painting car halp? clear coat a must?

[theslimoutkast]

I have painted a friends car and just sprayed the clear coat on. I didn't sand the color coat because, i have been told if the color coat is sanded it will cause the clear coat not to stick because of an electrical charge between the color and clear and if it is sanded the chare isn't there. after spraying the clear i can tell it has a bit of an orange peel look to it. My question is if i sand it and happen to sand it to the color coat to get a smooth finish is that ok? will it still hold up to the weather? Can I polish is after and still have a shine? please help. not sure if this is posted in the right spot.

[silpena]

i'm not sure where u heard about sanding color coats. color coat sanding is nor sanding the base color. I wouldn't do it but its a great way to achieve amazing colors. alot of the old hod rod guys used to do it. They would spray 2-3 coats and wet sand with a light grit like 1200 and do it over and over for about 3 times. Its a technique used to make the color pop out if u are using metallics and don't want tiger stripes. imo i wouldn't do it. I don't know where u heard about the color not sticking but that is bs. Orange peel is hard to avoid so don't worry its normal. Just color sand ak cut n buff or buff and polish. U need to let it cure for for about 3 weeks in the sun and bake it. Then sand with 1600-2000 depending on how many coats of clear u put and have to work on. The extent of paint defects like dust, runs, fish eyes and such. Then i would invest in a buffing machine and get some buffing compound, polishing compound, swirl remover and wax. I would not sand to the base. It will not shine or polish out and and will not last that long. It will eat it selfs around the clear around it and make it even worse. If its that bad u can always wet sand the area and do spot repair by going down past the clear and some of the base. Reseal it with it primer sealer and lay ur base/clear coat again and walk away. If u really don't want alot orange i advise u to brush up on ur painting skills, mixing skills, and improve ur knowledge or products u are using to ur temp and surrounding conditions or u can buy a really great gun for about 500-700. hope that helps.