First off, I did the roll on paint job, so understand what I'm going for (good and not great) and also that I had no facility to spray (single car garage in a condo, with no yard). I used oil-based Rustoleum industrial red.

I am letting the paint cure for a couple weeks, then plan on wet sanding with 1500 grit on a flexible sanding block to remove as much orange peel as possible. What comes next is my question.

I have a 6" dual action buffer but as I understand it, I really need a direct drive buffer to properly polish the paint after sanding. Looking at direct drive buffers, they seem to run anywhere between $60-$200.

I see that they make drill adapters for buffing pads (such as THIS and that the main problem here is the ergonomics of the drill, it being difficult to handle. I have a right-angle variable speed cordless drill that runs 0-1,100 RPM. The ergonomics seem similar to a buffer, with about the right speed range. Should I just suck it up and buy a rotary buffer?

Drill kit:



Drill:



Rotary buffer:



Here is the drill I have: C3 Drill

Or do you think that either the 6" D/A, or the drill kit will be "good enough" for what I am trying to achieve here?

[This message has been edited by masospaghetti (edited 07-03-2014).]

cordless drill just won't last long enough, I am afraid.

Get a buffer, or maybe a corded drill with a foam buffing pad.... maybe.

I would suspect these guys can answer any question you have.

http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/forum.php

Wow. There's a forum for just about anything nowadays.

I bought a Harbor Freight buffer then went to NAPA parts store a bought a wool buffing pad. It worked great.

I don't think Rustoleum EVER gets hard enough to buff. Better check it out before you try. It "Could" just make the paint all "foggy"

https://www.youtube.com/user/chemicalGuys

Pretty much everything you will ever need to know about detailing a car, right there.

I use 7424XP Porter Cable 5.5 plate polisher with velcro backing pad with 5.5 orange Lake country polishing pad.
A great all purpose compound is WG 3.0 swirl remover (Wolfgang). the detail site I follow is www.autogeek.net which is having a July4th sale. http://www.autogeek.net/promospecials.html
Each order you can place a free trial size item in your cart too.

You need to prep wash, clay, polish, and then apply a high quality top coat carnuba wax. Optional would be OptiCoat Pro diamond finish.

Compelling photos for WolfGang
http://www.autogeekonline.n...ng-3-0-products.html

You need the 9" rotary style buffer to get anything done. Like you said $70-$200. I only use lambswool pads and the pad screws onto the buffer shaft. DONT bother with bonnets that tie on. Lots of the big buffers have gone to velcro and I have one of those too, and thats fine. If your a novice, Id probably recommend a waffle foam pad to help prevent burning the paint. You can eat the paint in seconds if your not careful. Theres a whole bunch of rules to buffing just like painting. Buff OFF of edges...NOT ONTO them. Buff with the pad going parallel to trim and handles to avoid ripping them off. Keep the buffer MOVING at all times...never let it stay still in one place. Keep the PAD cleaned...If you use a foam pad, you need a special little tool like a sewing wheels to clean compound off...wool works with just a screwdriver. I clean a pad several times on each panel. Handrub areas around things like emblems, antennas, locks. Body creases will buff 4 times faster than flat panel, so stay off them pretty much. Thats just the basics. I really dont recommend anyone buffing a whole car thats not done it before, but thats up to you. There are guys who will do it for you. Things like a DA sander with a buffer pad or one on a drill will work you death, burn up the tool and really do a crappy job of polishing the car. Theyre great for smaller things like head and tail light lenses.

Thanks for the tips everyone. Roger, that was really helpful.

A friend at work has a rotary buffer I can borrow, so I'll probably try that with a waffle foam pad, start with the hood and see how it goes. If i burn through it, I can reapply the paint pretty easily (one good thing about using rustoleum).