How do you buff lacquer paint? I have wet sanded base coat clear coat before and buffed it out,but is lacquer any different? What should I watch out for? Thanks for any tips someone might have.

 

I have buffed lacquer. Wet sand first then its pretty straight forward. The paint supply store will recommend a grit/polish. Keep the buffer moving and stay away from the tall edges so ya dont buff thru the paint.

 

3M 05954 compound

 

Lacquer isn't as hard or durable as the basecoat/clearcoat paints, so you have to be alot more careful.
Much easier to burn through especially on the edges.
From my experience, the longer you can let lacquer cure before buffing the better.

 

are you buffing fresh paint or old paint. if its old i wouldnt waste your time when laquer gets old it cracks and that wont buff out. i was board one day and tried to buff stock paint on my g body and there wasnt any difference when i was done

 

I don't know my a$$ from a hole in the ground but I can tell you my recent experience. My 68 original paint F85 looked horrible and a highly respected restoration shop owner suggested the best solution was strip to metal and repaint base/clearcoat. That's not what I wanted. My paint had lots of alligator-like surfaces on the hood, doors and quarters.

Feeling like I had nothing to lose, I started on the hood and was amazed at the result after the wet sanding and compounding. I wet sanded with 1500 grit and followed with Meguiars Ultimate compound on my Meguiars Porter Cable Random Orbital sander. 25 hours later, it is nearly done. The worst surfaces got a treatment of 320 grit sand paper, then the wet sanding, followed by a conventional buff with a two speed buffer (at low speed). I can't describe what a difference it made. Here are some pics.

 

A few more. Note the surface of the door before. I just don't have a good clear pic of the driver side after to compare.

 

Nice.

You're lucky - your paint was basically sound underneath.
Some paint is cracked deep down and can't be saved that way.

I've had both experiences - I've buffed old paint out to like-new, and I've also wasted several hours on a '68 F*rd, with the finish, as has been noted, no different than before.

If you are buffing new paint, though, then remember that time is on your side.
You will get lousy results if you buff a day or two after painting.
Better a week after, but still not great.
Good if you can wait a month.
A few months would be excellent.

As others have said, watch for edges, be gentle, keep moving, don't go too fast, and don't burn or melt it.

- Eric