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Hey bakuryu
I have almost finished with my car. I had the same problems with the old color showing up. What I did, in between coats, it was to go with the roller and paint those spots one more time. It worked.
When I start painting I got a lot of orange peel. What helped me to improve my painting technique was to avoid to paint when the metal is hot and follow the method described for this guy who paint old cars with a brush in England.
http://www.stephen.hull.btinternet.co.uk/brush.html
It is kinda cheesy but it really worked. I hope this help

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do you have to get all the scratches from the sandpaper out before you start to paint, or will the paint eventually cover them up? I ask this because I wasn't happy with what I had done, so I decided to start over. I think I used a too aggressive sandpaper and left scratches that I didn't notice (probably because I was in a hurry to get started again). Anyway, I got the consistency of the paint down now, but there are scratches that I can see through the first two coats. Do I need to take it back down and get all the scratches out? I'm guessing yes, but hoping no. Thanks

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do you have to get all the scratches from the sandpaper out before you start to paint, or will the paint eventually cover them up? I ask this because I wasn't happy with what I had done, so I decided to start over. I think I used a too aggressive sandpaper and left scratches that I didn't notice (probably because I was in a hurry to get started again). Anyway, I got the consistency of the paint down now, but there are scratches that I can see through the first two coats. Do I need to take it back down and get all the scratches out? I'm guessing yes, but hoping no. Thanks

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fine hair line scratches will be gone about the 3rd coat, just try to get it smooth when laying the paint. wetsand only enough to have a smooth surface before going to the next coat, but the paint does "fill" in the small really tiny scratches very well.

bakuryu - STEP AWAY FROM THE PAINTGUN, GO DOWN TO YOUR KNEES AND KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS, PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!!!!
lol, your big mistake here, which i've said about a million times is that your not doing a test area until you get the "hang" of it. so in essence you've created more work for yourself, plus with no previous expirence your definetly going to have a HUGE mess if you decide to spray. the color you chose is a really dark color, might i suggest you get some bright red??? haha, it's up to you, you could sand down the whole car until it's completely smooth, then ONLY DO THE HOOD until your satisified you've got the hang of it. i think you've painted at both extreems, first way too thick, then you went to the other extreeme and thinned it way too much, try in between, when sanding do the edges last, keeping light pressure, stay away from the body lines until the end, and then be carefull not to sand too much. i really think your getting fustrated because you're doing the whole car at once as a expirement, and seeing that you've made a few mistakes along the way which is the natural learning curve, but you've created alot more work for yourself. honestly if it were me, i would choose a brighter color, white is the best for hiding flaws, i'd sand the whole car down, choose a lighter color, expirement on the hood, then do the whole car, mix your ratio's in between your first coats and your final coats, avoid the temptation to lay the paint on too thick. good luck hang in there, don't give up, after your done with a nice job you'll be happy and will have learned from your mistakes.

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RIck- when i got the tint the guy mixed it in a shaker for like 5 minutes, should i like stir it for an hour or something? also, how thin is thin? I mean i got it thined down to like water!! literally i drip the roller in and when i take it out it all drips out, i think this color is soo dark that it just goes on dark but i'm probably wrong. Should i continue to sand it down? the third coat was the best coat in my opinion. How do you guys get the coats on with NO bubbles? i mean very small bubles but i have to blow and then go over them again. I havent sprayed a car before but i have sprayed a fence and its the same method no? Gotta spray a car to begin somewhere right, what better test subject? hahaha than

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Okay, stop. Breathe, son. Deep breath in, slowly out... relax... Ohhhmmmmm.
You're getting there, but I just get the impression you're going a mile a minute. I know you're eager for results, but by rushing this you're only making yourself more work.

I read 69Chargers comments and I couldn't agree more. Painting a car is NOT like painting a fence, unless you want your car to look like a fence! Totally different materials, totally different surfaces, totally different paints. I also agree that you should concentrate your efforts onto ONE section of the car (hood, door, whatever), go through the ENTIRE process, until you learn what you need in order to get a successful result. As 69 mentioned, you did happen to pick probably the hardest of colors to start with (other than gloss Black). Dark colors show EVERYTHING, starting off with White might have been a better choice. BUT... it's still not too late.

