New guy wanting to learn

[mcr1911]

Hello,

I've been a lurker on this forum for awhile and finally decided to join. I am new to detailing, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. I have always taken care of my vehicles, but never did more than clay bar and apply wax by hand. Last December I got a new (to me) truck and decided I wanted to ramp up my truck care since I plan on keeping this one for awhile. I've slowly been collecting more products and chemicals for my collection and increasing frequency of my maintenance washes. I recently picked up an older Porter Cable DA and plan on trying my hand at polishing for the first time in the near future.

 

[sserdlihc]

Welcome to the Forum!
I too started out with a Portal Cable DA orbital. Great tools to learn and progress with. Now, get a Lake Country velcro backing plate so you can try different pads for different needs.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hello,

I've been a lurker on this forum for awhile and finally decided to join. I am new to detailing, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. I have always taken care of my vehicles, but never did more than clay bar and apply wax by hand. Last December I got a new (to me) truck and decided I wanted to ramp up my truck care since I plan on keeping this one for awhile. I've slowly been collecting more products and chemicals for my collection and increasing frequency of my maintenance washes. I recently picked up an older Porter Cable DA and plan on trying my hand at polishing for the first time in the near future.

You posted right when I'm leaving the office for the day but real quick....

Get the THIN 5.5" foam pads for this tool and it will serve you well.


5.5" SUPER THIN FOAM PAD OPTIONS for your Dual Action Polisher



Super thin 5.5" foam buffing pads

Read through this article and watch the video in post #2

Here's what you need to get into machine polishing - Recommendations for a beginner by Mike Phillips



Make life easy on yourself and get a quart of BF One Step, at least for starting out. You can move onto coatings down the road.



Review: BLACKFIRE One-Step Cleaner/Wax by Mike Phillips

Most important...

How, why & when to inspect your microfiber towels when detailing cars



Welcome to AutogeekOnline!


:welcome:

 

[mcr1911]

Welcome to the Forum!
I too started out with a Portal Cable DA orbital. Great tools to learn and progress with. Now, get a Lake Country velcro backing plate so you can try different pads for different needs.

Thank you. I have been watching a ton of videos and reading a bit about the different pads. There are so many. I have already purchased a 5" velcro backing plate. :xyxthumbs:

You posted right when I'm leaving the office for the day but real quick....

Get the THIN 5.5" foam pads for this tool and it will serve you well.



Make life easy on yourself and get a quart of BF One Step, at least for starting out. You can move onto coatings down the road.

Thank you for the suggestions! I actually have your post about maximizing the first gen Porter Cable DAs bookmarked. Thin pads seem like the way to go. I will pick up the BF one step. I wasn't sure what to use for polish but that seems easy enough. I have a fairly full bottle of Meguiars M21 that I can finish with. I bought it applied it to my last truck and my girlfriend's car a couple months before I sold the truck. I really want to try Powerlock but figured I could use all of this up first.

 

[Markymapo1]

Welcome! Do you have time to take one of Mike’s detailing classes? I highly recommend it if you can swing it. Best hands on class you can take. I took one a year ago and it was the best money I have spent in a long time, well worth every penny. It will save y time n money in the long run.

Welcome !

 

[MarkD51]

Welcome to the Forum.
Sticking around, and reading and absorbing information will go far. There's many good vids by Mike Phillips and others here and on the web.

Maybe some long years back, many might say that a 1-step product would not be optimal and be a compromise of doing any one job really well, but it appears with modern chemistry advances, such products such as Mike here points to like from Blackfire have become game changers.

With time comes experience. None of us can or have become detailing masters overnight. Logical thinking, and as Mike would often say. work forward, not backwards saves not only time, it also helps attain the best end results.

Decontamination prior to any polishing or finishing step process is important. As a gross example, one would not apply a wax-sealant on top of a filthy vehicle. There's right products and processes for all facets of decontamination, Clay products, Iron removers, Shampoos, paint prep of various types.

Many good last step products out there. And some don't have to cost an arm and a leg. Such an example of a good product line not costing big dollars is Duragloss. I'm a fan of many of their products, Aquawax is liked by many, and so are their paint sealants like 501, 105, and 111.
There's many more products in their line up, all work very good.

Same with any of the Autogeek house brands, all superb.

 

[Paul A.]

Welcome, mcr1911!

 

[SWETM]

Welcome to the forum!

/ Tony

 

[mcr1911]

Thank you for all of the tips. This forum has already been a great resource for me to read and learn. Looking forward to contributing some helpful information once I have any knowledge to offer.