Newcomer...pics of my blah accord

F

fliplyricist1

New member
Hi all...new to the forum...but been a lurker for awhile now. Love this place. I, however, am still stuck in the Paleolithic era, and have been detailing my vehicles by hand since I got my license back in '95. I guess I'm just too complacent with cramps constant bodily abuse...but I was wondering if anyone could please give me some first timer tips on what's a good random orbital buffer to get and what are some good polish pads to look for. Would be greatly appreciated, as my arms cannot take this any longer. I used to be affraid that I would eat into or burn the paint with a buffer, but from what I've read random orbital buffers make it almost impossible. Thanks again guys.





Anyways, to the pics. This is my 93 accord 10th anniversary...been my baby for the last 6 years. Got her bone stock and did a few mild mods...nothing big. Products used:



Generic auto wash solution

Meguiars professional line medium cut cleaner

meguiars professional line polish #7 (I think)

meguiars #26 wax



usually takes me about 6-8 hours to complete the above steps if I work non-stop, since I'm applying and removing by hand :(



probably not the best product list, but it suits me fine and fits my budget. I think I'm going to have to give s100 a try in the near future though. Comments/criticisms welcome. thanks







46078211.JPG




4607818.JPG




460785web.JPG




460788web.JPG




460783web.jpg




460784web.JPG




460789webJPG.jpg




460781web.jpg
 
i would suggest a Porter Cable dual action polisher, it is a favorite around this site, i love mine. i would suggest the Poorboy's line of polishes and sealents. they are good price and good quality. If you don't wanna order online, you can always go the meg's line up. they have various polishes and even a polymer sealent and of course wax's. Most of that can be found locally, i know my napa carries 83, 80, 16, etc. good luck man. you will love your PC if you get one, they are great. good luck with your purchases. ii suggest using Dwayne at 4star. www.bettercarcare.com



Vernon
 
yeah, i'd agree with the others. If you're ready to break out and move to that next level, order yourself a PC. It's a remarkably easy to use tool and makes the most out of a detailing session!
 
even tho i am not a fan of green cars, i ve gotta say, thats the best looking 93 accord i ve ever seen. glad you didn't rice it out. is that a jdm front conversion?
 
vdog0531 said:
i would suggest a Porter Cable dual action polisher, it is a favorite around this site, i love mine. i would suggest the Poorboy's line of polishes and sealents. they are good price and good quality. If you don't wanna order online, you can always go the meg's line up. they have various polishes and even a polymer sealent and of course wax's. Most of that can be found locally, i know my napa carries 83, 80, 16, etc. good luck man. you will love your PC if you get one, they are great. good luck with your purchases. ii suggest using Dwayne at 4star. www.bettercarcare.com



Vernon
Click to expand...





Thanks a lot man...I'll definitely look into that pc...about how much money am I looking at spending though for this model? There are several random orbital buffers on ebay that are about 15 bucks shipped...does the brand really make a huge difference? Most of them don't appear to have adjustable speed though. PC= random orbital buffer, correct? I really want to start out with a random orbital because I have no experience with buffers and want the closest to fool-proof solution. I've seen a bunch of talk about the poorboy line...I might have to give them a shot. However, I'm inclined to trying S100 since there's a HArley shop locally...but I hear it doesn't have good duration.



How does poorboy's stack up to s100?



Also, thanks for the comments everyone...the paint is the original oem arcadia green pearl (i usually wasn't a fan of green myself, but i really liked this honda color since it's highly reflective and the pearl really stands out) and the wheels are graphite (darker shade than gunmetal). The front end is not jdm but the lights are custom jdm blackhoused one pieces w/ a hella hid kit. Looking to do an x5 retrofit when the weather/money permits.



I actually moderate at the same forum Scottwax moderates at...it's a honda board with focus primarily on accords. His accord definitely gave me inspiration to really take care of my oem paint as much as I can. Thanks again for the feedback/suggestions guys I'm trying to learn from the masters :)
 
I just got a PC recently after waxing by hand for the past year. Its really worth the investment. Cuts time in half and its more efficient in getting even coverage. I bought mines at Lowes for $99 (sale).. but the everyday price is $109. Its the PC 7336 which is the same as the 7424 you might hear about.



I suggest u get the velcro plate so you can switch pads on the fly: http://www.topoftheline.com/tolae/porcabvelpad.html



For the pads, I got these.. one yellow, white, and black: http://www.topoftheline.com/tolae/7durvelpad.html



thats pretty much it to get you started. Just use the correct pad for the correct polish/wax and you're good to go
 
fliplyricist1,



Sweet Accord! :bow



I am glad you left it very clean - that model Accord is a very good looking car if you don't mess with it! I still have my '90 Accord with 140k miles on it!



I would invest in a PC & some good pads. For your color, VM or #80 topped with P21S/S100 or EX-P would look great and be easy to work with.



Keep up the great work! :xyxthumbs



Cheers,
 
fliplyricist1,



I love green cars and yours looks great. I'll bet it looks even better in person.



