I am in the middle of doing a color saand and buff job to my girls MR2. So I thought I would put up a few pics of how it is done. I spent years in body shops doing this right after a car came out of the paint booth. It is very easy to sand when the paint is still wet. If the paint has been drying for a week or more, be prepared for a lot of work.

YOU WILL NEED :
1500 grit sandpaper ( wet paper )
2000 grit sandpaper ( wet paper )
a 3 or 4 stage compound set up. ( Mcguires or 3M are my favorite )
A buffer ( 1400 - 3500 rpm ) NOT AN ORBITAL . I REPEAT . NOT AN ORBITAL
A couple wool pads for the cutting compounds, and one foam pad for finishing.
And one squeegee
Start by wet sanding ( 1500 grit ) till you can no longer see the 'shine' of the paint. Sand a little, then squeegee to see how far you have come. Squeegee VERY often, this will prevent you from going through the paint.
I am pointing at the good spot here
Notice you can still see the reflection on the unsanded part, and the part that is ready is completely dull.



This is almost ready. You can still see the tiny bits of shine.



Once the whole car is hazy, hit it once quickly with the WET 2000 grit. Make sure you use a ton of water. And again . . the squeegee is your friend

 

Saved for later

 

saved for later

 

oo interesting...can't wait to see more

 

Finally got around to buffing a couple panels. The front fender is done in this picture, just the top half. You can visibly see where the door need more sanding and where it is good already.

 

This is a reflective shot of the same panel. You can see the tree really well in the reflection. We started with a terrible car. this thing is ready for the graveyard, ( 350,000 miles 3 engines and 9 owners ) but at least it was great for practicing on. I have not painted a car in over 10 years.