Newbie First Time Polishing

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dlab85

New member
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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).
 
MCA said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.



Accumulator said:
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).
Click to expand...

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
 
dlab85 said:
What speed and pressure settings should I use for the cutting and polishing steps?
Click to expand...



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.
 
Accumulator said:
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.
Click to expand...



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!
 
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