Best place to buy a Porter Cable 7424 Random orbital polisher?

Ripsnort · 09-20-01, 07:15

Either on the web, or store?

adjulian · 09-20-01, 07:31

$115, then check the sponsor above, Classic Motoring Accessories, for the accessories for the PC.

joed1228 · 09-20-01, 08:12

I bought my PC from Autopia, I was supporting the best auto detailing web page on the internet.............. ok ok, I wanted one quick and didn't shop around and wasted extra money.

I heard you can get them used for closer to 100.00. Do a search on the fourms and see what you get.

Ripsnort · 09-20-01, 08:22

Great, thks guys, found one for $115, $6 shipping. It will be here in 7 days.

First timer on orbital polisher, besides what products to use (I'm going with Griots Machine polish 1,2 and 3), can you give me any tips on do's and don'ts? Car is BMW 330Ci, Jet Black, brand new, with some linear swirls marks from the damn Boar's hair brush I posted about earlier.

AdamM · 09-20-01, 08:43

I got mine from Coastal as well, and got the pad kit from CMA. The pad kit comes with the backing plate, wool pad, various foam pads and a couple of bonnets. The pad the PC came with is fixed, I actually used it on my mom’s car with Finesse-it 2 and All-In-One because the PC arrived before the pad kit. It worked OK but the pad kit is a must have.

The PC is pretty idiot proof, but I’d recommend doing some else’s car as a “favor”

first. You get a feel for it after about 20 minutes or so, at least that’s how it went for me. Don’t fight the machine, let it do the work and don’t lean on top of it, let it glide. You’ll love it! Just remember to start of with the mildest product you have on that new Bimmer and see if that does the trick.

Ripsnort · 09-20-01, 08:49

Thks Adam, what is CMA? I'd like to look into those pads.

BradE · 09-20-01, 08:54

CMA is Classic Motoring Accessories. Autopia is sponsored by them. Their website is www.properautocare.com

AdamM · 09-20-01, 08:56

CMA sponsors the board (Classic Motoring Accessories), just scroll up and click the link. I've ordered from them several times and they are prompt to ship and very friendly.

bigboyhf · 09-20-01, 09:37

Wouldn't it make sense for CMA to offer the PC at competitive prices? Even if it were within a few dollars of Coastal price to make it more reasonable to save shipping costs to order the whole system from CMA. But a difference of about $75 makes it silly not to save the cash by splitting the order. Just a thought...

I would like to hear more comments of Griots polishes vs the 3M products (and any other products) from people who have used both.

H

Ripsnort · 09-20-01, 10:03

I've been using Griots the last 3 months on 2 different cars, and I only have Meguires and Zymol (Hey, someone had to use the stuff!) to compare it too. So far, it's held up the best, I really love the stuff. I chose Carnauba based wax since the car goes from garage to garage when using it for work.

Ripsnort · 09-20-01, 10:26

Thks for links, guys, another question has popped to my mind, do you use the Lambs Wool pad as a backing pad for the Terry cloth bonnets? Or as a 'finish' tool after wax is removed?

I was under the impression that terry is not good for a finish, but cotton but better?

AdamM · 09-20-01, 10:46

Yup the bonnets go over the wool pad. Haven't used the wool straight up, my understanding is that it's pretty harsh and is for serious cutting.

edit: I did use the bonnets to buff on my friends Explorer, didn’t work that great. I was going to order the backing plate, yellow pad, two whites and a gray but after I priced it out I just figured get the kit. You can also ask them to sub microfiber bonnets for the terrys.