so ive recently painted my car, well about 6 months ago and i just now got around to wet sanding it, paint is a dupont chormabase and an off brand clear, but i got to see it on a buddies truck and it looked very nice, so i did 2 coats of base and 2 of clear, i know i know its prolly not enought, but i hit it first with 1500 grit for a while and then 2000 today, and ive still got tiny tiny tiny dimples through the car, which i think will turn out ok, im just wondering if i should attempt buffing this thing myself, ive never buffed anything before and have no clue where to start, other than i can borrow my buddies buffer, haha then what? should i even attempt it?

 

With only two coats you'll need to be really careful around edges and curves. As to whether you want to try it or not, no one can answer for you. A good variable speed buffer and the right compounds, pads, and technique make all the difference.

 

if you have never done it b4, be ready to repaint your car, its not as easy as it looks and since the car has been sitting for 6 moths the paint is more then cured and will be hard as a rock and will be a bitch to buff out...i work at a body shop i see horrors of this everyday, i advise against it unless you try it on sumthing else first and practice...and remember dont stay in one spot to long and stay away from edges use plenty compound

 

use a foam pad and you should be fine.....just dont get too close to edges or high spots, i think 3m extra cut, rubbing compound, swirl mark remover and perfect it polish is what we use at our shop........the wool pads work well, but beginers like to burn up the clear with them..........the lil round pieces in the paint you are talking about sound like trash.....i havent seen em so it may be fish eye, but if its just trash it will wet sand and buff out

 

what do you mean by trash? the little tiny dimples i was talking about the low spots of clear coat, meaning i didnt sand untill it was completely flat, becasue i knew that there wasnt alot of clear there

 

If you not familiar with using a buffer, at least let someone that is show you the technique first. Then, if you think you are up to it, try it yourself.

 

well i decided to take a risk today and try it myself, and surprisingly good results... i bought an el-cheap-o buffer from work, and a foam pad and some 3m finesse it 2 finish compound from my local body shop, and took my time and went slow and easy and it turned out pretty good, i also found that the longer i stayed in one spot the easier the shine came out, instead of moving real fast i started to slow down and push a little harder, and supprisingly i didnt burn throguth at all, so almost the whole car is done and it looks OK, not as shiny as id like, so would just a wax job help? or is there another compound or something that will make it shine more?

 

perfect it polishing compound, but it will wash off and show the dull.....it looks good for about 2 weeks in the weather, id try turtle wax
----------
i wanna see some pictures

 

does waxing make that big of a difference? i mean ive waxed other cars but never waxed this fresh of a paint job?

and yea once i figure out where the batteries from my camera went ill post some up, haha

 

it depends on how fresh the paint job is, if its less than 2 or 3 months old i wouldnt wax it.......you can use the poishing compound on a fresh paint job though

 

the more times you polish it with compund the better it will shine....and use glaze after your compund

 

I painted my car and did the whole wetsanding/buffing thing. Now I buff it when necessary and finish with 3M Ultrafina rather than waxing. My car is black, so any swirls or scratches really show up and I've found Ultrafina to work the best for me. It's definitely worth having the appropriate pads for your compounds and good terry or microfiber cloths for wiping up. What color is your paint job? BTW, I think 3M has a tutorial video on their web site for using their Perfect It system.

 

The more you use the buffer the better you will become at it. I think at 6 months from paint you are safe to do whatever. I would not wet sand however as you don't have much to wetsand with only 2 clears. The more you buff the better it will shine. Going slow is a good thing. Staying in one place is bad. Using a foam pad is an excellent idea.

I would go from compound to glaze/polish to wax. You will have to experiment with different brands to see what you like. 3m is a great product and a very professional look. Meguillars is also very popular by the users of this site and my personal favorite. Microfiber cloths are the bomb and won't hurt your finish.

And what color is your car? That also will make a difference in which products to use.