal.

Extreme Orange Peel

After

And for what it's worth, the majority of people that take these classes are flying here from other states, or other countries.

From the December 1-day class (no sanding)
160 Pictures - December 13th, 2025 1-Day Paint Correction and Ceramic Coating Class in Stuart Florida

Tom flew out form Eugene, Oregon

Kathie flew out from Beaverton, Oregon

From the September class (second day includes sanding)

371 Pictures - 2-Day September 2025 Car Detailing Class - 8 Cars Detailed! - No Chairs! - ALL Hands-on PLUS REVIEWS!

Sean from California

Evan from California

From the November class

278 Pictures - 1-Day November 2025 Car Detailing Class - 3 Cars Detailed! - No Chairs! - ALL Hands-on!

Nelson from Bogota, Colombia

Nicolas from Buenos Aires, Argentina

And the links above are photo-documentation for each class. No chairs. Zero sitting. 100% hands-on. Also no demo hoods and no test panels, I bring in the real-deal.


Mike

 

[Mike Phillips]

Some input I have received is wet sand 1500/2500/3000 , rotary buff with mcguires 105, then polish with da,

Does this sound like a good plan?

Scott

What you've listed is a pretty normal and for the most part, safe approach. I would change it up and do this,

• Hand wet sand - 1500 Nikken
• Machine dry sand - K2500 Eagle Abrasives by Kovax

Then compound and polish

And of course, if you feel comfortable with the amount of material you sprayed, you could do a more aggressive sanding process to really get the paint flat.


Mike

 

[67Rocker]

Mike,
Thanks for the reply, I will look into supplies, I assume I should wait a month fir paint to totally cure?
I live in S.D, of you ever get a bit closer I might look into one of your classes, I would really like to attend.
Thanks!

 

[Mike Phillips]

Mike,
Thanks for the reply, I will look into supplies,

Here's where I get Nikken Finishing Papers - Range from $24.00 to $40.00

Here's where I get the E-7200 Sanding Backing Pad - 5-pack $24.00

I don't order the Nikken Finishing Papers off the Meguiar's store on Amazon because the #2000 and #2500 options are BROKE. No matter which one you order, you get #2000.00 I called Customer Care at Meguiar's and as a professional courtesy, let them know it was broke and explained how and my gut feeling is it went in one ear and out the other. LOL

And you get a 5-pack via the Amazon link, and I like to have a few of these around plus I cut them up into smaller chunks to sand tight and/or intricate areas.

I assume I should wait a month fir paint to totally cure?

Yes, in a perfect world, if you have time.

One time while I was working with Wayne Carini, I asked him how long they wait after a custom paint job to sand and buff. He said he likes to wait for around a month to let the paint SHIFT. I loved this term and have used it ever since.


Paint Shifting
The microscopic movements paint makes as it cures and hardens over time factoring in changes in temperature from cold to hot where the body panels will either expand or shrink. At some point, the paint, which starts out as a flexible membrane finds its happy place and fully dries and cures. Full hardness make take a few months, depending upon the paint/reducer/hardener mix and ambient room temperatures.

Collision shops of course are much different than restoration shops as they tend to need to sand and buff in a day or so in order to return the car back to the owner in a time-efficient manner. Plus, a busy shop as a good flow of work and they need cars to come in and then leave, not sit around taking up space and potentially getting things like paint overspray on them as it's pretty common to get paint overspray at a body shop.

I live in S.D, of you ever get a bit closer I might look into one of your classes, I would really like to attend.
Thanks!

Maybe, I did a LOT of Roadshow Detailing Classes for Meguiar's and Autogeek and as great of an idea they are on paper, the logistics and expense to ship all the tools and supplies I need to hold a real hands-on class simply is a losing business model. Plus, everything I need to teach a real class is here.


Text me a picture of your current project and I'll add here to your thread.


Cell: 760-515-0444

Also - if you need help getting into machine dry sanding, I can help.


