The first of my promised stupid questions

[Mayberryman]

Since I found this site I have been reading many threads and I am amazed at the wealth of talent and information that is here (did I polish that apple enough?) , seriously I do have a couple of questions.

I have spent the weekend washing and hand polishing and waxing our three cars and to be honest, I have found places that hurt that were never meant to hurt. I do love the wet look that these cars now have and I am very interested in keeping them that way, now for my question.

I have never owned a power buffer and have been semi afraid to because of the fear of either burning paint or going through the clear coat, however, everything I have read seems to make me believe that even a dummy like me could learn to use one. Since my birthday is coming up and the wife really appreciates her newly waxed car I think that I could talk her into spending a little money for my new interest. OK, guys and girls, what do you think of a porter cable for a new guy and what products would I need for keeping up my three cars. Two of them are practically new and the 2002 will most likely be repainted next spring after I get all of the bugs out of my new toy.

On a side note, on the 2002 I do have a problem with the headlights being a bit dull and slightly pitted. I bought the meguiar`s Basic Kit and it helped some, however, there is still some fog and pits in the lense. Again, any help would be welcomed.

[Paul Sparks]

First-Welcome to the forum. You will find plenty of members here with a passion for detailing and wealth of knowledge to share. Second- Choosing the brand of DA and products to use with it is like selecting a car for your personal use. Machines come in all prices as does the products used with detailing. The Porter Cable is a good machine as is the Flex and the Meguiars and the Griots units.In my arsenal are the Griots (favorite),the Megs (2nd favorite) and a really old first gen Porter Cable (Mr.dependable) Any of these will do the job. You may become addicted to this and have all three as many of us do. Members will have their favorites as same as the do for what product are the best. No matter which machine you select you will need a few basic products to start out with. A backing plate and matching pads will be first along with cutting and polishing compounds. You will need to decide on which size b/p and pads fit your needs best and which machine you select will somewhat dictate that selection. As you probable have read on the forums , foam pads aren`t the only game in town any more with the introduction of Meguiars micro-fiber system. This is another direction to consider when choosing pads and a b/p. I have drifted over to this system more and more lately and I`m very happy with it.
I hope I haven`t confused or discouraged you and advise you to keep soaking up info that this forum and its members provide.

[Nth Degree]

I agree with Paul. So many options and it can be a very personal decision. Since you are new to any machine you will likely be happy with whatever you choose. Kinda like a 16 year old who get`s their first beater. There are always nicer cars out there, but he`s happy to have the car. I usually don`t recommend going cheap, but in this case even the cheapest of the options mentioned would work great for you.

Meg`s MF system is a great way to start out as it does a great job and will reduce the confusion of what to use with what.

[hook]

Ditto on what has been said about the machine being personal - and also agree with the "easy" choices being the PC, the Flex, the Meguiar`s, or the Griot.

I had it easy several years ago when I was in your position - the PC was pretty much the gold standard.

The one bit of advice I have is, once you`ve decided on the machine, buy it in one of the multiple kits available that offer pads and possibly products to use with it (depending on what you already have). Since I already had a variety of polish and compounds, I chose a kit with a variety of pads. That lets you use it immediately with a variety of pads and then when you begin to buy them you have an idea of what you like and use most often.

And welcome - there is a wealth of shiny information here!

Andrew

[JaredPointer]

If *I* were looking into getting my first machine, I`d look hard at the Griot`s machine. I believe it has a lifetime warranty. It would be a good machine to learn on, there`s a lot less risk of messing something up (as compared to even a Flex RO) and it`s an effective way of removing marring.

Regarding products - my advice would be to keep it simple and not fall into the trap of buying everything you happen to come across. I know that`s hard to do, but I`ve wasted a lot of money on things I either gave away or trashed. Don`t get in the mindset that it has to be bought on the internet to be quality. Wal-Mart has enough quality stuff on the shelf (exception being pads & polishers) to do a full-out detail. The Meg`s Ultimate line is pretty good stuff for OTC, as is some of the Mother`s stuff.

Best advice would be to keep reading here and other places and hone down your technique. There`s no product that can make up for poor execution, and the information on here is absolutely free. The knowledge you gain on here will be the best return on investment, so read up.

Good luck and don`t get burnt out too soon.

[Todd@RUPES]

I have never owned a power buffer and have been semi afraid to because of the fear of either burning paint or going through the clear coat, however, everything I have read seems to make me believe that even a dummy like me could learn to use one.

