Starting out - Help!

[teecster]

I`m sure you`ve all seen these, the wanna be detailers who go out and spend alot of money only to let the stuff sit in their garage, well maybe? Well I`m nothing like that, I`m a car guy. At the age of 18 I`ve already had 2 cars and want to have them perfect every moment. My roomate has a 2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe, amazing car - worst part about it : BLACK! Swirl marks, marring, dings, scratches, are just absolutly rediculous.



I`ve decided to take my auto enthusiasm to the next level, into detailing where I can make some money. My only issue is, I`m on a tough tight tight budget. I need to get myself a buffer, the only issue is I`m seeing alot of money being spent...



Wheres the best price for a PC 7424 w/ the basics (pads, backing plate, ect)? What should I get for pads for a novice detailer? Also, what`s the best compounds to get to remove swirls, marring, minor scratches?

[Accumulator]

teecster-Welcome to Autopia!



I dunno how much help I can be, but I felt bad that you`re not getting any responses after ~20 views.



I have no idea where you`ll get the best price on a PC. I suspect you`d do best buying a used on, but then you run the risk of buying somebody else`s problems if it has issues.



For now, I`d actually suggest that you work by hand! OK, OK, I bet that idea doesn`t sound too appealing, but seriously, you could do worse than polish the cars by hand using 1Z Paint Polish or 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax.



With a PC, I`d still go with 1Z polishes. They`re about as user-friendly as such stuff gets.



Note that with the large pads usually sold for the PC, it can be *VERY* hard to do much correction. I can only do correction via PC *in a timely manner* if I use 4" pads, which behave much more aggressively.



Suggested pads/etc. for the PC:



Short answer, bare-bones setup: PC, 3.5" backing plate, 4" orange pads, 4" green pads, 1Z Pasta Intensiv, 1Z Paint Polish or 1Z High Gloss.



For serious marring on hard clear, you really need a 2.75" backing plate and 3.5" LC brand Purple Foamed Wool pads. For somewhat less serious correction you can use a ~3.5" backing plate and orange or yellow foam cutting pads. With these pads I like 1Z Pasta Intensiv.



For less serious marring and/or softer paint, you can use the Pasta Intensiv with a milder 4" pad, like the Cyclo brand green.



For lighter work and/or finish polishing you could use the 4" Cyclo green pad with either the 1Z Paint Polish or 1Z High Gloss.



For even more gentle polishing, you could use a 4" blue or white Cyclo or Sonus brand pad or a larger 5.5"-6.5" polishing pad (lots of sources- Meguiar`s, LC, Edge, and others). Again, I`d usually choose between the High Gloss and the Paint Polish.



Finish polishing can often be done with finishing pads and something very mild like 1Z Metallic Polish with Wax. On harder paints I often use polishing pads (as per above) instead of finishing pads.



I`d apply any wax/sealant/glaze/etc. by hand, at least for now. Doing it by hand costs virtually nothing and usually uses less product.



While I`m a big fan of 1Z stuff, any other suggestions about other product lines will probably work fine too. Lots of good stuff on the market and I don`t have a monopoly on good advice ;)



Sources for 1Z and other good stuff: Home (http://www.exceldetail.com/) or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing, Auto Detailing Supplies, Auto Detailing Equipment, Auto Detailing Products, & Auto Detailing Accessories for all your Automobile Detailing (http://www.pakshak.com/index.html)

[bad425rt]

Coastal Tools was the cheapest place online that I could find for the PC 7424 (it was $99 when I bought mine, went up $10):



Porter Cable 7424 Car Buffer, 7424 Polisher (http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/a/port/7424_car_buffer.htm?L+coastest+lmpg7092ff5be25b+12 20922653)



I just ordered my 3.5" backing plate and 4" pads from autogeek:



Spot Buffing 4 inch pads - 30% thicker than the Low Profile Spot Buffs! (http://www.autogeek.net/4inch-spot-buffs.html)



I`ll be using Meg`s products, but eventually will try some other stuff (already had their Consumer products and just swapped a guy on MOL for some of their Pro line stuff).



Good luck! :up

[teecster]

Definatly appreciate the responses, thanks for the AWESOME price on the PC - love the price haha. I`m going to order Friday.

[Hakko]

Detailer`s Domain is doing this kit (https://www.detailersdomain.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=382) for $250. Even buying the PC at Coastal Tools, you`d still pay more for all the accessories and chemicals. While it comes w/5.5" pads, you could get a 3.5" backing plate and a couple of 4" cutting pads and still be ahead. I`m guessing if you contacted Phil directly he might be able to swap out 4" pads for the 5.5" at that price, but I don`t know for sure.



