Newb from SoCal...

[GoFastGray]

Hey all,
Found this site and forum a while back and finally joined up.
First off I'm in the market for a DA polisher if anyone wants to chime in with their opinons on what's good out there for a fast learning beginner. Detailing my trucks by hand all day/night wears me out faster than the Mountain Dew can flow.

I've been clay bar'ing, polishing, and waxing my own (and friends) vehicles since high school (9 years). I almost exclusively use ONE Grand products for everything. They have a great ERV (exterior rubber and vinyl) product that isn't anywhere near being sticky like Armor All, makes the tire look new (not "wet") and works great for bringing exterior plastic back to life.
I've used Wenol (blue and red), meguires, mothers, etc. metal polishes and One Grand's "Metal 300" blows the others away. I need to get my side by side shots posted up here for people to see the difference.

I own two Dodge Dakota R/T's. The gray one is my baby that I drag race and take out to the car shows, the red one I recently purchased for a daily driver.

Anyways, I hope to learn lots here and test some new products too. :xyxthumbs:

Here are my two trucks...

Still working on cleaning up the engine bay and getting some more black powder coat
on parts. New engine is going in soon so I'll have time to clean it up the way I want.

Few more shots of my soul mate...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Hey all,
Found this site and forum a while back and finally joined up.

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:


Nice trucks!


Lots of opinions about the different DA Polishers but as long as you use good technique and quality products they'll all get the job done.

 

[mjlinane]

Welcome to AGO!!

 

[GoFastGray]

Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:


Nice trucks!


Lots of opinions about the different DA Polishers but as long as you use good technique and quality products they'll all get the job done.

Thanks Mike. Great video's here from you and the AGO team, I'll be spending some time sifting through this site for sure.
Just ordered the Porter cable 7424XP/Pinnacle package and a few other goodies. I saw your PC 7424XP video talking about the 6.5" pads then after my purchase I read a lot of people in the forum recommending the 5" back plate and 5.5" pads VS the 5" back plate and 6.5" pads that come with the kits. 5.5's just gonna give more RPM for my pads?
Hoping it comes in friday, I'll test it out reguardless before my Mopar show this weekend :xyxthumbs:

Welcome to AGO!!

Thanks :cheers:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Just ordered the Porter cable 7424XP/Pinnacle package and a few other goodies. I saw your PC 7424XP video talking about the 6.5" pads then after my purchase I read a lot of people in the forum recommending the 5" back plate and 5.5" pads VS the 5" back plate and 6.5" pads that come with the kits. 5.5's just gonna give more RPM for my pads?

The Principals of Machine Polishing Paint was the first video we made when I moved here from Meguiar's. I actually went through and discussed the products and the pads in the video in more detail but to shorten the video that information was all edited out.

Back then I'm not sure we had most or even all of the 5.5" pads we have today and so we made that video using the 6.5" pads.

If you watch any of the videos made since that video, whenever there's any PC style tool being used, whether on TV or in a video it's always the 5.5" pads.

I addressed this yesterday on the forum and even took picture of what my book teaches and posted them to this thread...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...hillips/48868-going-nuts-pc-choices-pads.html


Here's what I posted...

I called tech support to double check and they say that either choice is fine but the larger pad is more forgiving of potential mistakes.

Customer Support is correct, a larger pad is more forgiving for potential mistakes, it's larger and it will be more difficult to make a mistake as the larger diameter gives the pad more leverage over the tool and this means it will be easier to stop the pad from rotating thus no mistakes can be made.

We have a lot of customers brand new to machine polishing that never get on the forum to get all the information you've attained and for most people, keeping things safe is a good approach.

5.5" pads, especially thin pads, will rotate better than 6.5" thick pads or 7" pads like Meguiar's sells because it's easier for these types of tools to maintain pad rotation.

Here's the deal... the only time you're effectively removing swirls is when the pad is rotating. If the pad is just vibrating or jiggling against the paint it isn't doing anything to remove swirls.

Thick foam absorbs and dissipates the energy coming out of PC type tools, including the PC, the Griot's Garage, Meguiar's and even the Shurhold and DAS type DA Polishers.

With thin foam pads there's less material to absorb and dissipate the energy. Not how the Meguiar's Microfiber Pads take advantage of this characteristic in that they are thin, not thick.

Also, as you work around a car your pads become wet or saturated with product and wet foam absorbs and dissipates energy from the tool more than dry foam. In other words, as you work around the car and your pads become wet they will rotate less, not more. A clean, dry pad will always rotate better then a wet pad.

So Customer Care is correct that larger pads are safer for people new to machine polishing. After you get some experience and are accustomed to the characteristics and capabilities of the tool then smaller, thin pads are more effective.

All of this by the way is in my how-to book on page 60 and 61

I'm not sure which video you purchased as I have 6 videos out currently. The Principals of Machine Polishing, I use 6.5" CCS pads and if you watch closely the pads are always rotating.

So a PC, a Meguiar's G110v2 and a Griot's Garage 6" ROP can all rotate 6.5" foam pads, it's just they can maintain pad rotation better with smaller, thinner pads especially as you work your way around a car.

And of course, this is the benefit to the Flex 3401, it's a forced rotation dual action polisher. With the Flex 3401 you don't have to worry about what size or thickness of pad you attach as it's going to work excellent with any pad. It's only the tools with the free floating spindle bearing assembly drive mechanism that pad rotation is an issue.

Keep in mind, it's this NON-forced rotation aspect of the PC style tools that make them so POPULAR with people new to machine polishing because they are so much safer. Now we've come back full circle to how this thread started and that's Customer Care told you

I called tech support to double check and they say that either choice is fine but the larger pad is more forgiving of potential mistakes.

And they are correct.

If you feel comfortable using power tools and have been reading and educating yourself on this topic then you could probably start out using the smaller diameter, thinner pads without any problems.

I ordered the Orange pads for swirl remover products, White for the AIO type products, and Red for the polish which has no abrasives in it.

Am I on the right path?

That's pretty close.

Cutting pads can be used with compounds and polishes. If you use a compound with a cutting pad then you normally would follow this with a medium cut or fine cut polish with a polishing pad to make sure there's no haze or micro-marring left in the paint from the very aggressive compound and cutting pad.

Remember, polishing paint is an art form, not a grinding process.


AS for AIO's or Cleaner/Waxes. Normally you would use a polishing pad with a cleaner/wax. You can use more aggressive pads with cleaner/waxes but you'll tend to leave hazing or micro-marring and now you're back to removing this which means a two step process and the whole idea of using a cleaner/wax is to do a one-step process.

If you're going to do a two-step process might as well compound, polish and then wax.


Hope all that makes sense...

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Watch when I work on Ken's Power Wagon on this TV show, I show 5.5" pads and correct technique for using a cleaner/wax on scratched paint, which would be the same technique for using a compound or polish.

What's in Autogeek's Garage - Episode 2 - Season 2
[video=youtube_share;m8w6aEpb1sU"]What's in Autogeek's Garage - Episode 2 - Season...[/video]​

:xyxthumbs: