Hi, looking at doing small areas with colour matched spraycan, then followed by clear.

My first attempt was ok i guess, i used cutting compound on the clear and it came up alright........ but im thinking i might get a better finish if i use cutting compound on the final coat of colour BEFORE i apply the clear, then spray and buff the clear as well

But im worried by doing this, the cutting compound will stay in the paint and the clear coat wont bond to it properly

Any advice?

Unless you have a really dry and rough colour coat, you shouldn't need to rub down before the clear coat.

The clear coat should when applied correctly slightly melt the top coat of the colour smoothing it out, then you can sand the clear with 2000 grade wet & dry, then use your cutting compound, then polish. This will give that mirror flat shine to the paint.

Don't put anything on the colour surface before clear coating, especially compounds or polish.

ok thanks........ yeah ive heard about using wet sandpaper, so i rubbed a small section over the colour with wet 2000 grit and it left a big white hazy patch so i cant grasp how to get the best possible finish using cans

as above , dont polish the paint colour then clear coat. and dont rub the colour either

the primer needs to be wet rubbed with 800 wet before u put the colour on,

the colour goes on then the 3 or so clear coats, allow enough time to dry properly (acrylic at least a week, longer the better)
then rub back with 1500 wet or 2000 wet just enough to flatten the paint (get rid of dust and orange peel etc) and then polish, wax to protect when u are happy with the gloss