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Removing orange peel
My SS was wrecked in January and its been in the body shop for almost two months getting "fixed". Considering the damage, it looks pretty good, BUT...there's a lot of orange peel in the new paint--even more than in the factory paint (which was pretty good actually).
I read Todd's post about removing the orange peel and I'm pretty sure I will have to do it myself as the body shop guys don't seem to be very good at it.
They painted roughly half the car--pretty much the whole right side and roof, trunk, but not the hood. The difference between the remaining factory paint and the "new" paint is pretty obvious. The shop talked me out of repainting the entire car, which saved me about $3K which will now go toward a cam and ported heads.
I'm mostly concerned about taking off too much clear coat and ruining the paint. Is it possible to purchase a paint thickness meter like Todd has for a reasonable price?
Should I let the new paint "cure" for a certain length of time before polishing? Is there any point in claying the new paint? If so, I would clay the entire car because the factory paint side hasn't been clayed for over a year.
Where can I get good pads for my Porter Cable? I have one set from Auto Geek, but I can see I need more as I load up a single pad after less than 1/4 of the car and have to wait for the washed pad to dry before resuming.
I've been using mostly Meguiar's polishes and glazes, but am willing to entertain something else if it gets me the results I want. What's the best for removing orange peel and swirl removal?
I appreciate any help and advice.
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