Girlfriend bought me a GG6 for Christmas! What to get next?

[cleanmycorolla]

that is good but you ll end up needing more WG TSR 3.0.....you move threw that stuff quick.

and honestly, if you use it with a gray/blue pad it finishes dam good.

A 16oz bottle of tsr if he's doing just one car should last him a very, very long time. You use a few oz at most per car.

Also you could've got Uber Compound and saved some cash cuts and finishes great.

 

[ycdriveclean]

I don't have the GG6 but you should make sure that backing plate fits. If it was me I wouldn't get so much black and blue pads. The polish and compound pads are the ones you go through.

And I swear these backing plates already come with compression washers so I don't think you need more unless you loose them.

I agree, that's a lot of finishing pads. I'd personally narrow it down to 2x or 3x black pads, and swap em out for white ones

 

[cardaddy]

First off, I agree with Bob. That girl is a KEEPER! :dblthumb2:

The comment on white pads is dead on. I own over a 100 pads and have more white ones than any others. They can be used for both compounding and polishing, not matter which size. So yeah.... get half a dozen of them.

I'd say 3 yellow, 4 orange, 6 white, 3 green, 2 blue, 2 black in some mix of CCS and flats. All in 5½" of course. Another reason for the smaller pads (besides being easier to work) is they cost less, and I figure by now you're finding out this hobby gets expensive in a freaking hurry.

Your Caddy has relatively hard paint so at the very minimum you'll need orange pads to compound with, at least 4 if not 6 to do the entire car. Good thing is once it's compounded you'll probably not need them again. (At least with a SMAT compound such as Meguiar's 101/105.)

You mentioned the Mequiar's Microfiber Correction Kit, yes? I'd say get it, if not get 2 of them. Mequiar's includes a backing plate with the kit, as well as 2 cutting and 2 finishing pads. Plus you get a bottle of D300 and a bottle of D301. The GREAT thing about the MF pads is you can use them longer (with air to clean them) than you can a foam pad. If you can keep the pad from heating up, (as in swapping them often, and finding a way to cool them between uses, maybe a fridge in the garage) you can do an entire vehicle with 2 pads. Easier with 3 or 4, but it can be done with 2.

I can't say that about foam cutting pads, AT ALL!

Plus now Mequiars has yet another cutting pad and a D302 that actually falls between D300 and D301. (Weird huh? Just that 300 and 301 came out a long time ago and 302 just came out. They should have done them all at once to avoid confusion.)

Either way, the MF kit is a GREAT deal! Doesn't hurt that you get two non clog squeeze bottles in the deal.

If you're thinking about some small pads and a backing plate to match, you might want to look at the Meguiar's spot finishing and headlight kit. Here on AG it's only $125 (list's for $295) and has tons of sanding disc's along with 2 each of the Meg's 4" wool, cutting, polishing, and finishing pads, along with a backing plate and a hand pad holder. Oh, and a small bottle of 105 and 205 too.

 

[petmic10]

Thanks again guys. I'll have to order some more pads.

This stuff has my head spinning. There is so much product to choose from.

I just want to get rid of some minor swirls in the paint.

I have a question, once I remove the swirls and put a good sealant on the paint, how often do I need to do this process? Can I just apply wax with the dual action every 2 to 3 months?

 

[cardaddy]

Thanks again guys. I'll have to order some more pads.

This stuff has my head spinning. There is so much product to choose from.

I just want to get rid of some minor swirls in the paint.

I have a question, once I remove the swirls and put a good sealant on the paint, how often do I need to do this process? Can I just apply wax with the dual action every 2 to 3 months?

Yep, it starts with "just a few swirls". Then you end up with "just a few nice microfibers". Shortly after that your neighbors get together around their pool and talk about what a nut you are. :laughing: I'll take being called a nut any day when I know that I'm both happy AND am maintaining the value of my vehicles (not to mention protecting the paint). rops:

One of the biggest problems being an "Autogeek" is sometimes it's a bit too easy to get all caught up in total swirl removal. In REAL LIFE however, especially on a daily driver, you need to decide what level of swirls you can live with and just work on maintaining that level of correction.

You already know that some colors show swirls MUCH more than others. Like solid black being a nightmare, and of course silver being very easy to live with even with a 80% correction.

With a daily driver, and sensible washing technique, there really is no reason to have to break down a compound and cutting pads once you've done it the first time. Keeping the minor swirls at bay with a light polish or even a cleaner/wax say once it gets warm in the spring, and late summer before winter sets in is all you'll likely ever need. :xyxthumbs:

In between you can just keep it clean, and apply your favorite sealant once every couple of months. (Or try new sealants every couple of months.) The trick is not to let it get so dirty that when you wash

You can even do a light claying or hit it with a well broken in Nanoskin pad on your buffer in between polishing sessions. It's possible to both clay and/or Nanoskin without causing marring that'll need polishing.

That combined with washing, (and careful drying) technique is all you'll likely need.