Need help! First timer placing order

[Venom93corba]

One of the questions I still have is about the pads. When your putting on a single application do you use one pad for the whole car? Also I've decided on getting 3 each of every type of different pad I get.

What about the DA? Is he Flex that much better then the 7424XP? There's quite a bit of price increase.

 

[af90]

One of the questions I still have is about the pads. When your putting on a single application do you use one pad for the whole car? Also I've decided on getting 3 each of every type of different pad I get.

What about the DA? Is he Flex that much better then the 7424XP? There's quite a bit of price increase.

A single application of what? If it's a glaze or wax and you're applying it by machine then yes. If it's compounding or polishing I'd say at least 2 and make sure you're cleaning it on the fly every other panel or so and running it through a brush after every panel.

As for the Flex if you see it as worth it, but for starting out I'd probably recommend the Griot's.

 

[hernandez.art13]

If you do get something besides a PC, I would recommend getting a machine with a clutch feature. (Not exactly sure which one do and don't have it. AG customer service can help you out)

Since your only going to be working on your car's I think maybe you can bring down your "first" spending to $300-$400

It's still priced high because you will be buying a machine. But after that, you'll just be buying products, pads, Microfiber towels, etc... (Accessories)

The griots has lifetime warranty (I believe not 100% sure) that should really taken into consideration.

I have a Porter Cable from Auto Geek. And don't even know if it has a warranty.

Post pictures of your cars

 

[Venom93corba]

Here are the two vehicles I'll be working with. (2010 Esccalade and 2011 Siennia). Does the Flex not have a clutch?

 

[hernandez.art13]

Just get a lifetime warranty kit and a clutch. And you'll be good to go. The car's look in good condition.

 

[rms64]

Oops

 

[Nick E]

Venom,
I was just in your shoes a few weeks ago and hard a darn hard time figuring out how many pads I would need. I ended up pretty much going whole hog in order to make sure I had enough for what I wanted to get done. And I just managed that...

I ordered all 5.5" LC Flat pads:
3x Yellow
2x Orange
3x White
2x Black
2x Blue

My wife's black Accord Coupe had pretty darn bad swirls/scratches all over. I went through 3 yellow pads on the car for compounding. I cleaned after each panel with a terry cotton towel using Mike's clean on the fly method. (Not sure this worked well or not though? Might have been using too much product - had a hard time figuring that out.)

Even so the pads started to gum up and became harder to use. Would have been nice if I had more pads and could have just switched out and used as many as 4-5 pads for that car.

If I was in your shoes with that HUGE of a truck I would be thinking 4 pads would be awesome, maybe even up to 6 if its in really rough shape.

If the truck only needs lighter correction on on orange pad for instance, then maybe you would only need 2-4 pads.

General advice around here is to get plenty of white pads because after correcting your vehicles, a nice white polishing pad is *probably* what you would use most often for light correction a couple times a year, if needed.

You would only need one soft (finishing/buffing/waxing) pad per LSP. This does help put on a nice thin even coat. Used this with WGDGPS on my wife's car and that was awesome.

 

[Venom93corba]

Well after putting an order together it looks like I might be going with:

Porter Cable 7424XP

Black Fire Black Ice Whiplash kit

Car Pro Iron X

Finish Kare 425

LC 5.5 flat pads- 4 orange, 4 white, 4 gray

12 Super Plush Deluxe MF towels

for a grand total of $610

 

[af90]

Well after putting an order together it looks like I might be going with:

Porter Cable 7424XP

Black Fire Black Ice Whiplash kit

Car Pro Iron X

Finish Kare 425

LC 5.5 flat pads- 4 orange, 4 white, 4 gray

12 Super Plush Deluxe MF towels

for a grand total of $610

Porter Cable on sale

Hopefully saves you a few bucks.

 

[Evan.J]

Have you looked into the Griots Garage 6" DA. For the extra $15 I think that would be the better choice if you were going with a DA. More power Lifetime warranty. If I had the choice now thats what I would get hands down.

 

[af90]

Advance Auto also has $40 off of a $100 purchase.

 

[Nick E]

Well after putting an order together it looks like I might be going with:

Porter Cable 7424XP

Black Fire Black Ice Whiplash kit

Car Pro Iron X

Finish Kare 425

LC 5.5 flat pads- 4 orange, 4 white, 4 gray

12 Super Plush Deluxe MF towels

for a grand total of $610

Looks like a pretty decent list!

Couple additions I would make:
-5" LC backing plate depending on which polisher you get- Can't use a 6" backing plate with 5.5" pads.
-I would second going with the GG polisher, but I haven't used a PC - just based on the recommendations here I went with the Harbor freight unit (similar power to the GG polisher) and it worked beautifully. the PC is and has been a dominant player for years though, so if you stay with that I'm sure you'll be more than pleased! My PC sawzall is a very well made machine!

-I would pick up some cheap-o microfibers in a big pack from Costco (if you're a member - but tons of other places sell them too) for getting into all the little nooks and crannies that usually contain tons of dirt- door jambs, trunk jamb, interior plastics etc.

Best of luck! Look forward to seeing the big beast all shined up!

