Buffer info sought

[jvandyke]

I've been touching up some spots. To the point where I need to try to make my clear coat look okay again. This is very basic do-it-yourself stuff. No air compressor sprayer. Just me, some base coat in an aerosol can and some rattle can clear coat.
I want to polish out the clear to blend it in and shine it up, mostly where I touched up but the whole car can use some help here and there.
How cheap a buffer can I get away with for this type work?
I've looked at them from $25 6" "Waxer" to $259 "real ones".
I don't mind spending what I need to but like most things, I don't want a $200 buffer if a $50 will do but worse, I don't want to waste $50 on one that won't do what I want where $55 would have done it.
On the other hand, I am more than happy to forgo the whole buffer thing and use old fashioned elbow grease if that could get the job done, pretty ignorant here!

[Paul]

I was in the same boat... looking for a buffer/polisher... I found one at Harbor Freight (I think)... The important thing is to get one that operates at lower speeds. A right angle grinder is high speed and will burn paint. To buff/polish you need something in the 1000 -1500 rpm range...

[jvandyke]

Do you think variable speed is important? Maybe just a one speed cheapy is okay and let the various compounds do the rest.

[Paul]

Oh, I bought a variable speed..... If you are going to speed the money, you might as well be able to use it effectively.

Try these... Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

and Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

[baz]

speed relates to what you are buffing

a single speed will do it all but a multi speed makes some jobs easier

spend what you are comfortable with its your money



what kind of clear coat is it because if you have been doing patches its not easy to get the ring out , you sometimes have to do a whole panel if its a high vis place

i sprayed the front of a hood once that had stone chips but ended up doing the whole hood because i had a joint line i could not get rid of and no body line to work to

[jvandyke]

I've been using Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel in a rattle can. Toluene Acetone and Xylene. (Whatever that means). Don't know how well this stuff will work with existing clear, so far so good. Mirror perfect show finish is not the goal (though would be nice). Spot treating really ugly spots is all I'm trying to do and if I quit now I'd say it was a success but may as well take it as far as I can. I've been reading up on it. Seems like Joe Blow with elbow grease can do a lot if he wants to and spends some time.

[namba209]

I've had good results patching my model racing boats, and repainting the damaged area, then using 3M wet/dry paper, wet, starting with 320 and going by stages to 1200, then rubbing compound, polishing compound, 3M Perfect-It III Cleaner Clay in a dishwashing/water solution, finishing up with a coat of wax. All done by hand. Granted my boats are smaller than the GT but the results are pretty good.