Hey Guys...A few questions?!.

2

2003SCT

New member
Just would like to say hi....



I am new to the "Autopian" detailing world yet have been doing my own detailing for a few years.



I just picked up a PC 7424 after years of doing everything by hand. I also picked up Optimum's Compound and Optimum's polish after lurking here a while because they seemeasy to use and have less dust than Poorboys.



So now that I have the "tool" and have the products I am having a hard time deciding on the pads and if I need a different backing plate and velcro system?? I see this yellow backing plate that may be easier on the finish...do I need this or is it a good idea? Also, which pads do I need? I see alot of people using the Sonus brand so I would be fine sticking with those...which colors though? I MAY start on my car which has pretty clean paint all around....do you start with an easy pad or go right to the most cutting one you think you will need?



Also, I have always used paint cleaner from Mother's and even Zainos' ZPC....never used Clay. Is a really good wash with Dawn and a Clay enough to get the car cleaned for polishing? I am sure that it is safer.....



Another thing I am out on is the Microfiber vs. Cotton Towels thing. It seems like SO many people are sold on MF....which do I get waffle weave or regular? Do they actually scratch less than cotton because I didnt think cotton could scratch as long as it was clean...



Anyway, it seems like a lot of questions but I want to do this safely and do it well. I may be getting access to a poorly cared for Chrysler Concorde for practicing so that would be nice.





Chime in..any responses are greatly appreciated.



CHRIS
 
Hi Chris...



Right lets start off with the pads. Now, for the PC you could safely use 4" or 6" pads, so you will need a backing plate for each of these. The 4" pads can generate a little more heat than the 6", breaking down more aggressive compounds more effectively and allowing for a little more cut. Great for more severe defects on harder paints. All pads I will mention will be velcro backed, so any velcro faced (hook & loop) backing plate will be fine.



Now, pads as you will be realising are sold in different cutting grades... Generically spesking, there are four main grades of pad:



> Cutting

> Light Cutting

> Polishing

> Finishing (following the LakeCountry model there, but applied to others too)



I have used pads from three manufacturers that I rate highly: LakeCountry , Meguiars and Sonus. Sonus do two ranges, the SFX range and the DAS range, the DAS range being bigger but having far less bite than the SFX pads. Great for beginners though... Now, to rank these pads in the above table you would have:



> Cutting: LC Yellow; SFX Yellow (SFX-1); Meguiars Burgandy (W7006)

> Light Cutting: LC Orange; DAS Orange

> Polishing: LC White; SFX White (SFX-2); DAS Green; Meguiars Yellow (W8006)

> Finishing: LC Black; LC Red; SFX Blue (SFX-3); DAS Blue; Meguiars Tan (W9006)



Naturally there will be some cross-over between pads there, but that generically places them in range of cutting power for you...



Now, taking the two products that you have. The Optimum Polish I would use on either a polishing pad or a light cutting pad depending on the severity of the defects being tackled, and the Optimum Compound on the Light Cutting or Cutting pads. For more severe defects, I would move to the 4" spot pads.



For all detailing, take test area which represents the defects across the whole car and start with the least aggressive combo: say Optimum Polish on a Polishing pad, and evaluate the results. If the swilrs remain, step up to OP on a Light Cutting pad and evaluate. If the swirls remain, try OC on a light cutting pad, the if necessary OC on a cutting pad. Once you have found a combo that is removing the swilrs to you satisfaction, proceed with this on the car. That way you'll get a sure fire way of removing the swirls without removing too much paint...



Hope that was clear enough, its been a long day at work here!! :)
 
Thanks for the info Dave...



Now I know you had said that the Lake Country Yellow is a more aggressive cutting pad than the Orange? Just want to make sure since I had seen a few people say that Orange means agressive..or is it not in the Lake Country lineup?



Also, say I have finished with getting all of my swirls out...is the Optimum Polish on a finishing pad going to be able to give me my final results?..other than putting on a final protectant like Zaino. Are there any products you recommend that are a finishing compound or is Optimum fine enough?



I havent used my PC yet so I am trying to make sure I am armed with as much knowledge before I start....:)



CHRIS
 
Check out this awesome thread to see a table of what color of pad from which manufacturer does what (and compares to each other):

http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=53260



I suggest you also consider Edge 2000 pads if you have not already purchased a backing plate. I was in the same boat as you but starting with a Rotary - I could buy a backing plate and pads or Edge 2000 adapter & pads. After searching around, I knew that Edge 2k was for me (I went with their waffle pads, but I'm not certain if they make those for the PC). The overwhelming majority of folks here do not use Edge 2000 (mostly I believe because they were fully stocked and getting good results before Edge 2000 came out), so you can definitely get good results.



There was just today that horror story of the backing plate falling apart on a PC (yipes!) :(

This does not appear to be a common occurrence, but it sure made me glad I don't have to worry about that particular mode of failure with my Edge 2000 :(
 
Thanks...that was a great reference table....I will prob. be putting in a pad order this week and then...I THINK I will be pretty set as far as supplies...just bought a twin halogen light tower from Sears yesterday...I can't wait!





CHRIS
 
original.jpg




once again borrowed from another poster here.



on edge 2000 orange follows yellow green in cut level.
 
Grouse said:
once again borrowed from another poster here.



on edge 2000 the black pad is now orange i believe
Click to expand...



Unless Edge recently made this change, I thought the orange pad fell somewhere in the range between yellow and green. I noticed that some vendors listed the orange below the green pad and another listed it above the green pad in terms of cut level. If you look on the Edge pad website, they don't list an orange pad in their line-up. At least for the 6" DA pads, which I was looking into trying out. FWIW, they don't show a black on in there either.



I subsequuently emailed Edge and actually followed-up with a phone conversation. The rep mentioned that they produced the orange pads at the request of some vendors and while I don't recall exactly what he said, but it was something to the effect that the orange foam behaves "differently". Something to the effect that results can range from medium level of cut to a lower level of cut (product dependent of course) and that sometimes it would behave more like a polishing pad and others more like a cutting pad. For some reason, it made sense then the rep was explaining it to me. That explained why some vendors listed it in the order of Green, Orange, Yellow and others listed them in the order of Orange, Green, Yellow for increasing cut levels. That said, I have a white, blue, green, orange and yellow Edge 2000 DA pads, but have only used the green pad so far, so I can't provide personal observations for the orange pad.
 
You are correct I went and checked my notes, It follows the yellow then green then orange. That is what i get for posting before coffee in the morning.



I will edit if i can and get it sorted out.
 
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