Mike

 

[67Rocker]

Here's where I get Nikken Finishing Papers - Range from $24.00 to $40.00

Here's where I get the E-7200 Sanding Backing Pad - 5-pack $24.00

I don't order the Nikken Finishing Papers off the Meguiar's store on Amazon because the #2000 and #2500 options are BROKE. No matter which one you order, you get #2000.00 I called Customer Care at Meguiar's and as a professional courtesy, let them know it was broke and explained how and my gut feeling is it went in one ear and out the other. LOL

And you get a 5-pack via the Amazon link, and I like to have a few of these around plus I cut them up into smaller chunks to sand tight and/or intricate areas.




Yes, in a perfect world, if you have time.

One time while I was working with Wayne Carini, I asked him how long they wait after a custom paint job to sand and buff. He said he likes to wait for around a month to let the paint SHIFT. I loved this term and have used it ever since.


Paint Shifting
The microscopic movements paint makes as it cures and hardens over time factoring in changes in temperature from cold to hot where the body panels will either expand or shrink. At some point, the paint, which starts out as a flexible membrane finds its happy place and fully dries and cures. Full hardness make take a few months, depending upon the paint/reducer/hardener mix and ambient room temperatures.

Collision shops of course are much different than restoration shops as they tend to need to sand and buff in a day or so in order to return the car back to the owner in a time-efficient manner. Plus, a busy shop as a good flow of work and they need cars to come in and then leave, not sit around taking up space and potentially getting things like paint overspray on them as it's pretty common to get paint overspray at a body shop.




Maybe, I did a LOT of Roadshow Detailing Classes for Meguiar's and Autogeek and as great of an idea they are on paper, the logistics and expense to ship all the tools and supplies I need to hold a real hands-on class simply is a losing business model. Plus, everything I need to teach a real class is here.


Text me a picture of your current project and I'll add here to your thread.


Cell: 760-515-0444

Also - if you need help getting into machine dry sanding, I can help.


Mike

Hi Mike, I am getting list compiled of what supplies to order, you stated Nikken finishing paper, the link you listed is Maguiars Unigrit finishing paper, just double checking that this is nikken paper?
Also you recommend 1500 wet and then 2500 dry, I am interested in trying this but would need a bit more info on procedure,
I do have a mirka 5" palm sander (non vacuum) if that will work to dry sand, if needed can get correct tool, for polishing have dewalt 7" rotary, PC 7424xp and thinking on buying the Griots g9 this spring.
One thing is I do not need to wet sand the whole truck I don't think, some areas should be OK with rotary and da I think.
I am open to sequential hand wet sanding or 1500 then 2500 dry machine sanding
I really appreciate any guidance with this situation.
Thanks

 

[67Rocker]

Hi Mike, I am getting list compiled of what supplies to order, you stated Nikken finishing paper, the link you listed is Meguiar's Unigrit finishing paper, just double checking that this is Nikken paper?

Also you recommend 1500 wet and then 2500 dry, I am interested in trying this but would need a bit more info on procedure.

I do have a Mirka 5" palm sander (non vacuum) if that will work to dry sand, if needed can get correct tool, for polishing have DeWALT 7" rotary, PC 7424XP and thinking on buying the Griots G9 this spring.

One thing is I do not need to wet sand the whole truck I don't think, some areas should be OK with rotary and da I think.

I am open to sequential hand wet sanding or 1500 then 2500 dry machine sanding

I really appreciate any guidance with this situation.

Thanks

 

[Mike Phillips]

Hi Mike, I am getting list compiled of what supplies to order, you stated Nikken finishing paper, the link you listed is Meguiar's Unigrit finishing paper, just double checking that this is Nikken paper?

Yes, Meguiar's sells the Nikken brand of finishing papers. They somehow have the marketing rights as I cannot find it anywhere else for sale. The link I shared above goes to the MeguiarsDirect.com website, which is the official website for Meguiar's products in the USA.

Also you recommend 1500 wet and then 2500 dry, I am interested in trying this but would need a bit more info on procedure.

That's the method I like to use when I can as it's simple and effective. For someone wanting to do Dave Kindig quality sanding and buffing, you would want to make sure you have LOTS of paint to sand and then you could start hard blocking at 800 grit. I don't work at a body shop or a custom shop, therefore I NEVER am part of the painting process for the cars I work on thus I don't have the background information to start with low grits, thus I keep it safe, under promise and over deliver. For this I like to start by hand wetsanding with 1500 followed by machine dry sanding to REFINE the hand sanding marks to make them faster and easier to buff out.

