Newb Just Bought Griot's Garage 11605Z Orbital Polishing Kit from Amazon for $99 HELP

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globe9

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I just bought the Griot's Garage 11605z Orbital Polisher kit on amazon for $99

It was an impulse buy, but now I'm a little worried. I am a complete newb to using a polisher. I mainly plan to use it to remove swirl marks on a black Nissan Rogue. I always heard that a newbie should have a dual action polisher, much like a Porter Cable DA. This is an orbital polisher. Will this be as effective and is it safe for someone with no experience to use? I don't want to mess the paint up anymore than it already is. Not much marring on the paint, just visible swirl marks.



Was this a good deal? Any thoughts on the included pads/accessories? Is there something else I should buy polish wise?



Any tips, advice, etc is greatly appreciated. I just hope I didn't mess up on this impulse buy?
 
Random orbital works in the same way as a DA, so you got the right machine. I'm not sure what comes with the kit you got so I can't comment there.
 
Don't sweat the DA/orbital thing. DA is a buzzword used in the detailing and autobody world. The rest of the world calls it an orbital.



You got an awesome deal on a good machine. Big congrats.



Now get out there and shine 'em up.





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Even if you don't use everything in the kit you got a great deal on a very good polisher. I purchased the same kit a year ago at this time and then spent the next 3 months reading Here's a link to "How To" articles by Mike Phillips Articles by Mike Phillips - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum There are a group of articles and videos under "New To Machine Polishing"



One thing for sure is you will need many more pads than are in the kit. I decided to switch to 5.5" pads from the beginning since they are the size of choice for most here and they are less expensive. Uber pads, HD Pads and Buff & Shine seem to be the same pads--flat polishing surface and a recessed velcro which adds a margin of safety when polishing around protruding objects. Autoality.com has a Buff & Shine pad five pack for $28 You should have at least 4 of each pad you plan to use--perhaps 4 orange for more aggressive polishing, 4 green to finish with and one red for each wax or sealant you plan to use (you could use the GG red pad for this). You will also need a 5' backing plate for the 5.5" pads.



I also decided to use HD UNO as my polish to start off since it is reasonably priced, easy to work with, long working time and no dust. It has more cut than GG Machine Polish 3, but will finish nicely. 3D International, LLC :: Polishes & Compounds :: HD Uno - Advanced Cut

A little goes a long way--3 pea size drops to prime the pad and 1 or 2 additional for successive sections. Then consider HD POXY as your LSP--looks fantastic on black. HD products are on sale with free shipping if you act quickly as the sale is over after today http://www.autopia.org/forum/3d-high-definition-car-care/143127-happy-thanksgiving-specials-3dproducts-com-hdcarcare-com.html



Good Luck!!!
 
That's a good buy - cheaper than what the DA usually goes for, by itself. I agree with pwaug that you will need more pads, and also that it probably make more sense to go with 5.5" pads rather than the 6.5" ones that the kit comes with (you'll need to get a new backing plate, but the difference in cost for a six pack of pads - $35 for 5.5" vs $50 for 6.5" - pretty much pays for that backing plate, so everything else after that is just savings).



I haven't used those particular Griot's products, but I'd guess that you'd want to clay using the Speed Shine as your clay lube, polish with Machine Polish 3 and the orange pad, then apply the Best of Show wax using the red pad. With regards to how efficient the Machine Polish 3 is going to be with regards to swirl-removal, I leave to those who've used it (Accumulator? :D).
 
Yeah, I have a few experiences with/opinions about the GG stuff, but I oughta point out that they might've changed their Machine Polishes ("GG MP") since I last used 'em. AFAIK I was using v4.0 or so.





globe9- Congrats on that polisher, it's very good.



The Orange GG polishing pad is *VERY* different from other, "normal" orange pads in that it (the GG) is very gentle. It's a nice all-purpose pad (we even used them for waxing back before GG came out with their Red Waxing Pad) but it's way too gentle for serious correction. The same goes for the GG MP#3; it's an OK (but not all that great IMO/IME) very light polish but it won't really correct much of anything. One might argue that it won't leave the nicest finish either, but it's not really bad. There are much more user-friendly products though, and some of those work/look a lot better too.



Yeah, get a bunch of additional pads. I *strongly* recommend the Meguiar's MF Cutting Disks for aggressive work and you'll need a lot more gentle pads too (nothing really wrong with the orange GG ones, I *really* like them and use them a lot).



FWIW, I've sorta backed off of my previous "use small pads!" advice as I've done OK with 6-6.5" pads on my GG polisher, and that's on hard Audi clear too.



I *REALLY* like SpeedShine, but *NOT* as a clay lube. IME the "wax"/stuff it has in it compromises the effectiveness of the clay. The GG clay itself is good IME, but somebody here said they got some that marred, so I'd do a test spot just to make sure it's OK on your paint (technique matters a lot too...).



I DO NOT like the GG BOS wax! YUCK. I have nothing nice to say about it other than, IIRC it doesn't stain trim, at least not if you wipe it off quickly. But it's one of the *VERY* few products I've simply given away, and if I hadn't known a young guy who would take it, I woulda just *thrown* it away. And I did try to like it...used many bottles on many different paints before I finally asked myself "what the [#^@&] are you *doing* with this [crap]?!?" and gave up on it. From looks (specific or general), to protection, to ease-of-use, there are countless products that are better. Yeah, even if you consider that you got your bottle for free as part of that kit ;)
 
Accumulator said:
I DO NOT like the GG BOS wax! YUCK. I have nothing nice to say about it other than, IIRC it doesn't stain trim, at least not if you wipe it off quickly. But it's one of the *VERY* few products I've simply given away, and if I hadn't known a young guy who would take it, I woulda just *thrown* it away. And I did try to like it...used many bottles on many different paints before I finally asked myself "what the [#^@&] are you *doing* with this [crap]?!?" and gave up on it. From looks (specific or general), to protection, to ease-of-use, there are countless products that are better. Yeah, even if you consider that you got your bottle for free as part of that kit ;)
Click to expand...



Heh, you're not the first person I've seen mention that Griot's BOS is a POS :D Not having used it myself though, I didn't want to offer any opinion on it :)
 
IMO for home use you did good. As you gain confidence and experience with this machine you will want to branch out and try various products with it. The Griots will be a good machine to get you started.
 
Oh, most definitely. Very nice.

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