Originally Posted by 351coupe
I've been doing sanding and buffing for a long time now,after you clear it,let it dry.Wet sand it with a 1200-1500 grit then a 3000 grit.Then it must be compounded out,that's the only thing that will get the sand scratches out.After compounding it with the white 3M waffle pad,then you will have to glaze it like Tampamax said with a 3M blackfoam pad and a good glaze.I recomend all 3M products,there exspensive but well worth it.After you glaze it you'll want to put a real good coat of wax on it to seal it.Any further questions I'll be glad to help on the sanding and buffing part.
Since we've had some really valuable contributions to this thread how bout you help us finish up the basics. I agree with you on the 3m products, as the series i see most professionals use is the perfectIII series. Comes in a black bottle. After the machine glaze what would you suggest as a good top coat for the paint? There are many quality waxes out there, but some may not be the best for brand new paint finishes while others may have an application process that is way to involved for the beginner. So what do you use for the final step...the wax coat? Do you stay with a 3m product, maybe a quality eagle one wet wax product, or maybe even a natural product like Zymol? Is the process for applying the paint job first coat of wax any different than any other time you wax the vehicle?
Oh, i also know that 3000 grit is very difficult to come by for the general public. Where can the 3000 grit be found?
*For those that don't know most paint work can look flawless with a 1500 grit wet sand, compound, glaze, and wax. For the anal retentive, the ones that spend 6K and up on a basic paint job and want a perfect mirror finish without wax, or extremely dark colors(i.e.black) the 3k wet sand is the way to go. Talk about labor intensive though.