Please Advise

[yodash89]

Hello all



This if my first post and i greatly appreciate your help. I recently discovered this forum about a week or two ago and was amazed at the wealth of knowledge here. so anyways on to the meat of the situation.



I recently purchased a porter cable and have some questions about it and what products that are available to me are the best ones to use for the situation.



First off, the polishing pad that came with the polisher, should i trash it or is it ok for what i want to do. i will only use the PC for paint correction(scratches, swirls, slight haze) is the pad to harsh/not harsh enough for the proper correction of paint? The paints (summer detailing jobs) that i have worked on so far have had minimal swirl and scratch marks, but no doubt that they are there and need corrected. The wors as you would imagin was a black truck that i did about 2 weeks ago and it needed it bad.



product is next on my list. now the paints havent been 2 bad so far but i never know what im going to run into with my next job. So the stuff i can get my hands on goes as follows and i would like your opinion on which product is the best out of the ones i list, it will be applied by PC.



-Safe cut swirl and haze remover



-Mothers california gold scratch remover and or california gold sealer and glaze



-3M rubbing compound or turtle wax rubbing compound



I am just looking for the best stuff i can buy localy and still turn out good results. I am not looking for show car paint just sompthing that will help the appearance along as much as it posibly can.



Sorry in advance if sompthing like this has been asked before, i did do a search but found nothing for the products, so sorry in advance if this has already been answeared. i also appolagize for the length.



I appreciate you help and look forward to hearing from you,

Yodash89

[Vw Gti]

Welcome to Autopoia.



First of all, dont throw away the pad that came with the PC, just put it away and dont use it. The reason that people dont use that pad is cause each stage of paint correction requires a harsher or lighter pad.



DO NOT use Turtlw Wax rubbing compound that comes in a can, you will be better off using spit. I cannot really suggerst a OTC polish cause i have not yet used/found a good one.

[DaGonz]

You should get the velcro backing pad and variuos polishing pads for different applications ( cutting, polishing, finishing, etc.)



For polishes and compounds... try the Sonus line or Meguiar`s professional line(the beige bottles)

[yodash89]

Thanks for the replies. Where is the best/most affordable place to order pads from. Is it posible to get them at like an autozone or a home imporvement store, cause i really have no idea where to look.



Thanks again,

Yodash89

[matt colvin]

You would be best off to look at some of the reviews for products that can be found on this website. This will provide immense aid in your product selection. Online dealers are your best bet for purchasing products that will allow you to achieve the results you desire.



I`ll also second the recommendation of the Meguiars Professional line, but there are also many other great choices out there. Do your research before you make any investments!

[yodash89]

I was thinking about going with the Poorboy`s line of products, however I have heard that they dust a bit. Could you all be so kind as to give me a quick comparison on the Poorboy`s line compared to the Meg`s line(#83, 80, or whatever is the best combo), and posably the Optimun line.



Thanks for all your help,

Yodash89

[LucasZCPM3]

I was thinking about going with the Poorboy`s line of products, however I have heard that they dust a bit. Could you all be so kind as to give me a quick comparison on the Poorboy`s line compared to the Meg`s line(#83, 80, or whatever is the best combo), and posably the Optimun line.



Thanks for all your help,

Yodash89

There you go..

http://danosdetailing.com/products/

[jdlierle]

Optimum Polish and Meg. Speed Glaze are user friendly. Megs DACP 83 is a pain until you get a hang of it and it still can be a PITA.





I found getting a full range of pads really helps your results too if you can afford it. I had good luck using Excels Pads and they are reasonably priced. Plus Patrick at Excel is about a nice a guy as there is and he will not over sell you. Plus he normally sells his pads at a discount if you buy the full set.



But if you are on a budget, and you happen to buy Excel`s pads, I would highly recommend their Orange pad for taking defects out, (skip the yellow), use the green for light defects, and use the blue for final polishing. Those 3 pads will get it done. (But for the money, buy all 5, and even get an extra orange one for when you try different products to get the hard defects out).



And his 4" kit is also cool and affordable and he sells it with a backing plate, but it is not necessary when you are getting started. But it is nice to have.



Personally I don`t like Poorboy`s SSR 2.5, it gets the swirls out !! But I have seen it pit my own paint, seen it pit another detailers paint, and also seen it pit somebody`s else`s paint on here, someone posted about it. But people really love the stuff on here. Personally, I would be hesitant to try it again. But maybe I got a bad batch or I did something wrong (along with 2 other peoples) who knows). As you read autopia, you will find everyone will have different opinions about everything.



No matter what products you buy, pretty much everything mentioned here is good or great products, so good luck with your product selection. There will be trial and error. And the PC is great, but not a miracle worker. Read as much as you can, the more you can absorb about the technique the better you will be no matter what products you use. If you get a chance, invest in a video by Mike Phillips, I think it costs less than $30.



Optimum Polish seems to be universally liked for it`s results, ease of use, and the ability to work it long.



Also I need to mention, different pads sometimes work better with slightly different backing plates too. Whatever Mfg you go with, ask them what is the best Size to go with their pad. My Propel 2 pads work better with a larger backing plate than my Meguiar Pads, go figure.



Goodluck