If you feel the paint is so thin that it's running wild on you, then don't mix it down so thin. 69Charger may have hit the nail on the head, try a mix half way between your first coat (too thick - definitely) and your last coat(too thin? - maybe). As for mixing the paint (stirring), I stir the paint for at LEAST a good 15 minutes (slooooow, smooth, steady stirring)before I poor it in the tray, especially if it's sat overnight. Let's put it this way; OVER stirring will not hurt you (as long as you're not stirring so roughly as to cause bubbles), but UNDER stirring can hurt you (uneven mixture).

As for the bubbles - I have yet to be able to lay a coat without having to "blow" to get the bubbles out, but I've found that when I have the mixture right, it's really more of just a "puff" - not much effort at all is needed. If there are any little bubbles I missed, going back over them VERY GENTLY will get rid of them. But here is the key point, and I think this is where you are getting into trouble: When you're using the mineral spirits to dilute with, the time window you have to get the bubbles out is pretty narrow. I would say 7-10 minutes TOPS. That is why 69Charger has made the suggestion over and over to learn this technique on a single panel. I may be wrong here, but I think what might be happening with your painting is that because you have been trying to paint the entire car, you're taking too long to return to the painted areas before it's too late. If you wait too long to get the bubbles out, when the paint reaches that critical stage of drying, you end up making more bubbles, or worse yet pulling up the paint. that's why it's important to learn what you're doing on one panel. Learn how long you have to get all the bubbles out before the paint is too "tacky" to work with.

My last suggestion for the day, and I think you're not gonna like this - but I really think it's the best thing...

Go back to the very first page of this thread, and reread it. Not just scan over it, but really re-read EVERYTHING - like you were gonna get tested on it! There is an amazing amount of information in this thread alone, and most of the problems and questions you've been asking for help on have been covered several times. If you read the thread carefully, you'll pick up quite a few tips and tricks along the way.

Hang in there, and don't get frustrated - I think you're doing fine.

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What's that color again on the buddha??

Well after a solid week of looking for the specific light machine grey locally, it seems that the only way to get it is to special order it.

Home depot was able to get it for me in a gallon only as the quarts are no longer available. Crappy thing is, I had to order it in a 2 gallon pack, ugh! So $60 later, I will have it in my posession next week. I guess if I wanna paint everything inside and out, I will have the paint to do it. I was gonna use the online site posted above but after shipping the price would have just been less than $20 diff. between one and 2 gallons.

BTW, just for fun, when ordering this stuff, use the product number and add "402" to signify a gallon.

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baku - if you push your thumbnail onto it then drag your thumbnail sideways (like slicing), does it not do anything?

I was just out in my garage earlier scratching all of the various test areas I've done, red, almond, standard, professional, using my fingernail and slicing sideways. On my car, with hard paint, I am unable to slice sideways or any other way.

I checked out a "1 day paint and body" today in Sacramento. Its a bad sign when you walk in and the two people working there are sitting in the office reading the funny pages. The few cars that were there did not look very good, way too much orange peel. Maybe slathering it on thick is the only way they can keep that 5 year non-prorated guarantee of theirs. So far I've got a couple prices- $500 from Miracle to shoot it with BASF urethane SS and a sealer, or $1200 from a better body shop for PPG Deltron BC/CC, if I bring it in primered up and ready to go. And I'd have to do the color sanding, which I'm fine with since its just time consuming. If I spent $1200 though I'd have a paint job worth more than that. That's a paint job on a budget, isn't it? Choices choices..

Im willing to part with some more $ in testing this rustoleum stuff, just everything I've tried doesn't harden enough, and all the hardeners I read about are highly toxic and I dont really want to mess with that since it requires so much working with. I've already spent probably 70 dollars on this thing, which is 14% of a $500 SS paint job with shine, metallic and very hard surface.

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No matter what i do EXIT i cannot scratch this stuff. I will break a nail if i try, i've tryied it with a piece of hard stick as well and other ppl have tried it to. And its not just in 1 area, the WHOLE CAR, no where am i able to put a scratch. I've spent about 200$ soo far since i bought the car. Thats for SANDPAPER to get rid of the original budda civic car, brake pads and rotors, terry-cloth, goof-off, rust-oelum paint, more sandpaper, bondo. So yea, if i were to give my car to the body shop as it was when i bought it. They were charging me 2500+ to do all the body work and then do a single stage paint.

No way jose! My paint is finally starting to come along. I think lol, this wetsand i'm doing now, after the third coat, has A LOT LESS ORANGE PEELS, the first two coats i admit, i rushed and were too thick. But this third one is alot better and i only hope it gets better.