HD Speed or D166 and LC ThinPros to start

ski2 said:
I thought 501 was just a cleaner wax with no abrasives?
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There an abrasives in it. All the cruddy dust around the dispenser is usually a telltale sign. That and the level of correction it can deliver. I'm tempted to try it with the Megs mf finishing discs.
 
I FINALLY got me a HF DA!

So, now I'm putting together my shopping cart for pads and I'm getting more confused.

Elliot at AG suggested I use the LC CCS pads with this machine instead of the ThinPros. He didn't really respond with exacting specifics other than the HF DA being a low grade machine and the CCS pads would work well and have a larger range of pads. He suggested starting with the White for less beat up soft paint and using the Pink or Orange for my more heavily oxidized 2005 Subaru.

He did say that the CCS were middle-of-the-road in terms of thickness between the ThinPros and regular pads.

Ugh, I'm just not sure and can't afford to buy a bunch of different types of pads right out of the gate.

I'm looking to do a production level job with a little slower arm speeds this year on the two cars so I can get a feel for working with the machine and AIO. Then, maybe in the fall for winter prep, try my hand at a 3 step (comp, polish and wax (Collinite) or coating like Opt Gloss-Coat).

As for AIO, I'm probably going with the HD Speed since the bang for the buck seems to be undisputed. Blackfire seems great, but is it worth the additional money? No one has been able to answer that for sure yet.
 
steelwindmachine said:
Elliot at AG suggested I use the LC CCS pads with this machine instead of the ThinPros.

He did say that the CCS were middle-of-the-road in terms of thickness between the ThinPros and regular pads.
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Uhhh...pardon the french, but ###???


Lower power machine is the exact reason a thinpro is the best bet. I cannot believe that would be the official recommendation from AG!


CCS Pads are nowhere near 'middle of the road'. They're some of the thickest out there. The flat pads are somewhere between CCS on the thicker side and thinpros being thinner.


My personal advice: The thinpros are perfect for what you're looking to do and for use with that machine.
 
JCDetails said:
Uhhh...pardon the french, but ###???


Lower power machine is the exact reason a thinpro is the best bet. I cannot believe that would be the official recommendation from AG!


CCS Pads are nowhere near 'middle of the road'. They're some of the thickest out there. The flat pads are somewhere between CCS on the thicker side and thinpros being thinner.


My personal advice: The thinpros are perfect for what you're looking to do and for use with that machine.
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I think you are thinking of the 6.5 inch CCS pads which are extremely thick like the buff and shine 6.5 inch flat foam pads. The 5.5 inch ccs pads are actually the exact same thickness as the flat LC pads but the collapsed cell structure make them more ideal than LC flats especially when using runny AIO’s like Mckee’s 360. The CCS pads will help keep the product on the face of the pad instead of soaking into the pores of the foam. White CCS pads would be a great option. They’ll work better than ThinPro’s on convex and concave surfaces and when using an AIO most of us aren’t trying to maximize correction, we are trying to clean, polish, and enhance the finish.
 
Elliot said the divots in the CCS pads help hold and release product, but he couldn't really elaborate more specifcally why the thicker CCS pad was going to be better with the HF DA than the ThinPros. I even told him that I thought the whole idea with the ThinPros was that they work more efficiently by more directly transfering the oscillation.

Like you say JC, I think the ThinPros will probably be good for what I'm doing. I guess some times the masses who use this stuff every day have a bit more weight than a sales rep. Thank you!
 
The CCS is usually better for a beginner to use. They also feature the pink foam which in my experiences cuts much better than the orange.
 
mwoywod said:
I think you are thinking of the 6.5 inch CCS pads which are extremely thick like the buff and shine 6.5 inch flat foam pads. The 5.5 inch ccs pads are actually the exact same thickness as the flat LC pads but the collapsed cell structure make them more ideal than LC flats especially when using runny AIO’s like Mckee’s 360. The CCS pads will help keep the product on the face of the pad instead of soaking into the pores of the foam. White CCS pads would be a great option. They’ll work better than ThinPro’s on convex and concave surfaces and when using an AIO most of us aren’t trying to maximize correction, we are trying to clean, polish, and enhance the finish.
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Fortunately, my 2005 Subaru and 2014 Kia Sorento have relatively large, mostly flat runs of sheet-metal.

I guess a 6-pack of white 5.5" CCS won't kill me.
 
steelwindmachine said:
Why are they better for the beginner?
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Because the thin pads aren't as forgiving. You go off canter with those, and the pad stops moving. I'm actually not a big fan of the super thin pads.

The 7/8" pads do a fine job, and can handle contours better.
 
Maybe it’s not actually as big a deal with an AIO, but when compounding or polishing the thinpros basically transformed my mt300. Night and day difference. I have so many that I actually still use them on my g15, and they work extremely well there too.

I don’t notice increased stall. If anything there’s less sponge/absorption effect and it makes the pad easier to keep spinning unless up on edge, which would stop a ccs pad too.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
It all really comes down to trial and error and personal comfort.

If I'm using the PC7424xp I like using the thin Meguiar's burgundy pads but since the Harbor Freight DA is easily the most powerful 8mm DA polisher I like using a slightly thicker pad simply because I'm getting old and thicker pads are smoother.