I will include a video below where we show this entire process.

I do have a Mirka 5" palm sander (non vacuum) if that will work to dry sand, if needed can get correct tool, for polishing have DeWALT 7" rotary, PC 7424XP and thinking on buying the Griots G9 this spring.

The Mirka 5" Palm Sander will work fine. Get a RUPES 6" foam interface and the 6" Eagle Abrasives by KOVAX K-2500 sanding discs and you're good to go.

One thing is I do not need to wet sand the whole truck I don't think, some areas should be OK with rotary and da I think.

Sure, use your own good judgement. If you applied plenty of paint, then at a minimum, maybe machine dry sand the areas that look good. When you sand these areas, the sanding will reveal more texture than you're eyes can normally see. Then, when you buff out the entire truck, all body panels will have a uniform appearance. Just and option. If you get the K-2500 sanding discs, you'll see what I mean when you sand one of these "better" areas.

I am open to sequential hand wet sanding or 1500 then 2500 dry machine sanding

If you're NOT after a Dave Kindig quality show car finish, you could just machine sand dry using a 2-step approach and skip the hand wetsanding altogether. You will still get amazing results but ou won't have to physically hand sand, which is time-consuming and requires a lot of skill and muscle.

Instead, get these sanding discs. Use the 1500 first, follow with the K-2500 and then start cutting. This is my MUCH preferred approach, but too many people want flatter results, thus I do the initial sanding step by hand. But like I say, If you just want it good, not great, skip the hand sanding, and do a two-step machine dry sanding method.

Here's link to the 6" RUPES foam interface pad on Autoality, feel free to source where works best for you.


RUPES Sanding Foam Interface Pads | No Holes | 6" | 2-pk


IMPORTANT: The RUPES foam sanding interface pads is LIKE the Eagle Abrasives by KOVAX foam interface pad in that it has MICROSCOPIC hooks for the hook and loop. This is a key design feature and it's purpose is to help keep all sanding action on the very TOPS of the orange peel and other surface texture. Normal foam interface pads have (in comparison), HUGE or LONG hooks and this takes away from the optimum FLAT sanding action. Of course, choose your own path, I'm just a guy pointing things out that sometimes other people might no know about.

I really appreciate any guidance with this situation.

Thanks

Apologies for the delay, I've been out sick since working at the Mobile Tech Expo Trade Show. Shook way too many hands.


Mike

 

[Mike Phillips]

More...

Here's the video I referenced, it shows the complete sanding and buffing process including,

Hand sanding wet - Harbor Freight Hercules brand 1500 grit wet/dry papers.
Machine dry sanding using K-2500 Buflex by Eagle Abrasives
Rotary polisher with wool pad to cut out sanding marks using Dr. Beasley's NSP CoreCut
Gear-driven orbital to show removing holograms using Dr. Beasley's NSP 150
Free spinning, random orbital polisher to create true show car finish using Dr. Beasley's NSP 45
Installing a ceramic coating - Dr. Beasley's Nano Resin 2.0

Also Note: For this video I showed the cheapie, Harbor Freight wet/dry sand papers BECAUSE this video is targeted at Joe Consumer, who will tend to shop at Harbor Freight before going to the extra work of ordering better supplies online. Pick your poisen. At this time, for me I'll stick with Nikken.



Mike

 

[67Rocker]

Yes, Meguiar's sells the Nikken brand of finishing papers.

Apologies for the delay, I've been out sick since working at the Mobile Tech Expo Trade Show. Shook way too many hands.

Mike,

Thank You so much for the reply and great information, there is no rush, waiting for paint to cure, doing other things to truck, I am only after getting this paint to look a bit better is all, so will go the 2 step machine dry sand method,

the mirka is a 5" but assume can get 5.5" interface pads and sanding disc's, with this method should I sand whole truck with both grits even the areas that are somewhat acceptable? Or 1500 on affected areas and 2500 whole truck?

Was going to go with meguiars m110 or m100 and m210 to polish, but surely open to suggestions, like 3D or whatever.

I want to get a good handle on this whole process, I have a couple old muscle cars to get back in action as well.

Thanks So Much!