Thread: Polishing or rubbing compound

harbor freight has a chicago electric buffer, $65 works great

Originally Posted by Exile

Hope you guys don't mind me resurfacing this thread. LOTS of good info tho, so hopefully someone who needs the tips will find it as a result.

BUT, I plan to get a buffer this spring finally. My paint/CC took a serious beating this winter in Chicago. I havent even given it a good wash yet cause all the scratches are gonna eat away at me lol.

Question is... anyone use this Meguiar's DA? Just wondering, seems like everyone loves the PC. Only ~$30 more than the PC.

It's a very good machine. You will like it. The PC was the industry standard for along time so it has a good reputation. But you will be fine with the Meguiar's one. They out out good stuff.

Originally Posted by ITHURTZ

harbor freight has a chicago electric buffer, $65 works great

This one is also nice if you are on a budget. Noe you want this one. You also want to replace the cheap backing plate with a 5" backing plate so you can use 5.5" pads.
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-va...her-69924.html

I had a chance to use this one and it does have more power than the PC. It's also much louder.

Probably gonna go with the Meguiar's then! Their products have yet to let me down...

Any suggestion for pads for the DA other than what Meguiar's offers?

Lake country orange and white

Originally Posted by Exile

Probably gonna go with the Meguiar's then! Their products have yet to let me down...

Any suggestion for pads for the DA other than what Meguiar's offers?

Get a 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads. Lake country sells both.

Originally Posted by REDCOMPG

Lake county orange and white

Lake country flat pads in the above colors are great. Autogeek sells a 6 pack. If you want to wax by machine then I would go 2 orange, 3 white and 1 black. If you wax by hand then go 3 orange and 3 white. I just got done testing out the new hydro tech pads which are nice.

Don't forget a pad conditioning brush to clean your pads as you go. Keeping the pad clean is key.

Yep, thats what Larry @ AMMOnyc has taught me... residue control is a must.
How long do the pads last? I plan to do at least 2 or 3 cars before I touch mine Theres a 95 toyota that will be my very first victim. With cleaning, will the pads make it thru 3-4 full car polishes?

Originally Posted by Logan541

The idea of the porter cable is it's almost impossible to ruin the clear coat , what about the Haror Freight?

same deal. pretty much impossible to burn the paint with either buffer.

On amazon Chemical Guys sells 8 of there hex pads with different colors and with cleaner for 44 bucks and they are 6.5 inch pad

Edit: they still have the 8 differed CG hex pads with cleaner in 5.5 pads for 43.

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6.5 is to big for a DA 5.5 is where it's at and of course you need a 5" backing plate.

How is it too big? Jw

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not sure why but my brother uses a 5 inch backing and 5.5 finish pad when final waxing. maybe cause it spins faster?

Think about 22s on a car... Do you think that car is going to fast as opposed to one with let's say 18s. Probably not. Similar to 6" pads on a DA.. Slows the speed down and make correcting the paint a bit harder.. It's its a rotary then yes big pads are fine because those machines have a lot more power to them vs a DA. So 5" is where it's at and that's the sweet spot. A inch difference isn't going to help you correct the paint any faster when your having to do several passes to make up for it.

Ah okay

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Originally Posted by Exile

Yep, thats what Larry @ AMMOnyc has taught me... residue control is a must.
How long do the pads last? I plan to do at least 2 or 3 cars before I touch mine Theres a 95 toyota that will be my very first victim. With cleaning, will the pads make it thru 3-4 full car polishes?

They can last a good while as long as you clean them after your done.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

same deal. pretty much impossible to burn the paint with either buffer.

Yup. HF has more power than the PC and it's louder than the PC.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

not sure why but my brother uses a 5 inch backing and 5.5 finish pad when final waxing. maybe cause it spins faster?

4" pads work even better when applying wax. Especially if you use a paste wax.

Originally Posted by REDCOMPG

Think about 22s on a car... Do you think that car is going to fast as opposed to one with let's say 18s. Probably not. Similar to 6" pads on a DA.. Slows the speed down and make correcting the paint a bit harder.. It's its a rotary then yes big pads are fine because those machines have a lot more power to them vs a DA. So 5" is where it's at and that's the sweet spot. A inch difference isn't going to help you correct the paint any faster when your having to do several passes to make up for it.

Nicely said and good anaology. Unless you have a DA like the Rupes 21 which has the power to run 6.5" pads.