Bought the Porter Cable...now what

flash_e_gt · 03-07-05, 08:30

Hey Guys/gals,

I finally bought the PC but now I need some help.
I've got a BEAUTIFUL car in the basement that needs tome help.
Red Toyota Supra

Bought it last november and hand washed and waxed it once before it started snowing (Did it by hand w/ Meguires Cleaner/Polish). Now that it is getting warm I would like to take care of the paint properly.

These are the things I would like to work on:
PAINT
Light Swirls
A couple of "Berry-Marks"

Glass
Very Rough & a lot of light scratches in the windshield

Headlights
Are kind of foggy.

My questions are this:
I'm a beginner w/ 3 cars to work on
Red Supra, Blue Grand Cherokee, Silver Passat.
I have my PC, but I need to buy pads and some products to get started. Can you guys suggest some products. Clay-Polish?

flash_e_gt · 03-07-05, 08:32

I also would like to know a little bit more about waffle weaves and buffing cloths? Right now I have been using "The absorber" and bathroom towels...I know, I suck.

a.k.a. Patrick · 03-07-05, 09:08

LMAO ! You dont suck, your just uninformed.....
Waffle Weaves can make a world of difference in qualified hands. Search my friend.....Were here to help but after explaining it over and over, we get sort of bored!
Ok, im without anything productive to do right now, except sleep. I'll give it a go, briefly.....
PC....Find some good pads for your new toy, theres several brands available, perform a search, and you will come up with various manufacturers and vendors. Theres really not a bad one out their. You just have to find "your Cadillac". The same can be said with waffle weaves and microfibers.....You could always get a little of the forum favorites, and make your own decisions. Autopia store is a great place to start looking, its chock full of additional info on the subject. Theres nothing like a reference to assist your own decision....
Everything has been covered multiple times recently, and as said before, the search button is your best friend.

travisdecpn · 03-07-05, 09:19

Check out excel detail, he's got the pads, the WW, and some quality MF towels. http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/s...ldetail&ct=ALL

flash_e_gt · 04-04-05, 05:42

Here's a question for you,
I have a buddy that suggested the following products

Megures DACP (Dual Action Cleaning Polish) w/ a White pad
Megures NXT (Hand polished)
Meguires #26 Wax-HandPolish

Of course I couldn't find the either the first or second meguires product.

Also he suggested that I really only need a white pad, but when I started looking for "white pads" I couldn't really find one....any suggestions here?

MongooseGA · 04-04-05, 06:10

Well, if your paint is in pretty rough shape (not just texture wise...) then you'll pobably need more than a white pad. FYI- the stock PC pad is garbage. You might try to use that on the glass.

Meg's DACP (you'll also see it reffered to as #83 on here) is a great polish and alot of guys like it.
Megs NXT is a cleaner wax that you can buy in any Wal-mart, Pep Boys, etc.
Meg's #26 I think is a natural carnuba with no cleaners. I haven't used it so I don't have any info on it.

For WW MF's, it's really subjective. Just do some research on it, shop a few online vendors, and the deciding factor might just be price.

Toward the bottom of the home page, there's a window full of links. You can also just click links at the top of your page. Look around those sites for the best deals on pads and towels.

dschribs · 04-04-05, 06:20

You can get DACP and NXT directly from Meguiars. Check thier web site. DACP is a little on the abrasive side so you might want to use Meguiars #80 Speed Glaze instead of the DACP. It might do the trick. You can also then use the NXT right after the #80.

As fas a pads, if you are ordering from Meguiars, get one of thier polishing pads for the #80 and one of thier finishing pads for the NXT. (You can also use a polshing pad for the NXT). Then apply the #26 by hand.

The one most important thing I have learned since being on the forum here is that the towels you use to remove the product are probably the most important element of the whole procedure. Get some quality Micro Fibers to do the job. If you have few hours (and I do mean hours) to spare, do a search on Micro Fibers Towels (MF) and find a good quality vendor to by them from.

I'm just starting out in this hobby too and yes it can be overwhelming but pick one thing to focus on (washing technique, drying, clay, polshing, sealants, interior protectants. etc) and just concentrate on that one topic for awhile. Read all you can about the topic on the forum, using searches, for a week or two then move on to your next topic. That's the way I handled it and it made things a whole lot less overwhelming.

Good Luck!

guapsnaman · 04-04-05, 07:30

I'm in the same position as you are. I just purchased my PC and decided to get some Propel Pads from Excel (link provided above). From what I hear, they're as good as the rest but cheaper.

For swirl marks, I got Poorboy's SSR2.5 and SSR1. Do a search for these and you'll see nothing but good comments on them.

White95Max · 04-04-05, 07:32

Quote:

Originally posted by guapsnaman
I'm in the same position as you are. I just purchased my PC and decided to get some Propel Pads from Excel (link provided above). From what I hear, they're as good as the rest but cheaper.

For swirl marks, I got Poorboy's SSR2.5 and SSR1. Do a search for these and you'll see nothing but good comments on them.

I totally agree. The Propel pads and SSR polishes are great.

BTW Guapsnaman, I love your new avatar pic.