I just finished painting my car on Saturday and overall it turned out pretty good but it has a couple of problems.

Most of the paint looks good but on some spots it looks a little dull and there is a little orange peel. I was wondering if there would be anyway to remove the dullness by either wet sanding or maybe buffing and polishing.

I would rather not have to wet sand since this is kind of my first paint job and I’m not very experienced.

If I was able to buff it out what kind of compounds and polishing pads would be best?

Also, disregard the dents and lack of body work as this is just a hobby and I was just messing around to see what would turn out.

 

Wetsanding isn't all that difficult, as long as you put enough paint down to not wear through it all in one sanding.

 

What about buffing it afterwards and what kind of compunds and pads should be used?

 

Definitely needs to be wetsanded, as long as you put clear on it. If it's just a base coat black paintjob, just get it buffed. If you wetsand it, then get it buffed also.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by crstfr14 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Definitely needs to be wetsanded, as long as you put clear on it. If it's just a base coat black paintjob, just get it buffed. If you wetsand it, then get it buffed also.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah its's got about 2-3 coats of clear.

 

Would anybody have any information about the correct compounds and pads to use after doing the wet sanding to buff out the paint?

 

Okay since you've got it clear coated.....

The goal is to make the buffing process easier since it's a black color:

Do your hard work sanding first. I mean sand it with a rougher grit paper depending on how textured the clear is, and work your way up to the FINEST grit possible(This last sanding step is important). Something like 1000/1200/1500-2000+ paper. 1000 might be too aggressive but it cuts out waves, and again it depends on the texture.

Because you sanded with such a fine grit paper(greater than 2000 grit) you will spend less time trying to buff out scratches and less chance of burning through.

The following is just a guidline since every autobody technician has their own techniques:

I use 3M products for the cut and buff. Depending on how long the paint has been cured:

3M Perfect-it III Ultra-Cut Rubbing Compound for fully cured/hardened paint. Use with a DAMP wool pad(Or foam if you've had experience).
or
3M Perfect-it II Compound for fresher paints. Use with a DAMP wool pad(Or foam if you've had experience).


Then you'll need a machine polish with a CLEAN/NEW foam pad. Experiment with different brands/products.

Then you can use a hand glaze if you want to. If the paint has cured for 2+ months then you can use a wax instead.