Cheap Pads

[Dan Clermont]

I am a total newbie to the Porter Cable 7424 and bought mine cause it was on sale half price up here in Canada. I haven't really put it too the test yet as I have only the pad that comes with the polisher.

I have a Forest Green 1995 Toyota 4Runner which I use for off roading. WHen I bought it the truck had quite a few surface scratches around the locks and I have added to those with my own back road travels.

I am on a limited budget (buying the PC 7424 was a stretch on its own) and want to remove the scratches and give it a nice wax.

From what I understand I can't use the same wheel / bonnet/ pad for cut wax as I do my polish. Do I need to buy another white buffin pad from Porter Cable? The PC pads look like a pain to put on and take off the polisher.

Can someone recommend some good cheap bonnets / pads?

Also was thinking about doing the Mother's 3 part syste, (pre clean, sealer /glaze followed by caraunuba) or do people prefer McQuiar's?

Thanks
Dan CLermont

[toyotaguy]

look to spend about 40 bucks shipped for two polishing pads and a finishing pad from whomever you get them from .....most pads are about 9-10 bucks....so 30 for the pads, and 10 for shipping...]

oh and I like lake coutry or excel erasure pads....

www.exceldetail.com

[ScubaStevo]

Oh man. I think this is a case of using the search button.

[evenflow]

Usually cheap and quality dont go hand in hand.

[Dan Clermont]

Originally Posted by evenflow

Usually cheap and quality dont go hand in hand.

Perhaps I should have worded that better but it seems my local stores want between $25 to $50 per pad. A Backing Pad seems to run another $25 so for 3 pads and a backing pad I am going to pay about what I paid for the PC 7424.

That to me is expensive.

Paying $10US per pad is reasonable.

Has anybody tried the white pad that comes with the PC? I would assume it is a fine pad (not coarse)

Thanks
Dan Clermont

[r8edxxx]

Originally Posted by Dan Clermont

Perhaps I should have worded that better but it seems my local stores want between $25 to $50 per pad. A Backing Pad seems to run another $25 so for 3 pads and a backing pad I am going to pay about what I paid for the PC 7424.

That to me is expensive.

Paying $10US per pad is reasonable.

Has anybody tried the white pad that comes with the PC? I would assume it is a fine pad (not coarse)

Thanks
Dan Clermont

I used the white pad that came with the PC. My edge 2000 kit had not yet arrived and I was desperate to try the PC. I did not even make it through the whole car and the glue seperated between the backing plate and the pad. My car was not completely polished for a couple of days Do not use this pad!

Ed

[TheFiveO]

Some people recommend throwing away the white pad but I have found two great uses for it. One, it works really well with glass polishes like Autoglym and Sonus Glass polish. The pad is firm andfairly aggressive so it gets the junk off the windshield. The second use for the white pad is under a microfiber bonnet. Put the microfiber bonnet over the pad and use it to remove the wax. IMHO using the PC to remove wax gives wax a little extra POP.

In regards to your pad questions, I would say that from my experience with all of the various vendors on the net, the avergae for a good pad is $9.00 +/- $1.00 (US). Autogeek has 6-packs of pads where you can save some substantial money.

Lastly, changing the pad/backing plate is a piece of cake, as long as you do not lose the flat wrench. Hold the flat wrench in place and spin the backing plate once loose. Takes less than a minute to change out.

Good luck

[Guy]

Look at the abay trading post on here and see if anyone has some pads at a good price to sell. It's right before the Chat and Garage buttons on the top left of the home page. Goodluck to you!

[kpounds]

Here's some online vendors with good prices. Sometimes you can type 'autopia' into the coupons or discount code box at checkout and get an extra 10% off.

http://www.eshine.ca/

http://danase.com/

http://exceldetail.com/

http://www.topoftheline.com/