For your first machine I would recommend sticking with an Dual-Action Orbital Polisher. There are two basic design types:

Random Orbital DA`s (Dual-Action)- These included the Porter Cable 7424XP, Griot`s Garage DA, and the Meguiar`s G110v2. The advantage to this type of machine is that while the orbital action is driven, the rotational action is not. This really reduces the chance burning the paint (in terms of overheating it) as well as damaging the paint from running the buffer against edges and adjacent areas.

Because the DA only drives one of the motions, the DA does require some experience to get the highest quality results (you will be able to alter the polishing pattern) by alternating polishing pad sizes, orbital speeds, pressure, etc. Random Orbital DA`s are quite capable machines where the ultimate results are dictated by the how much the user is willing to invest in learning the tool .

Forced Rotation DA`s- The FLex is a forced rotation DA. The motor not only drives the orbital action but also the rotational action. This puts more of the machines power into the pad. This driven action does increase the risk for burning the paint slightly and does increase the rate at which the machine will remove defects.

In terms of Dual-Action Polishers, Forced Rotation DA`s give beginning users near ideal results right off the pad because the polishing pattern is fixed. No matter what speed, pad size, or pressure, the machine will always drive the machine in the same fixed manner. The only inputs the user has is the pressure and speed. However the pattern cannot be tweaked. The cost is higher.

[Paul Sparks]

If you have your eye on any specific product and wonder if its what you need , some members are known to send out a sample if you just reach out and lets us know. There are also various vendors offering samples. Trades are also a great option Todd has implemented on the forum . Sucks to purchase a gallon and be dissapointed.

[Rocket]

My first unit was a PC 7424. I still have it and use it often. I wish it had mote power but it was good for me to learn with. If I had it to do all over again I would the Griots DA. I have heard great things about it and the warranty that Griots offers is more than worth it.

[Blindman]

Welcome to the group. It might be dificult to grasp but yes, I can barely see. I purchased the Meguiars G110v2 complete kit & it`s very easy to use & with all the pads well you will be set, I had to purchase a "orange" pad because I needed more bite. A decade ago I was a refinish instructor for PPG Paints. My wife also has used the G110 to get well the spots I missed. There`s lots of good info here & you will see that this crew loves to do it right.

[BobbyG]

To Autopia Forums!

The dual action polisher I would recommend hands down is the Porter Cable 7424xp. Porter Cable has been in the power tool business for a long time and the 7424xp outsells all the others combined so that must stand for something. I have a Porter Cable 7424 and even though it 10+ years old it still works like new.

None of the other companies selling polishers design or manufacture them

For the Porter Cable 7424xp style polisher opt for the backing plate and foam pads below. Using the smaller pads allow the machine to work easier and more efficiently, it`s also allot easier on you!

Plate -http://www.autopia-carcare.com/da-5in-backing-plate.html
Pads - http://www.autopia-carcare.com/flat-foam-buffing-pads.html

Basic order of steps

Wash
Clay
Compound & Polish
Seal
Wax

Kits

I`ve never been a fan of kits as they always contain something that you never use or don`t want.

The number of products can at times be overwhelming so try the following exercise.

Jot down the basic steps and select one product that satisfies each step. When you look at your list it will be quite small in comparions to what`s available..

Here`s an example of what I mean....You can use this or substitute ones that you might want to try. I just tried Prima Hydro Seal yesterday and it works very well!

Wash - Duragloss 901
Clay - Meguiar`s or Mothers
Compound - Menzerna Super Intensive PO83Q
Polish - Menzerna Super Finish Po106FA
Sealant - Menzerna Power Lock
Wax - Collinite 845

Remember; the only stupid question is the one that`s not asked....

[TLMitchell]

Meg`s MF system is a great way to start out as it does a great job and will reduce the confusion of what to use with what.

That`s been my recommendation to friends just starting out... professional results with a shallow learning curve and minimum materials to buy.

Griot`s, Meg`s or PCxP DA... they`re interchangeable for the unitiated, IMO. Personally, I went with the Griot`s for the Lifetime warranty, although I also have a v1 PC as well as other polishers.



TL

[XLNTShine]

Mayberryman,

I have a GG DA you are more then welcome to come by and try out. We can tape off two test spots, I`ll do one and then let you do the other and get a feel for it. Its not hard to learn how to use at all.

Technique is another thing all together... I am still learning diffrent products and how they react with diffrent paints, weather, ect.

EDIT: By the way I am in Midlothian.

William