New to This Which Polisher Should I Buy?

K

KBS756

New member
Hi Hope I`m allowed to do this

I`m new to all this intending to install Gyeon Syncro on my Kia Stinger (Black) And its about a month / 1200 miles old

If I can only afford one polisher to do the prep work and im new to this what would you suggest for the whole car?

I assume something the size of a Rupes IBird Nano is too small to reasonably do the whole car ... but feel like bigger pads wouldnt get into the areas of the bumper or under the door handles

Advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!
 
KBS756 said:
Hi Hope I`m allowed to do this

I`m new to all this intending to install Gyeon Syncro on my Kia Stinger (Black) And its about a month / 1200 miles old

If I can only afford one polisher to do the prep work and im new to this what would you suggest for the whole car?

I assume something the size of a Rupes IBird Nano is too small to reasonably do the whole car ... but feel like bigger pads wouldnt get into the areas of the bumper or under the door handles

Advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!
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You will have to do some hand polishing. I would go with a GG 6 with a 3" and 5" plate and pads. The 5" will do the majority of the car. The 3" will get into tighter areas, then what`s left (which won`t be a lot) you can polish by hand.

Nice car by the way! Black is one of the hardest to polish, fortunately it`s a new car so should be fairly easy.
 
DaveT435 said:
You will have to do some hand polishing. I would go with a GG 6 with a 3" and 5" plate and pads. The 5" will do the majority of the car. The 3" will get into tighter areas, then what`s left (which won`t be a lot) you can polish by hand.

Nice car by the way! Black is one of the hardest to polish, fortunately it`s a new car so should be fairly easy.
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I second Dave’s above recommendation. The GG6 is an excellent machine to get high quality results on a smaller than professional scale (by the way Pros find uses for this machine too) while keeping a budget in mind. It has a great warranty from a company that will stand behind it. I think it has legs and can grow with you. Somewhere down the road you may wish to upgrade your arsenal but should that time ever come the GG6 can still make an excellent dedicated carpet scrubber or 3” machine. I simply don’t think you can go wrong with this machine as a first time polisher with the only caveats being, a need to do a higher volume of vehicles or your working on paint requiring significant corrections. If that is the case there are of course higher end machines like Rupes or Griot’s Boss machines, both brands are excellent.

Now if the price of this polisher is beyond reach, well... I’d suggest you save up for it and find some way to make it happen. Your pads and supplies in the long run will cost you the same as other machines but I feel the Griot’s machine is a step above my following recommendations. If the cost is still out of the question you may want to look at Porter Cable’s machine as an alternate option (not a significant price difference from the GG6) and lastly, Harbor Freight’s polisher. Stay away from HF’s pads, LC pads are a good value. I have all three of the machines I’ve mentioned as well as higher end machines and a couple of rotaries. Once again, in my opinion, the GG6 is an all around winner for the home user with a couple of vehicles and a few friends.
 
As others have said, go with the GG6 + 5" conversion kit. Couple that with some Griots BOSS 5.5" pads and the BOSS lineup of creams. Simple, easy and effective
 
Welcome to the Forum, KBS756 !
Congrats on a beautiful car ! And in my favorite color !

All the info posted above ^^^^ is spot on feedback, from great, experienced men..

Having done a zillion behind-door-handle pockets, what has always worked for me, is a soft, white, cotton towel, a little moist compound, and 1 finger under that, to run the area back and forth, and if possible up and down for a bit.. Sometimes, depending on how many fingernail marks, are there, it may take a couple or more passes..
But it will come out beautiful if the marks are not deep or done by something sharp like keys, etc..

The problem with trying to use a machine and a pad for this area is the sharp line that outlines the door handle pocket..
The paint is - thinner - on that line and you are going to hit it with the pad and still the pad will not be able to conform to the depth of the pocket, and then you run the risk of hitting the door handle itself with the machine and possibly damaging that door handle edge..

The best all around pad size as already stated above will be the 5" pad with appropriate backing plate..
Same for the smaller sizes - 4" or 3" pads with appropriate backing plates, and you are set for anything..
These smaller size pads are also great for polishing all the outside glass, headlights, taillights, some smaller areas of bumpers, etc..

Looks like you are going to have a great experience with this !

I have heard nothing but great feedback from the Griot`s line of compounds and polishes, and machines; perhaps that will be all you will need for a long, long time..

Good luck with this !
Dan F
 
how many pads of each type do you go through on a car? or is 2 enough if you keep cleaning them? thanks
 
Maxshine M15/M21 or Shurhold 3500 21mm long throw on Amazon. Maxshine makes the GG6 8mm polisher for Griot`s so for around the same cost why not get a long throw DA instead.

 
KBS756 said:
how many pads of each type do you go through on a car? or is 2 enough if you keep cleaning them? thanks
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Simple thing to remember before all this rainbow range of colors of pads have become the norm these days:
Yellow = Aggressive for Compounding White = Polishing Black = Finishing

I suggest you get 1x yellow depending how bad paint correction you need, 2x or more of the white as this is the workhorse pad every year once your paint is properly maintained and 1x for applying glazes and sealants or wax ! I personally have no use for both the yellow and black these days, white is all I need !
 
KBS756- Welcome to Autopia!

Noting that I have quite a few polishers, I recommend the Griot`s Boss15.

I have the GG6" and it`s OK but not really in the same class.

The Rupes Mini is nice but not as versatile as the GG Boss15.

I don`t see a 21mm throw being optimal for a DIYer who`s not doing major correction all the time.

You`ll need *FAR* more pads than you can possibly imagine, even if using compressed air to clean them on the fly. Seriously. They get loaded with dried product and cut-off clear and that compromises their effectiveness.
 
Does the brand of pad matter or just the size ? and if im applying Gyeon coatings does it make sense to use gyeon polish and primer?

Does Max Shine make the Griots Boss ? if so isnt the max shine a cheaper version of that ? seems like it has the same power throw and size on quick reading of specs

Thanks again
 
KBS756 said:
Does Max Shine make the Griots Boss ? if so isnt the max shine a cheaper version of that ? seems like it has the same power throw and size on quick reading of specs

Thanks again
Click to expand...
Just a thought that all of us know but sometimes seem to forget, “made by”, doesn’t necessarily mean “same as”. Though I recommended the GG6 above and still do so. If you can afford a better machine the Rupes or Boss 15’s are excellent choices.
 
I may be able to stretch my budget some ... can the rupes or boss go down to 3" though like the other one suggested?
 
The Rupes and Boss 15/21 machines can’t use 3 inch backing plates. I would also suggest the GG 6. Your car is new and I would think not much correction would be necessary. Since you are new to this hobby it is probably a good idea to stay in the same product line. Gyeon make a good primer polish that will make applying the Gyeon coating easier. For your first correction/coating keeping everything as simple as possible is best.
 
For any work, I want to have a minimum of 6 pads and have another 6 of those same pads in the cabinet.. For every size and color... Things can happen to pads, usually the worst is the velcro backing starts to pull off, etc.. Have to now get another one... Maybe you can repair that one with glue for awhile, but you can`t use it again that day, and you need to wash it first, then dry it..

If you don`t have enough pads, and have to wash them up, they will not be dry in 24 hours if they are foam, and may even take longer than 36 hours or more to fully dry, depending on your ambient temps in the garage, etc...

The more water you squeeze out of them of course, the faster they will dry.. Just have to be careful that you don`t start the velcro backing delamination in this process..
If you spin them at 3,000 on my Makita, they will dry faster still... :)
Dan F
 
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