I honestly assume that guys using really stiff thin pads on a long-throw polisher are likely far more skilled and comfortable on a long-throw than I am. If you can learn to polish with a super stiff thin pad on a 21mm polisher you could learn to use a rotary and wool pad with your eyes closed.haha

Also, I know some guys like it but the Thin-Pro grey pad provided the overall WORST user experience I've ever had. Anyone that is successfully using one of those pads on a long-throw polisher seriously deserves mad respect. If you consider yourself to be an expert at paint correction and want to have a truly humbling experience, throw that thing on your rupes and try to polish a convex panel.haha
 
Oh I hate the grays. Stopped buying them altogether. If I need more cut than orange I’ll go to MF.

I have been wanting to try the rupes break in on them though, see what that does to them.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
 
JCDetails said:
Oh I hate the grays. Stopped buying them altogether. If I need more cut than orange I’ll go to MF.

I have been wanting to try the rupes break in on them though, see what that does to them.


Sent from my iPhone using AGOnline
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let us know how that goes. I agree that switching to microfiber for heavy correction is way better than using these foams.

Foam pads I'll never buy/never buy again because they're too stiff

-Boss White foam polishing pad
-Lake Country Grey thin-pro pad
-Lake Country Grey Force pad
-Buff and Shine Green Low-pro
-Buff and Shine Orange Low-pro
-Lake Country Blue HDO
 
Just a pseudo-update on this topic...

After more reading, I've been leaning towards doing a 1-step correction using Menz FG400 or Jescar Compound. What drove this decision to back away from the AIO is that the durability is really important to me. However, I don't want to spend the money on a ceramic coating and instead will hand apply Collinite 476 or Finish Kare BWM-101 fur the ultimate bang-for-the-buck durability.

I'm still grappling with pad selection. I'm now of the mind of getting 6 ThinPros: 2 orange + 4 white. I don't specifically need a pad for waxing/sealing.

I just wish AG offered the ThinPros in a 12-pack. The 12-pack pricing on the LC Flat pads is $2 cheaper per pad compared to the ThinPros 6-pack =\

I've got samples of the Jescar Compound/Micro-Polish, FG400, HD Speed, several Duragloss products, the Collinite 476 and FK wax. I have lots of versatility. I'm just trying to keep my initial pad spend sensible.
 
you need far more than 6 total pads to do what you're talking about doing.

Example: I just one-stepped a 1987 560sl (relatively small car) and needed 7 5.5" pads and 4 4" rupes pads to get it done.

One thing I'll caution you about is when one-stepping with Jescar Compound and an orange pad you're going to leave behind a good amount of haze to be dealt with.


Far as I last knew AG did sell a thinpro 12pk. Unless that's now been removed.
 
Joe,

I'm hoping the less aggressive nature of the white pads + the finishing capabilities of either the FG400 or Jescar compound or polish, will get me a no-haze, wax-ready finish.

I'd use the orange pad for knocking out some deeper imperfections and then follow up with the white.

I'll probably wind up buying two ThinPro 6-packs.
 
It's also very paint dependent, but the 560SL i did was old, soft, single stage black. So you're going to have to be on top of residue control for softer paints.

Jescar micro polish *should* cut more than Speed. I would try both the micro polish on an orange, and the compound on the white and see what the paint tells you. Be sure to use a sufficient light source to inspect.
 
I saw another member's thread who did a 1-step correction using LC White flats and FG400 on a 2013 Kia Optima in black. The results were pretty stunning. My Kia is a 2014 in dark metallic gray.

The other subject is a 2005 Forester in silver. There again, I found another user who hit a 2009 WRX in silver with the FG400 to remove an unfriendly keyed message from it's hood. It took it out to the point of being undiscernable and finishing out beautifully.

It was encouraging.

I'll start with the least aggressive combo and go from there.
 
steelwindmachine said:
Just a pseudo-update on this topic...

After more reading, I've been leaning towards doing a 1-step correction using Menz FG400 or Jescar Compound. What drove this decision to back away from the AIO is that the durability is really important to me. However, I don't want to spend the money on a ceramic coating and instead will hand apply Collinite 476 or Finish Kare BWM-101 fur the ultimate bang-for-the-buck durability.

I'm still grappling with pad selection. I'm now of the mind of getting 6 ThinPros: 2 orange + 4 white. I don't specifically need a pad for waxing/sealing.

I just wish AG offered the ThinPros in a 12-pack. The 12-pack pricing on the LC Flat pads is $2 cheaper per pad compared to the ThinPros 6-pack =\

I've got samples of the Jescar Compound/Micro-Polish, FG400, HD Speed, several Duragloss products, the Collinite 476 and FK wax. I have lots of versatility. I'm just trying to keep my initial pad spend sensible.
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You may find you don't even need 400. I've used 400 with orange pads for some scratches that i couldn't otherwise get out, but for a fairly well taken care of ride, white pads with 4000 (now called 3500) did all I needed it to do. Finish it up with a sealant of your choice (I've stayed with menz and used powerlock) and you're good to go. Now this is obviously a 2 step and not a single step. But with good care you may only need to clean, clay and seal going forward, or a regimen of AIO.
 
Belo,

My wife's 2005 Forester, in light silver, has only had 2-3 clay bar and hand applied Meg's Cleaner/Wax sessions in its life other than the by-hand polishing I did last year. It has some water spot etching, plenty of swirls and a few RIDS.

My 2014 Kia Sorento in titanium silver (gray) was a leased vehicle from Long Island, NY prior to my buying it last year. It has some RIDS, minor swirls, but surely has never had a proper paint correction.

Last year I did a full decon, clay and applied Poli-Seal by hand.

At this point, I just need to buy the pads and try a bunch of stuff to see how the paint responds. I intend to do maintenance cleanings once or twice a year after this initial round of correction work.
 
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