Is it a normal procedure to wet sand with 1500 & 2000 grit paper and then buff with a foam pad and a finishing compound of some kind on a bc/cc paint job? From what I am learning the answer is yes. If this is the case, could you explain this procedure in detail. If you were hand sanding, would you sand back and forth or circular? Do you just lightly sand the whole job? I assume this is to get a finer finish but how do you know when to stop? I would hate to wreck a perfectly good paint job by trying to make it better. If it makes any difference, I'm talking about ureathane base and a clear with hardner.

Yes, it's normal to need to wetsand and buff CC to nib any dust and get rid of orangepeel. Assuming you have enough CC on the area (like 3 or 4 coats), you wetsand the whole area to be polished in a back and forth motion until it's flat/smooth (with a light touch, watch to avoid cutting through on edges). Then machine buff to bring up the shine (again, real carefully, watch the edges! or tape them to protect them). It's nearly impossible to bring up a great shine by hand, IMHO. You need to use a buffer to heat the CC enough to reflow it a bit. The final steps (like glazing) can then again be done by hand.

Chris