tomsteve wrote:

chopolds wrote: But with today's catalyzed clearcoats, you have to be a Superman to hand buff. A drill definitely does not have the power to buff hardened clear, as Chris said.

this was the first paint job i ever dealt with. i did all of the prep, had someone else do the spraying. i did the wet sanding and buffing. not being experienced with a buffer, i bought a porter cable 7424 dual action buffer. wet sanded to 1500 grit. i was able to get it buffed up to a great shine but it took about 14 hours over 2 days to compound then polish. i could only imagine how long it would take using a drill- if a drill would even hold up.

Luckily i only have a bumper to do right now. Ill try to make the most of what I have.

What kind of clear did you use? Also is this a corded or cordless drill? Would think a corded drill should have enough power.

myke wrote:What kind of clear did you use? Also is this a corded or cordless drill? Would think a corded drill should have enough power.

I have both a corded and a cordless.
And this is the clear i used

I’ve polished small areas with a 3” pad on a drill and had no problems.

This clear coat on a tailgate that has been sanded with 1000 grit using a hard block to remove orange peel and urethane wave.

If you look at the right end you can see where I have begun sanding with 1500 grit using a soft block to remove the 1000 grit scratches. Notice how the color is being to show.


Same panel completely sanded with 1500 grit. Again you can see where I have sanded with 2000 grit to remove the 1500 grit scratches.


It is unnecessary to sand beyond 2000 grit in my opinion, as Meguiar's M-100 will easily remove these scratches when using a rotary buffer with a twisted wool pad.
Reflection:


Color shot:

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:This clear coat on a tailgate that has been sanded with 1000 grit using a hard block to remove orange peel and urethane wave.

If you look at the right end you can see where I have begun sanding with 1500 grit using a soft block to remove the 1000 grit scratches. Notice how the color is being to show.

1000-1500 Grit.jpg

Same panel completely sanded with 1500 grit. Again you can see where I have sanded with 2000 grit to remove the 1500 grit scratches.

1500-2000 Grit.jpg

It is unnecessary to sand beyond 2000 grit in my opinion, as Meguiar's M-100 will easily remove these scratches when using a rotary buffer with a twisted wool pad.
Reflection:

Tailgate Buffed 3.JPG

Color shot:

Tailgate Color Shot.JPG

Nice post,details and pics.