Newbie to Detailing

[phillywalz]

Hi I just purchased the Porter Cable DA, and waiting on delivery on wed if its not a blizzard in ny. I've been doing the regular stuff to just my cars, like washing claying hand polishing and waxing. I have a light color car (Jade Green) that has swirl marks in it that I can see but most folks do not notice it unless they look real hard or I mention it. It's not the original paint and has a thick coat of clear on it.
1. Which pads should I use to start with? Will it be ok to use Megs U/C?
2. Which pad should I use for the polishing? I haven't decided on which product to use yet.
3. I will use Megs Gold Class Wax by hand.

I will post pictures at a later time once the weather breaks.
BTW I've always followed Mike even at Megs.....lol he knows the ends and outs. :dblthumb2:

 

[Crazy Amos]

What pads do you have to work with?

UC is some pretty good stuff.

 

[DetailedByPrecision]

most likely green or white but you never know til you do a test spot.

 

[phillywalz]

What pads do you have to work with?

UC is some pretty good stuff.

I have never used a DA before the only machine I've worked with is a rotary buffer.

 

[tuscarora dave]

Welcome to the site.:welcome:

 

[slickooz]

Welcome phillywalz!

I would get a couple orange LC flats and couple white flats. If your going apply wax by hand then you don't need the blue pads. I would also get 5 inch backing plates and 5.5 inch pads.

Meg UC is good and is very user friendly compared to M105 because you can work it a bit longer then M105. If your going to get stuff at local store try picking up SwirlX works real good after UC.

 

[Crazy Amos]

I have never used a DA before the only machine I've worked with is a rotary buffer.

That's cool- I am sure you will love it. Do you only have seven inch pads or higher? Did you get any with the PC when you orders it?

 

[phillywalz]

I ordered some off of ebay before I purchased the PC, they are 7 in

 

[Crazy Amos]

From what I have heard the PC may not be able to work to its fullest potential with the 7's. They say the biggest you want to go is 5.5 but maybe someone with a PC can help clear this up and hopefully correct me.

 

[slickooz]

Yeah its best to go with 5.5 inch pad. I don't have PC I have a Griot and I tried both 6.5 and 5.5 inch pads, and I can def tell the difference in work time between the both.

 

[phillywalz]

ok I will wait for the responses. I did read that the majority likes the 5.5's

 

[phillywalz]

Is the difference just the work time or is there a difference in what the finished product looks like.

 

[tuscarora dave]

A 7 inch pad will likely not rotate on a PC. Do you own a rotary now? I'd reserve the 7" pads for a rotary and get the 5.5" pads and 5" backing plate for your PC. If you are skilled with a rotary you may want to do your first steps with it and just use the PC for the finishing polish.

 

[builthatch]

the bigger the pad, the slower the edges of the pad will rotate. on a rotary, this is ok, but on a PC, it can affect the working time dramatically.

if you end up venturing into 4" pads, which i recommend due (at the bare minimum) to their ability to fit into tight areas, you'll see they generally correct much faster than 5.5" pads.

 

[tuscarora dave]

If you end up venturing into 4" pads, which i recommend due (at the bare minimum) to their ability to fit into tight areas, you'll see they generally correct much faster than 5.5" pads.

I've corrected entire cars with just 4" pads already and I think it took less time than using larger pads but the larger pads last longer. I only did it to see how it would work or to torture test some new to me 4" pads.

 

[phillywalz]

Cool I just order the 5.5 pad and the backing plate..so I will be all set as soon as the weather breaks I will work on it, but in the mean time I have a friend who has a body shop and he will give me pointers.