first time machine polishing... Few questions...

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Danilo

New member
Alright, I have watched a ton of videos, read a million how to's... I believe I am ready to jump into this, and get my Black FX35 looking amazing!

It has a ton of swirls (nothing major).

I bought a PC 7424xp, just need to finish outfitting it.

The questions I have...

-What backing plate should I use... I see that 6'' plates are good for up to 8 1/2'' pads... so can I use a 5'' plate with 7 1/2'' pads? or should I buy a 6'' backing plate?

-Pads... I'm thinking Country Lake pads... not the flat ones, or Hex Logic, both get awesome reviews, so I'm caught in the middle.

-What polish to use for light swirl removal... Was thinking of using M205, and then something after as a finisher... just not sure what... there is just so much product out there, and so many reviews on everything... what is something suggested for first timers?



Thanks guys. All help is appreciated.
 
BigAl3 said:
buy a 5" DA backing plate and some 5.5" flat pads. where do you plan on buying the products?
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Second the 5" backing plate, Even my original PC was able to correct softer finishes with pads up to 6.5". Go with flat pads, anything else is gimmicky and harder to keep clean. ProperAutoCare has some decent deals on 6 packs of LC pads with free shipping and some sort of discount coupon just about every week.



If you listen to nothing else anyone posts, listen to this, do a 2x2' or smaller test area and evaluate your results before you execute your battle plan on the whole car. All paints are different, especially as a newbie, you can get frustrated if you don't follow that advice. There is nothing like doing a 3 or 4 stage polish and then noticing you still have swirls all over the place.
 
BigAl3 said:
buy a 5" DA backing plate and some 5.5" flat pads. where do you plan on buying the products?
Click to expand...



Plan on most likely ordering from Autogeek, unless there is a local store in Miami with decent prices...

autogeek free FL shipping is 1 day to me, and they have a ton of stuff.
 
yakky said:
Second the 5" backing plate, Even my original PC was able to correct softer finishes with pads up to 6.5". Go with flat pads, anything else is gimmicky and harder to keep clean. ProperAutoCare has some decent deals on 6 packs of LC pads with free shipping and some sort of discount coupon just about every week.



If you listen to nothing else anyone posts, listen to this, do a 2x2' or smaller test area and evaluate your results before you execute your battle plan on the whole car. All paints are different, especially as a newbie, you can get frustrated if you don't follow that advice. There is nothing like doing a 3 or 4 stage polish and then noticing you still have swirls all over the place.
Click to expand...



Will do a 2x2 first to make sure I get the desired results. I agree, no point in doing all the work, then looking back and seeing that there was no improvement.



My battleplan is (so far...)

-Full foam

-Rinse

-Foam again + 2bucket wash

-Clay

-Wash (foam + clean water bucket)

-Dry

-Begin swirl removal (still wondering on products to use)
 
Danilo said:
Plan on most likely ordering from Autogeek, unless there is a local store in Miami with decent prices...

autogeek free FL shipping is 1 day to me, and they have a ton of stuff.
Click to expand...



Lake Country 5 1/2 x 7/8 inch Beveled Edge Pads 6 Pack

Lake country 5 inch backing plate, 5 inch hook and loop backing plate

Meguiars Mirror Glaze #205 Ultra Finishing Polish

Meguiars Mirror Glaze #105 Ultra-Cut Compound

if you plan on only doing your car, then get the 8oz bottles above, otherwise get a quart of each (more cost effective)...

also, look around and see if you can find the same products elsewhere for cheaper as AG will price match. check detailedimage.com, detailing.com, properautocare.com, topoftheline.com ...
 
Personally, I'd grab the UC and SwirlX from the Autoparts store, you get 16oz for the price of 8 and both of those are a little bit more forgiving than 105/205. I would get a decent finishing polish (PO85RD) or finish out with something like Poli-seal.
 
yakky said:
Personally, I'd grab the UC and SwirlX from the Autoparts store, you get 16oz for the price of 8 and both of those are a little bit more forgiving than 105/205. I would get a decent finishing polish (PO85RD) or finish out with something like Poli-seal.
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while he could pick up the ultimate compound and swirlx OTC as well (i've had great results with UC via DA btw),

why not pick up 105/205 (as mentioned opt for the 8oz size if it's for personal use as a quart may be a little much),

just in case he may need/want it later down the line since he's doing an order anyway...
 
BigAl3 said:
while he could pick up the ultimate compound and swirlx OTC as well (i've had great results with UC via DA btw),

why not pick up 105/205 (as mentioned opt for the 8oz size if it's for personal use as a quart may be a little much),

just in case he may need/want it later down the line since he's doing an order anyway...
Click to expand...



Well, I have to order pads, backing plates and a few other things... so I'll likely order everything at once... UC, Swirlx, m105/205 and some kind of LSP. All the online prices are much better anyway! and, with the amount of stuff that has to be bought... better online.

By the way, is that pad that comes with the porter cable good for anything, or should I just chuck it?



Either way... Google brings up nothing as far as a place to buy these in person, in Miami... Anyone know of a place?
 
Danilo said:
By the way, is that pad that comes with the porter cable good for anything, or should I just chuck it?
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I'd hold on to it in case you want to do something very gentle like LSP/glaze application. Or for use on some more powerful machine that you might buy at a later date (never say never ;) ).
 
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