Custom Paint Job on a 1999 Dodge Dakota R/T - Strong Shade

1. To smooth out the little bit of orange peel in the clear and make the truck look slick and shiny, we grabbed this new box from 3M. It's the Perfect-It Paint Finishing System and comes with just about everything you need to rub out a paint job in one box.

2. Here's the orange peel in question: This is smoother than some factory paint jobs, but we want this truck to look its best so this will need to be sanded smooth and buffed back to a shine.

3. With the provided sandpaper fitted to a dual action (D/A) sander, Eddy started smoothing out the surface. The paper features a 1500 grit rating and takes very little water to keep it lubricated.

4. The left area of the reflection is sanded properly while the right side of the reflection needs a little more attention.

5. Once the entire surface was sanded completely, it was time for the second step in getting a slick surface. With the Superbuff III wool pad fitted to an adjustable speed buffer and the Perfect-It Rubbing Compound, Eddy started polishing out the sanding scratches. He worked a two-foot square section at a time with the buffer set to 1,200 rpm and applying medium pressure. Every couple of sections he would clean the pad by spinning the buffer and scraping the pad with a flat tip screw driver.

6. Next, he switched to the Perfect-It Plus foam polishing pad and Perfect-It Machine Polish for step three. This time he did the entire truck with the buffer set to 1,600 rpm, while applying medium pressure.

7. For step four he switched to the Ultrafine Foam Polishing Pad and Ultrafine Machine Polish to eliminate the swirl marks left by the last step. Again he did the entire truck, this time with the buffer turned up to 2,000 rpm, while applying light pressure. In this step, you will end up with a light oily-looking film on the paint, this is normal and is what lubricates the pad to keep it from burning the paint.

The last step in getting that smooth and wet look is removing the oily film left by the Ultrafine Machine Polish. The Perfect-It Clean and Shine misted on the surface and wiped off with a micro fiber towel made quick work of the task (inset). The Clean and Shine is made to clean residue and provides a high-gloss shine without containing silicone, so it's safe to use in paint shops.

We spotted the alien that Steve left to go and paint. We'll leave the probing jokes up to you.