Polishing after wet sanding

I'm trying to teach myself detailing. I wet sanded my top coat with 1000 grit followed by 2000 grit sandpaper. I bough 3 different types of
meguiars polish (pictured). The swirl remover has a 3 rated cut and I polished with a variable speed buffer (pictured). Then I used shoe car
glaze followed by yellow wax. The finish still looks hazy. Not the mirror finish I was going for. What products can I use to get the final scratched
out of my top coat. There was a meguiars product with a rated 7 cut (medium cut). Would that work? Just looking for advice or products to use.
Thanks in advance.

yes, you need a whole lot more aggressive first cut compound.

There is another series of another Mequiare polish numbers. These are light to heavy. I use 1500 sandpaper (probably should use 2000 as there are some scratches). The ones I use are around 5. Try to find a dealer that has some. For instance NAPA has the wrong ones. I use a 3.5 inch polisher and mostly use the "rubber" (wrong name)-- all the stuff is in my building. I have somewhat thick, a medium and light, usually the last two. In other words, find someone who has these things and one who can help you, not someone who sells everything but does not know what it is.

Glennster on this forum can definitely help you.

I have always started at 1000 grit, then 2000, then 3000, then a wool pad with a fairly aggressive compound and light pressure , then a finishing compound on a foam pad, then a swirl remover with a da polisher if needed, then wax with a polishing pad on the da polisher.

If you have a rough looking finish then you have missed a step of removing the scratches from the previous step.

If you painted this, I would sand and repaint with applying a wetter coat.

my first question is, what type of paint is it? dealer tractor? with hardener? acrylic enamel w hardener? or urethane? that will determine your buffing tools.

here is an assortment of pads and compounds i use here at the shop. they are for urethane, which is a very tough paint to buff. also some compounds too. i like the schlagel pads the best, presta is my second choice.

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It is acrylic enamel with hardener. If you look at my pics you can see the can for the blue paint on the right. My question is where you get your products? I did find more meguiars products that have a heavy cutting compound. I appreciate your help. The only way to learn is for me to just do it, but there is a learning curve. I have been using a 7" buffing pad you can kinof see in the pictures that is microfiber. Again thank you for the help.

More specifically it is an acrylic urethane enamel. Here is a link to the type of paint:

http://englishcolor.com/ecs_-_ecucitc/LIC_CPC_files/AUE100%20TDS.pdf

One more question. I ordered 3 compounds of meguiars brand; a heavy cut, medium cut, and fine cut. My plan was to apply all 3 working in order from heavy to fine. My question is how much pressure do I apply on the rotary buffer when applying? My fear is burning through the top coat, but i want enough pressure to buff my sand marks out.

ok matt, i will walk you thru how we do the finals here at the shop. for wet sanding, we use 1000,1500,2000grit papers. also, get a soft block flexible sanding block, we use motor guard sb-1. a 3m wet or dry rubber squeegee part no 05518. also, car wash soap (be sure its car wash soap!!) a big sponge and a 5 gallon bucket and garden hose with a sprayer. we use warm water to wet sand. wet it down, add some car wash soap to your 5 gallon bucket and toss the sponge in there. on flat surfaces use the soft block on your wet paper, and use the palm of your hand. NEVER finger sand...it will leave ridges. do a small area while keeping the sponge above it so it constantly flushes the area, keeps boogers off the paper and helps to lube the paper. if you have a smooth surface you ca go rite to 2000 grit, otherwise start with the 1000 . use the rubber squeegee to pull water off the sanded area so it has a consistent haze, no freckles of unsanded paint. when all done wet sanding, give it a good bath with car wash soap. and chamois dry. for buffing, i would recommend the schlegel #1 pad (heavy cut) the schlegel #2 (medium cut) and a 3m foam polish pad p/n 05725. for compounds, 3m 36060 heavy cut, 3m 06064 machine polish, 3m ultrafina se p/n 06068 and if ya really want it to pop, perfect it III finish glaze p/n05941. you need a buffing pad spur to keep the pads clean, and a spray bottle of clean warm water. spray your pads to get them damp and spin the buffer a few times to toss off the excess water. start with the #1 schlegel pad and the 36060 compound and buff away. i do about a 20 inch square areaa at a time. pump spray occasionally to keep things lubed. on style lines and edges work up to them so the pad spins in the direction of the edge. otherwise the pad can catch and burn thru. you need pretty good pressure with the heavy compound so it heats up and cuts. then switch to the schlegel #2 and the 06064 compound. repeat the process. give it another bath to get all the compound off, then switch to the 3m 05725 foam pad and buff with the ultra fina 06068. it should look like a mirror when you are done. you can follow up with the perfect it III 05941.

also, dont apply wax for 30 days. the solvents need to off gas. yup, its a lot of work and it takes a lot of time. but if you want a quality job, you gotta put the time in.

Thank you so,much for the advice. I think I can get it from here. I'll keep you posted.

I'm probably not the one to be giving you this advice because I've been doing this since 1971 in body shops. I am a firm believer that you need RPM and a little heat and plenty of practice to get the result most are after. I learned on , and still use a 3000 rpm , 10 amp B&D polisher ( also bought back in '70,s) The orbitals are only for the finish glaze. If you try what I use , you will burn it somewhere. We all did and paid our dues which I'm sure you don't want on this project. One doesn't practice on the "prize". Anything less will be slower. Take your time and keep working it. Since you are learning on "the prize" better safe than sorry.

It a bit pricey but 3m makes a great compound the number is 05974.
Get everything polished with that and then just use meguiars number 7 show car glaze then wax the next day...

glennster hit it on the head with the question: "what coating are you trying to rub?"

Different pads, compounds, and polishes like different coatings. Some coatings really don't like to be scratched, and then they really, really don't like to polish out.

Unfortunately, the AUE lineup is one of those family of coatings. Great for tractors cause they're tough as nails and looks correct, bad for wet sanding and rubbing... because they're tough as nails.

Honestly with that AUE line, if it needs wet sanding and rubbing, just lightly scuff it and recoat it in the open window. Just a thought.