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Forum Guru
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/8/2008 10:30:34 PM
Posts: 55,
Visits: 207
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| My wife got me a Porter-Cable polisher for birthday - the Coastal Tool offering with a foam pad and an additional plate with velcro. Now, it looks like I need to get stuff for it. I looked at autogeek.com but confused myself even more - cutting pads, polishing pads, bonnets? Could anyone give me a short list of what would be a good basic assortment of items I would need to clean and polish the cars. Will continue to clay by hand for now. Thanks! Bob
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/14/2008 9:34:15 PM
Posts: 150,
Visits: 189
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| NO cutting pads if your paint is good. If your paint is good, there is generally no need to polish, just wash, clay and wax. Buy a dark red Meguiars cutting pad (only to be used to hold micro fiber bonnets) to remove wax with. If you must polish, use a soft, closed cell pad (yellow if Meguiars). Keep the pads dedicated to whatever product your using if your polishing, don't wash them out, just let them dry in an unsealed ziploc. The Meguiars line is very good/safe if you don't already have a favorite. It can all be purchased at Wash Solutions off Walnut Hill and 35. If you're newbie to polishing, go to the Meguiars forum and start reading the techinal papers there. It is ALL there. Most people don't polish with enough force or DA speed. Polishing w/ a DA, although very safe, can still remove enough paint on high spots and ridges to make you cry all the way to the body shop. Trent
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 5:38:05 PM
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| I have only used mine to apply polish and wax. I waited well over a year before using it for the first time but now that I've tried it I love it. Here are the benefits I have experienced just using it to apply wax: 1) It works the wax into the paint better
2) It is much faster than applying by hand
3) I use less wax
4) The thinner, more uniform, layer of wax it lays down is easier to buff off. I bought a bunch of the factory pads on clearance for $5 each about a year ago. Despite the different makes of pads these factory pads have worked well for me and simple polish and wax application. I have not used it for scratch or spot removal. So I'm no help there. Here are some detailing websites. Most of them have good how to info. http://www.detailersparadise.com http://www.properautocare.com/ http://carcareonline.com/ http://www.meguiars.com Meguiars has a good forum. You might check out Mothers too.
Jeron
BMW / PCA / Apex HPDE Instructor
97 M3/4 Byzanz/Magma; 2001 330i Silver/Gray; 97 R1100RT; 91 F-150 5.8l
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 5:38:05 PM
Posts: 841,
Visits: 2,240
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| When I said "polish" above the product I was speak of is Meguiars #7 Mirror Glaze which is practically unabrasive. I just there is some good on BimmerForums in cluding this: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158378
Jeron
BMW / PCA / Apex HPDE Instructor
97 M3/4 Byzanz/Magma; 2001 330i Silver/Gray; 97 R1100RT; 91 F-150 5.8l
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Forum Guru
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/8/2008 10:30:34 PM
Posts: 55,
Visits: 207
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| Yeah, I'm only really interested in waxing right now - the rest is too scary at the moment. My paint is still good (except for the nose - scraped pretty good underneath by the previous owner). I'm especially interested in doing the wife's car - it needs a real good waxing - and there's the issue of some vague allusions to all one could do with a Porter-Cable ... Thanks for the good links too!
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