Yes, the PC 7424 is random orbit and it is wise to start out with an RO polisher.



Compared to similar units from Bosch, Makita or Festo the PC is actually less expensive. It's a great value in a professional quality tool. You can expect to pay around $125 to $150 for one with the correct counterweights and a Velcro backing plate (maybe a little less if you're a good hunter, search around this website for threads about deals). Most other RO polishers you see don't really compare.



There are some $15 polishers on ebay but if it were me I'd skip 'em and spend that $15 on wax. Most of them are cheap knock-offs of a 10" Waxmaster (which is an inexpensive copy of a GEM). When you're doing top quality work a cheap tool is often worse than no tool.



Personally, I feel that a 10" pad is too big for doing cars. RVs and boats are another story but I wouldn't want a pad bigger than 7" for cars and light trucks. (I have a 10" Waxmaster I never use, I just loan it to friends and hope they want to keep it.)



Another problem with cheap polishers is that the pads are fixed. You can't switch from polishing to waxing to removal by swapping pads. You have to do it with bonnets alone. You need to have a good source for top quality bonnets and you need to either have sealed bonnets or use barriers to prevent chemical carryover. Finding good bonnets for cheap polishers can be problematic.



If I were on a tight budget and had to put off the PC for a while I would consider a WEN. TOL has pads and bonnets for them . Short of that I'd probably do it by hand until I could save up for good equipment.





PC.
 
Very nice.



Let me to share some advice as a former very heavy user of #26. You can get great results with this wax as you have in these superb pics, but you will likely find even more clarity and gloss with S100 or P21S. #26 imparts a slight yellowing to the paint which is not too bad on dark colors like green but I find P21S is much more reflective.



Also, the high end option is Pinnacle Souveran which is terrific on dark colors like green, red, and black.



Just a couple of things to keep in mind. You are getting great results already!
 
Welcome to Autopia. I recently gave in and got a PC as well and I can tell you it is worth the investment. I've been detailing by hand for years and the PC does a much better job removing defects and bringing out the gloss in paint. Good luck
 
fliplyricist1 said:
Thanks a lot man...I'll definitely look into that pc...about how much money am I looking at spending though for this model? There are several random orbital buffers on ebay that are about 15 bucks shipped...does the brand really make a huge difference? Most of them don't appear to have adjustable speed though. PC= random orbital buffer, correct? I really want to start out with a random orbital because I have no experience with buffers and want the closest to fool-proof solution. I've seen a bunch of talk about the poorboy line...I might have to give them a shot. However, I'm inclined to trying S100 since there's a HArley shop locally...but I hear it doesn't have good duration.



How does poorboy's stack up to s100?



Also, thanks for the comments everyone...the paint is the original oem arcadia green pearl (i usually wasn't a fan of green myself, but i really liked this honda color since it's highly reflective and the pearl really stands out) and the wheels are graphite (darker shade than gunmetal). The front end is not jdm but the lights are custom jdm blackhoused one pieces w/ a hella hid kit. Looking to do an x5 retrofit when the weather/money permits.



I actually moderate at the same forum Scottwax moderates at...it's a honda board with focus primarily on accords. His accord definitely gave me inspiration to really take care of my oem paint as much as I can. Thanks again for the feedback/suggestions guys I'm trying to learn from the masters :)
Click to expand...





15 dollar buffers are crap. A good deal on a PC with the backing plate and everything will probably run you about 110 to 130 if you shop around. You will want to get some quality pads with different textures which will run you probably another 20 to 40 depending on how many you want. if you plan on spending lots of time on detailing and don't care about using a sealent, i would suggest getting some Poorboy's SSR2, some Poorboys SSR1, then top it off with some S100 which you can find locally. and if you did wanna use a sealent before the S100, pick up some Poorboys EX-P then top that off with the S00. So for a nice starter kit, here is what you are lookin at.



Porter Cable Dual Action Polisher with various pads: 170ish

Poorboy's SSR2,SSR1, and EX-P: 45 (15 dollars a piece)

S100: 15ish at Harley Shop

Clay Bar: 15 to 20



Now all this adds up to maybe a little more than you were expecting, but these are very quality products that are easy to use and produce awesome results. They are also very easy to use with the Porter Cable dual action polisher. Some polishes work better with a rotary or a pc but from what i have experieced, the poorboy's products work good with either buffer. Which is good to have so if you do end up upgrading to a rotary, you can still use these polishes. Another way to regain some of your costs, is to "help" your friends detail their cars, and get a little kick back in your pocket book since you are using your products to do their cars. There are many many many more products out there to choose from, but for the price and results, i feel these are great ones that will get ya started off right. i would recommend just browsing through the "click and brag" section and see what kind of results are being achieved with the different products. well, i hope this helps ya out. good luck and feel free to ask me anymore questions or hit me up if you wanna see some pics of various products on different colors. :xyxthumbs



Vernon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top