I have no connection with Detailer`s Domain, I just saw this on the Bimmerfest forum. If I can get Phil to swap out the pads, I`ll probably get this package.

[efnfast]

Also have a black g35 coupe - looked like **** before I bought my cyclo (I tried my best to hand polish it, but it never really did anything, just was a waste of time).



Anyways, got rid of all (5yrs worth) my marks/swirls/scratches/etc...... with a cyclo and



orange (pads) / (Meguiars) 83

green/83



For really deep stuff I`ve found that Menzerna`s SIP and an orange pad are enough to remove them in most cases.



Right now I`ve found good success with



orange (or green depending on condition) / SIP

white / Optimum poli-seal

wax



No before pics unfortunately, but shinee shineeee afters =)



(lots of dusting!!!)

http://xs229.xs.to/xs229/08290/cy2747.jpg



http://xs229.xs.to/xs229/08290/cy1648.jpg



http://xs229.xs.to/xs229/08290/cy5674.jpg

[BigAl3]

here are some PC/UDM kits...



Random Orbital Polishing Machine (UDM) (http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/store.pl?ref=exceldetail&ct=65683)



Porter Cable Polisher Kits (http://autogeek.net/pocapobuki.html)

[teecster]

See, that`s what I want my roomates and his mothers G37 to look like, that`s how a car should look like.



Now what`s the difference between a cyclo and say a PC or Flex?

[MusicMan]

see teecster im in the same bag as you, young, broke but like cars to look right and wouldnt mind makin a lil money out of it. I`m glad YOU finally got some people to reply lol..i had made similar inquaries before and hadnt gotten any feedback really, so you can bet im taking this all in. and you`re right, that infinity IS what a car should look like (maybe a lil somethin on the tires to shine em up would be a nice touch thou lol):)

[efnfast]

See, that`s what I want my roomates and his mothers G37 to look like, that`s how a car should look like.



Now what`s the difference between a cyclo and say a PC or Flex?



cyclo has 2 heads and only 1 speed. It`s really idiot proof - the only time I`ve had hazing while usingit was when I used the wrong pad/product combo (e.g., green/80 - for some reason this just hazed up like crazy andI could not remove it, no matter how hard I tried, white/80 was okay though!).



It`s so simple that I`ve never run into any problems with marring/hazing (again, see above comment)/buffer trails, so I don`t even pull the car into the sun to examine it until it`s done.



basically test panel (trunk) to make certain the pad/product combo will work, then I do the car.

[teecster]

They seem a bit more expensive then say a PorterCable and such items. Is it reallly that much better?

[joec42]

Coastal Tool is in West Hartford, CT so you could just stop by the store and pick it up if you aren`t too far away. I picked mine up from there on my way up to Mass. Friendly folks, they`ll match the online prices (for most things) and the place is like a toy store for tool geeks!

[Accumulator]

..[The Cyclos] seem a bit more expensive then say a PorterCable and such items. Is it reallly that much better?



There are some good threads where we discussed/compared the two to death.



Some of us (myself included) just *love* the Cyclo, but with the advent of 3.5" PFW and 4" wool and foam pads the PC can pretty much do anything that the Cyclo can. And the PCs variable speed *does* sometimes come in very handy.



The Cyclo is a very different machine and some of us find it infinitely more user-friendly than the PC. It was designed as a polisher whereas the PC was designed as a finish sander. The Cyclo is a much more heavy-duty piece of equipment and my older one from the mid-`80s is still in great shape (one of my much newer PCs already needed rebuilt).

[teecster]

Interesting. joec42 spoke about a Coastal Tool - what type if things do they have there? Do they have every type of detailing supply? Is there something like that in Connecticut?

[joec42]

Coastal Tool *IS* in Connecticut (West Hartford). Not too much in the way of detailing supplies. You can look at their online site coastaltool.com to see what they carry. They have a pretty decent price on the Makita rotary ($169 w/ bag and 7in accessories). When I went there a couple of months ago the PC was $99, but it looks like it`s gone up to $109.



They had some LC pads, but in the bigger sizes (I was looking for 4in for the PC). They said the in-store price was the same as the online for "most" things. I think they said something about the heavier items might be a different price.



Worth a visit if you like checking out general shop tools, but not the place if you`re looking for detailing supplies other than the polisher itself.



It`s also easy-on/easy-off from I84.



BTW, I`m just a satisfied customer, I have no financial interest in this company!