 

[inDetail]

I started off with $350. The trick is to do your research. You can buy products that have more then one use. Example: I use CG VRP for all my trim including tires. I just cut it with distilled water 50/50 for tires 75% product 25% distilled water for everything else. Yes it's a pain to break out the emulsifier and really mix it but I have one product that does tires, interior and exterior vinyl, wheel wells and rubber. Say good bye to your tire shine. The great thing about the VRP is you can control the level of gloss. The more you buff the less gloss you have. Get concentrated products that can be mixed with distilled water while still being effective saving you money on the back end. Pick up detailing spray that can also be used as a clay lube. There another product off your shelf.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hi Venom93corba,

I just read your follow-up PM and then clicked through your posting history to see if you had a thread asking for help on the "public" forum and you do... this one...

Looks like you're on the right track. If you're going to go with the PC or PC "type" of DA Polisher then also get the 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads as these rotate best on these types of tool.

The BlackFire compound and polish work exceedingly well, just check out these results...

2004 Chevy SSR - Extreme Makeover by Blackfire - Modeled by Tasha

Here's my friend Sharif's black 2004 Chevy SSR right after he arrived and we moved the SSR into Autogeek's Show Car Garage...

Here's how it looked when it arrived...

To say the paint was in good shape or bad shape depends upon your point of view...

If you're hoping for a a lot of swirls and scratches to make buffing out the paint a challenge, then the paint is in excellent condition.

If you're inspecting the paint and trying to categorize the condition of the paint in an accurate manner... then it's a swirled out mess!

We like the challenge so we thought the paint looked horrible but in a great kind of way!


The paint literally looked like it was washed with a scotch brite pad...

Feeling the paint with just our clean hands revealed a surface that felt like 80 grit sandpaper so we clayed using Blackfire Poly Clay and Blackfire Clay Lubricant

Some kind of grunge all over the paint. Not surprising, this is Sharif's daily driver so it's exposed to the environment at least 5 days a week.

Beauty Shots...

Click the first link above to see all the pictures...

Advance Auto

Has anyone ever walked into any retail auto parts store and asked for good solid how-to information that would normally also include links to more resources, before, after and process pictures and even videos on "how-to" use the products and then received the real-world hands on information they needed?

I looked for their car detailing forum and couldn't find it either?


Just saying there's something to be said about getting good customer service to go along with your purchase. I'm very proud of the help both members and lurkers get on this forum and I also appreciate the business we get from our members and our lurkers.


rops:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Here's another one...

Video & Pictures: 2012 Black Camaro Convertible - Blackfire Show Car Makeover!

Autogeek's Thursday Night Live Broadcast!​

Sneak Peak of what we'll be doing tonight...
[video=youtube_share;3HzanYBeCY4&hd=1"]Behind the scenes - Shooting a Live Broadcast at...[/video]​

Horrible Swirls in a BRAND NEW CAMARO?
[video=youtube_share;VIxfm2hcfdM&hd=1"]Swirls in BRAND NEW BLACK Camaro! - YouTube[/video]​

Full length Live Broadcast Video
[video=youtube_share;dhNZAXzGyR4"]Autogeek's Thursday Night Detail - Blackfire ...[/video]​

Before ShotsI didn't get a lot or very good camera shots to show the before condition but here's a few....


This shot is just to frame up the below shot which I cropped out of this shot. The thing to remember is the entire finish, both horizontal panels and vertical panels were completely trashed with scratches.

This is the passenger side front corner of the hood...

Dull, hazy, filled with swirls and scratches and the clearcoat was no where near clear.

And this is off a BRAND NEW CAR?
If you watched the Live Broadcast, you saw me clay most, not all but most of JUST the hood. Keep in mind this Camaro has only 2000 miles on it since purchased new. Look at all the brown crud that came off the hood using Blackfire Detailing Clay.


Where has this car been since rolling out of the assembly plant?
Anyone want to guess what the brown stuff is?

And here's the beauty shots...

 

[Venom93corba]

Well it looks like I'm pretty close to Sharif's paint job on the SSR. I can't wait to get started on this project. Quick question, what do you recommend for a quick wipe down for just dust? Can I just use the BlackFire detailing spray and some micro fibers? Also I think i'm switching to the FLEX instead of the PC.

Thanks again Mike for the replies I really appreciate it.

 

[Bigbull2984]

Nice order man. Glad you liked the Blackfire Blackice, cant wait to see the escalade!

 

[Bigbull2984]

My teacher asked the class. "If I gave you $100 dollars what would you do with it?"

A bunch of students started saying they would buy a brand new car, house, pay off their loans...

I raised my hand and said, "I would put gas in the car and a quick dinner"

The teacher said "Good answer"

Buy a brand new car and house with $100???? What school do you go to?!?!?!?!

Your answer was logical.

 

[hernandez.art13]

Buy a brand new car and house with $100???? What school do you go to?!?!?!?!

Your answer was logical.

I exaggerated, but that's what I felt like the students responses were lol


I go to Mount San Antonio College. The class I am taking has nothing but fresh out of high school students.

I told the teacher, "I wish this class was a requirement back in High School 8 years ago, because I had to learn everything your teaching the hard way"

The class is: Life Management

 

[Venom93corba]

Wow it has even been a full week and I'm up to $1500. Stupid Memorial Day sale.