Porter Cable Starter Package (please read)

crew219 said:
I think the Orange, Green White combo would be redundant for a soft paint car. ... Not sure how hard / soft dodge paint is, but I'm guessing that it is soft and I would go for an orange, white, grey combo.
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It might be, depending on paint, plus number of other variables. We do not know any of those variables, starting with paint on his particular vehicle. He can find what is redundant in his particular case once he starts using them. None of them will go to waste even if some overlap is found. However, if one gets just orange and white thinking of possible redundancy and later finds out orange is bit more aggressive than needed and white is not as aggressive than they would like it to be then (extra) shipping is wasted.



Furthermore, even if he had very soft paint, I am sure there is a high chance he will after he is done with his vehicle, want to do same for his parents, or SO, or friend. That is why I said one needs to have them. Some redundancy is not always a negative thing.
 
ZoranC said:
It might be, depending on paint, plus number of other variables. We do not know any of those variables, starting with paint on his particular vehicle. He can find what is redundant in his particular case once he starts using them. None of them will go to waste even if some overlap is found. However, if one gets just orange and white thinking of possible redundancy and later finds out orange is bit more aggressive than needed and white is not as aggressive than they would like it to be then (extra) shipping is wasted.



Furthermore, even if he had very soft paint, I am sure there is a high chance he will after he is done with his vehicle, want to do same for his parents, or SO, or friend. That is why I said one needs to have them. Some redundancy is not always a negative thing.
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I think you're missing the point. On soft paints, finishing down with the grey LC pad will bring out better results than using a white LC pad to finish. Ultimately the end finish is what is most important. I would only use the slightly more abrasive green pad on hard paints simply because when doing massive amounts of polishing on hard paint, white takes significantly longer.



The OP can easily check to see whether his paint is hard or soft by searching the forum for similar dodge vehicles and seeing what other posters say about the hardness of the paint & what they used to correct it.



Dave
 
crew219 said:
I think you're missing the point. ... The OP can easily check to see whether his paint is hard or soft by searching the forum for similar dodge vehicles and seeing what other posters say about the hardness of the paint & what they used to correct it.
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I might be missing your point just as well as you might be missing mine, which is that proof is in the pudding. There is only one way of him finding out status of paint on his vehicle and that one is his pad against his vehicle. Anything else is a throw of a coin, there is enough proven gurus here that will vouch for that. Until he finds out what is a fact for his vehicle three I mentioned are good starting point. Please notice nobody advised against gray pad. However, it is not neccessary for a beginner set. Beginners on a budget are very happy with "just" very good results.
 
ZoranC said:
I might be missing your point just as well as you might be missing mine, which is that proof is in the pudding. There is only one way of him finding out status of paint on his vehicle and that one is his pad against his vehicle. Anything else is a throw of a coin, there is enough proven gurus here that will vouch for that. Until he finds out what is a fact for his vehicle three I mentioned are good starting point. Please notice nobody advised against gray pad. However, it is not neccessary for a beginner set. Beginners on a budget are very happy with "just" very good results.
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Out of curiosity, have you even used the 5" CCS pads? I've used them both with PC and my Metabo, on both hard and soft paints, using menzerna and 1Z polishes.



Seems as if you're merely arguing the hypothetical with little actual experience with the product at hand.



Dave
 
crew219 said:
I've used them both with PC and my Metabo, on both hard and soft paints, using menzerna and 1Z polishes.
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You purchased pads and polishes and used them with your PC and Metabo so his paint must be soft. Fine. Got it. Just one question in order to avoid possibility of this thread heading in wrong direction: Does any of that make your suggestion of approach how to determine whether his paint is soft or not a correct one? That whole going off about gray pads on soft paints without even a crystal ball look into paint on actual vehicle is just ... Anyway.
 
The 2006 and later Dodge clears are rock hard. Dang near untouchable with a PC unless you use a really aggressive polish and a yellow pad. My 07 SuperBee laughed at a PC with a yellow pad and IP. PG on a yellow will work, but expect to spend a ton of time on it, especially when you start working on your finishing polish step. Green LC pad on the PC with PO106FF is the ticket for the polishing step, but you'll need to pack a lunch.



Not sure how the 2005 model year paint is, but I"ve personally owned an '06 Charger and an '07 Charger, so I can tell ya from personal experience that they are REALLY hard.
 
SuperBee364 said:
The 2006 and later Dodge clears are rock hard. Dang near untouchable with a PC unless you use a really aggressive polish and a yellow pad. My 07 SuperBee laughed at a PC with a yellow pad and IP. PG on a yellow will work, but expect to spend a ton of time on it, especially when you start working on your finishing polish step. Green LC pad on the PC with PO106FF is the ticket for the polishing step, but you'll need to pack a lunch.



Not sure how the 2005 model year paint is, but I"ve personally owned an '06 Charger and an '07 Charger, so I can tell ya from personal experience that they are REALLY hard.
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If my clear would be as hard as your describing would optimum compound be enough to cut into it with and orange pad or should i get some yellow pads? Even then would the compound be enough or should i go with some hyper compound?
 
I would think you'd need to get the HC and OC. If you can't get the OC to finish down to LSP ready (and don't even bother trying with OP, as it won't touch a scratch resistant clear with a PC), you might want to think about getting one of the scratch-resistant clear coat finishing polishes like Menzerna's PO106FF. It's the only finishing polish I've found (and I've used quite a few) that is capable of producing an LSP ready finish after compounding when using a PC on scratch resistant clears. But as I mentioned above, it is ALOT of work.



Start with the OC on an orange pad. See if you're getting any correcting accomplished. If you are, just keep using that combination. If not, you'll need to step up to HC with a yellow.



If you're up for purchasing a couple new products, here's what I'd get for my Dodge's...



Blackfire Scratch Resistant Compound (This would replace your OC, and it's made specifically for rock hard clears.)

Menzerna PO106FF (This would replace your OP, and again, it's made specifically for rock hard clears)

Two yellow LC pads, Two orange LC pads, two Green LC pads.



I honestly believe that the two polishes above are the best combination for correcting swirls and medium defects with a PC on scratch resistant clears. If you have some really heavy duty defects, then you might want to consider getting either some Menzerna Power Gloss (my fav), or hyper compound.



Edit: Even if you're not working on a really hard clear coat, the above combination of polishes works great with a PC on just about any finish. You'll get much more correcting done in any given period of time with those polishes than you would with their non SRC equivalents. I did my brother's 2003 BMW last week with that combo, and it produced a beautiful finish in no time.
 
OK, I just read back through my last message, and realized it sounded waaay confusing.



Summary: Start out with an orange pad and either your Optimum Compound or the Blackfire Scratch Resistant compound. Check your results. If you're getting adequate correction, great; keep using that compound until you're done getting the swirls and defects out. If you're not getting results, step up to a yellow pad and your Hyper Compound or equivalent (Menzerna Power Gloss, High Temp Extreme Cut, etc.) After you're done with the correcting (compounding) step, grab some PO106FF (accept no substitutes :grin:) with a green LC pad and use that combination to get rid of the haze, marring, minor swirls, etc. that the compounding step left in your paint. Don't be surprised if you have to apply, work the polish, wipe it off, and repeat three or four times to get a perfect LSP ready finish; PC's are very tough to use for this step on hard clears.



Hope this helps!
 
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