Can I buff my own car?

I have a good one. My car was sprayed a little over a year ago by the guy I bought it from. Dupont Poly 8 to 1 mixture of Base to Clear. Never buffed out. Car is very shiny but has some dust in the paint and is heavy in some spots. Can I wet sand this myself and buff it or do I need to pay a pro? I am a wood worker by hobbie(besides the vette thing) so I am familiar with wet sanding. Can the car be buffed by hand, say over the winter? Trying to save some money and get the satisfaction of doing the work by myself( if i won't ruin it)How do I attach pics to show the car?

Is the dust deep in the paint? Something that claying the paint won't help?

As far as the pics, Well you have to either have them hosted on the net somewhere or have them hosted here. Of course to have them hosted here, you have to either be a Gold or Lifetime Member

Not sure if the dust is "deep" in the paint. It is in the paint. when you run youhand across the paint you can feel the dust. I waxed the car and its very slippery, but still gritty. What is this clay thing?

It is a light abrasive clay bar that you lubricate with water or something like it and rub it onto the paint in a straight direction. It is desgned to remove imperfections in the paint. Afterwards you just rewax or polish the car as usual. Zaino, 3M and Meguiars makes them.

|UPDATED|6/27/2003 10:22:16 PM|/UPDATED|

I just joined the club as a gold member. I have already gotten my monies woth in advice alone. I guess i will be able to post pics tomorrow at some point. Anyways, can the clay do damage? Is it like wet sandpaper?

chelseadad said: I just joined the club as a gold member. I have already gotten my monies woth in advice alone. I guess i will be able to post pics tomorrow at some point. Anyways, can the clay do damage? Is it like wet sandpaper?

Congrats on the Gold membership. no the clay will not harm the paint as long as you do not press real hard and stay in one area for a long time. It is like silly putty with a little sand in it. A lot of guys use it on their vettes, and people use it on show cars. Makes the paint feel like glass.

Thanks for the advice. I will try it and let you know what happens.

Duane

We'll I tried the clay. For the most part it flattened out the dust in the paint and made it very smooth. But It still needs something. Being red hides alot I think. It just looks very heavy on the car. Probably can't see it in the pic, but I think it still needs wet sand and buff. What should I be paying for a service like this? Since they will make a mess of the car will they clean it? Will they clean the whole car or just the paint? Should I expect to have to clean it when they are finished? Anyone near Doylestown, Pa recommended?




|UPDATED|7/2/2003 3:44:05 PM|/UPDATED|

I've wetsanded and buffed two cars, and my boat. Use 800 or 1000 grit paper. It isn't hard if you have a high speed buffer and a gallon of polishing compound. My local NAPA sells a good line of polishing products, as most paint supply stores do. Just don't machine polish the edges or creases, or dig in with the edge of the wheel. Keep the buffer moving so you don't heat up the paint. Follow up with "liquid ebony" and a couple of coats of good wax. Joe

Thanks for the tip. I think I will make it my winter project. Take my time and make sure I don't mess anything up.