Spray painting advice

[Hulmie]

Right im currently spraying up my spare Grille and wing mirror covers, gave them the last coat of paint yesterday but as with most painting i have notice the orange peel effect and i want a nice smooth finish. Would you guys recommend giving them a fine rub over with 2000 grit paper before applying the coats laquer? Dont want to use 1200 as i think its to course and will leave fine scratches.

Or would you say Laquer the parts with 3-5 coats and then rub back. I dont have a machine polisher so i cant buff them up afterwards.

Advice appreciated.

[Neo Badness]

Search the web there are neumerous good sites regarding the application of paint.
My tips I would say were to be surgically clean to avoid any contamination from oils etc.
Ensure you're correct distance from what you're painting.
Ensure it's not too cold ie a garage with no heating. You can always gently heat area to be painted with hairdryer and ( if using rattle cans) sit them in a bowl of hot water prior to to painting.
Lastly, practice, practice, practice....

Good luck

If you need more indepth info I can send you some links..

[Hulmie]

Ive done alot of spraying in the past and done some real good work with spray cans. Just didnt want to mess it up at this stage as its taken long enough to do due to the crap weather n cold weve been having.

[Neo Badness]

Ive done alot of spraying in the past and done some real good work with spray cans. Just didnt want to mess it up at this stage as its taken long enough to do due to the crap weather n cold weve been having.

True true, rattle cans can produce excellent results.
If you can do it somewhere warm/ centrally heated that'd be ideal as the cold won't be making your painting any easier.

To get rid of orange peel you could polish with 2000 then work downwards till it's gone. Then work back up to 2000 to polish. Compound cures a multitiude of sins too Depends how bad your orange peel is.

[dan_apps]

Hulmie,
personally for a grille and wing mirrors i would take it to a paint shop rather than rattle can it! its going to attract stone chips etc on the grille and the mirror covers will get bashed by hedges etc etc and the paint will just peel off!