Supplies used for wetsanding/buffing

[cbrman]

Ok so I got the 72 pontiac catalina painted the other weekend. I sprayed the basecoat and first coat of clear (with pearl) from my hf gun. Atomization was pretty poor so to get a even coat I had to lay it on pretty thick.

Needless to say the peel was pretty good and there is a run or two. I then cleared with my binks m1g and the clear started laying like glass. On areas where I didn't spray the pearl it is smooth as glass (Under hood, under trunk, door jambs. etc)

So for the sides of the car, hood and trunk I need to wetsand buff the finish to smooth it out.

If money was no object I would use some of Robert's Tru Finish polish, however this is on a budget and I have already gone into the hole a hundred or so in materials to help my brother. (Ok so it is kinda an early christmas present or something)

Anyways For wetsanding I have my airvantage with interface pad and finishing film as well as 1500, 2000, and 3000 sheets of wet/dry sandpaper. I have an ATD buffer purchased from Len's store, I have wool pads and I have a black foam pad.

Do I need any other foam pads? If so what is the differences between the different colored pads?

Also what supplies (buffing compounds) do you recommend. Please keep in mind that I need to be able to get em at my local body supply store so I can finish it this weekend.

Thanks

Steven

[Dennis N. Schmidt]

Sort of a hard question. Sure-Finish is great as are Menzerna's polishes. These are all I've used for a long time and neither are readily available locally. I did try two Presa products one of which is pretty good (ultra cutting creme) and the second which I though completely sucked (Chroma 1500 polish).

3M Extra Cut is very good but $30 a quart which is pretty outrageous. One very good compound that you might be able to find locally that's cheap is Transtar's Tri-Cut compound. This stuff is excellent in general and a very good bargain.

Never been wild about Meguires stuff. I like everything else Evercoat makes but I've never used their compounds or polishes but these come from a good family so maybe they're OK but I just don't know personally.

So in short you can either shell out for 3M or get lucky and find a distributor that sells the Transtar Tri-Cut. I'd call around and see if I could find the Transtar.

[glenn kreger]

At 25.00 a qt. for SureFinish I don't think you can find a better deal. You will do the whole car and have at least 1/3 of it left..And the results will be worth it...JMHO Glenn

[Phil V]

cbrman, If you have some runs in the clearcoat then 1500 grit finishing film won't work. You need to repair the runs before you tackle sanding the rest of the clear. You need a wetsanding hand pad/block and some 1000 or 1200 grit wet/dry paper. Depending on how bad the runs are you might need a coarse nib file and a couple single edged razor blades to level out the runs before block sanding.

[Chris L]

In a pinch,i would use the 1500 dry,grab 2-3 sheets of 3000 trizact pads and go over the 1500 with those,and grab a bottle of3m extra cut 3000 with wool,then swirl mark remover with a black foam pad then hand glaze.