Auto body repair & detailing: orange peel/panel weld, dupont paint, grit sandpaper

Question
Brian,

Very poor amatuer painter here.  Just finished repairing my 1993 Chevy p/u due to the infamous poor primer used by GM in the early 90's.  Included in this procedure  was the replacing of the wheel well  panels and cab corner panels.  I am wondering if i did this repair correctly.  I spot welded the panels flush with the existing panel instead of going under or over the existing panel.  I mudded over the work of course and am dissapointed in the finish.  Very friendly if you know what I mean.  I stripped the p/u completely and primed with a urathane primer.  I painted the final coat with a single stage Dupont paint and again I am very dissapointed with the results... very dull and a lot of orange peel.  I used a hvlp painter at @ 30psi when the trigger was pulled.  I just buffed the entire unit which helped, however still needs a lot of work.  Should I ditch the buffing and start over?  Scratch it up and used base coat/clear coat?  Any tips on using this new (for me) paint gun.  Thanks for the help.

mtc

Answer
I would wetsand the finish smooth and repaint. do not sand through to bare metal. then you wont have to reseal any places. wetsand with 600 grit sandpaper. You are using the right air pressure for an hvlp. Try a slower drying hardner for your paint. You might even thin it out a little with the recomended slow reducer. I would stick with the one stage paint untill you get a few jobs under your belt.

          Hope this helps

       Brian