Newbie First Time Polishing

[dlab85]

Hi, I`ve been lurking this forum for a bit, and I would like some opinions from people that are much more qualified than me. This will be my first time polishing a car, and the options are a bit overwhelming.



Car: 2001 bmw 330 black (fair amount of swirls and some scratches)

Polisher: Porter Cable 7424xp with backing plate.



I would like to save some money and I initially thought about getting megs 105/205 with foam megs pads. Would that work ok? I`ve seen a lot of talk about surbuff pads and megs mf da pads with d300. Would one of those make sense for a rookie?



Also I have some Colinite insulator wax. Would it make most sense to put this on by hand after the polishing steps?



Thanks in advance.

[dlab85]

After some research I think I know what I want to order.

M105 with Optimum 5.25" mf cutting pad

M205 with Lake country 6.5" White ccs smart pad



Does that look ok?

I`ll clay with an otc mothers bar, and finish by applying colinite by hand.

[imported_MCA]

Sounds good but I would check on this alternative as you could save some money as well and still get great performance - Certain Walmart stores carry the Meguiar`s MF DA Correction kit that includes MF cutting/finishing pads, D300/D301 products, and the corresponding DA Backing plate. Since it is a kit, you get decent cost savings over buying each part separately.



Collinite is a great LSP (last step product). Apply very thin or it could be a bear to remove.

[Accumulator]

dlab85- Welcome to Autopia!



That looks good, but I`d stick with the smaller pads for the M205 also. Get plenty of pads, those products are a lot easier with a lot of `em as you need to keep the pads clean (and I don`t mean waiting until after an entire panel either).

[dlab85]

Sounds good but I would check on this alternative as you could save some money as well and still get great performance - Certain Walmart stores carry the Meguiar`s MF DA Correction kit that includes MF cutting/finishing pads, D300/D301 products, and the corresponding DA Backing plate. Since it is a kit, you get decent cost savings over buying each part separately.





Collinite is a great LSP (last step product). Apply very thin or it could be a bear to remove.

Unfortunately Walmarts around my area don`t carry that stuff yet, but thanks for the heads up. Hopefully they will someday. I ended up getting free shipping from autogeek which helped.




dlab85- Welcome to Autopia!



That looks good, but I`d stick with the smaller pads for the M205 also. Get plenty of pads, those products are a lot easier with a lot of `em as you need to keep the pads clean (and I don`t mean waiting until after an entire panel either).

Thanks for the tips! I went with a 5.5inch pad instead of the 6.5.



What speed and pressure settings should I use for the cutting and polishing steps?

Thanks

[Accumulator]

What speed and pressure settings should I use for the cutting and polishing steps?



I do virtually all my correction at the highest speed. Unless that makes the product flash ("dry out") too fast, I`d just do that.



Some people dial it back for the final passes with their milder polishes, but I seldom do that.



I do turn it down when working with 3-4" pads, but that`s about the only time I do it unless I have a good, specific reason to.

[dlab85]

I do virtually all my correction at the highest speed. Unless that makes the product flash ("dry out") too fast, I`d just do that.



Some people dial it back for the final passes with their milder polishes, but I seldom do that.



I do turn it down when working with 3-4" pads, but that`s about the only time I do it unless I have a good, specific reason to.



Thanks! took all your advice except the ordering a lot of pads portion...My mf pad fell apart when I was almost done with the car, lesson learned.



Looks great so far otherwise!