Hey guys, just got my 69 back the other day from the paint shop. Its a medium metallic blue with 2 coats (I'm told) of clear over the top. Looks pretty good, no runs, some minor orange peel, my biggest problem is dust in the paint. But the guy told me its could look REALLY good if I have it "cut and buffed".....I assume he means polished? He said it could run about $250 or so to do it right.
What do you guys think about this advice?
Mark

He's right. It is a two step process. First you use a cutting compound that will smooth things out, then a buffing compound to bring it to a high luster. Actually, he should have done that on the dust spots. Dust spots, insect spots, etc. are unavoidable even in the best spray room, but the paint shop I use normally cleans them up on a project car.

You can get rid of the orange peel too, but that takes sanding and with a base of only two clear coats, its a little thin for sanding/cutting/buffing. You usually have to sand off one coat or so to get everything perfectly smooth. You need to give the painter instructions before-hand to get an extra clear coat for this step.

All in all, at this stage a good job of cutting and buffing will make a big difference, especially if done on the whole car. Hopefully much of the orange peel will go away too . Most auto detail shops will do this.