2500 grit to flat clearcoat?

[CoolHands]

I sanded and did my headlamps today (using a combination of grits) as yellowed which went quite well. I have finished with spraying them in clearcoat. I would like to flat this back slightly as although it looks ok it has a bit of orange peel / misty in places

The finest paper Halford’s had was 2500, so is this too harsh? Ie no 3000 grit. Or I have halfords rubbing compound and / or maguires plast-rx see pics. (I have the soft pad thing that goes in a drill to use wit( these compounds)

I don’t want to ruin it at this stage!

Before


After


Plast-rx


Rubbing compound (I think a bit harsher than the plast-rx)

[paul_c123]

I don't know why you sprayed them with lacquer, but now its on, yes you could sand with 2500 grit then polish. It will be 10x quicker starting with the 2500grit than just polishing. The main issue will be the sandpaper clogging. In my experience anything more (you can readily get 3000, 5000 and 7000) will just clog and be ineffective, may as well wipe with newspaper etc. The polish you have would do the job.

[CoolHands]

Ok ta. Will use the 2500 and wet sand. I used the lacquer to protect from uv

[CoolHands]

Finished at 5pm yesterday, all good. Not sure when it rained I m pretty sure it wasn t until like 5am but anyway look rainspots in the surface

I m sanding it out again. Not sure if it just hadn t completely dried or what. I have to seal them because even at 2500 grit they are hazy (ie not nice and clear as you get after you spray them)

[steveo3002]

was it 2k clear ? that offers the strongest coating and uv protection , can be tough to polish by hand

[CoolHands]

No it’s Rust-Oleum clear coat gloss which is uv resistant and does get excellent reviews! I might wait for certain 2 day dry spell and reapply. Luckily it has been ok to sand back off again

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rustoleum-AE0040001E8-400...

[CoolHands]

Well I might as well conclude the thread in case anyone comes across it in future. I had to rub back down with 1200 grit then later the 2500 grit then the plasti-rx before respraying once again with clear coat.

I had to rub back down because the rain spots (I assume, unless it was contamination) wouldn’t just polish out.

So in effect started again! However this time I only gave 1 coat of clearcoat not 3 as before, in case (I wondered) the 3 coats slowed drying and enabled the spotting.

So anyway looks good and has 1 coat of clearcoat coat so I’ll see how it behaves over the next months / years or if the yellowing comes back

[Arnold Cunningham]

Worth adding that in my experience, 3M paper is the best.
Most 2000 grit papers have some variation in grit size so you end up with some deeper scratches, but 3M is super consistent, which at this stage of polishing makes for an easier/better job

Edited by Arnold Cunningham on Sunday 3rd August 11:59

[steveo3002]

so now it will chip and peel off because you painted over 2500 which isnt enough key

next time use 2k clear instead of diy store crap..and provide a decent key

[21TonyK]

If it gets to a second time I’d just replace the covers. AliExpress or eBay.