Help me with my equipment and products

[vsupra123]

This is a kit that was put together between myself and a member from this forum. I was hoping that you guys could help me out on this list and clean it up a bit. The price of everything seems to hit around $400 and that's a tad too high for my liking at the moment.

Equipment:
Porter Cable 7424 or UDM(Preferred due to sale)
Dual Action 5” Flex Backing Plate
Cobra Microfiber Bonnets
Polish ‘N Wax Applicator

Pads:
Orange CCS 6.5 Inch Pads (3 pack)
White CCS 6.5 inch Pads (3 pack)
Gray CCS 6.5 Inch Pads (3 Pack)
Green CCS 6.5 Inch Pads (3 Pack)

Products:
XMT Ultra Fine Swirl Remover #1
XMT Fine Swirl Remover #2
XMT Intermediate Swirl Remover #3
XMT Heavy Swirl Remover #4
XMT Carnauba Finishing Glaze
XMT Pad Care Kit
Poor Boy's Natty Blue Wax 8oz
DP Engine Degreaser 32oz
Klasse All-In-One Polish 10oz
Klasse High Gloss Sealant 16.9oz

Equipment/product on hand:
I have microfiber, washing supplies, tire dressing, clay bar, window cleaner, 303, etc. Typical things you'd find in any random car owners detailing kits.

Swirl Removers:
Do I really need all 4 of them? Can I get a swirl remover that would save me money and work just as well as all the others?

Pads:
Do I need to have all the pads I have listed? What's the most important pads to have? Are there better pads then the ones I have listed?

Degreaser:
Can I replace that with the exterior degreaser? Would it be able to work on the engine as well as the rims?

Background info:
I've never used a machine polisher. I have 4 cars with very different paint conditions. One red car, one gray car, one red truck and one blue SUV. The truck and SUV have plastic/vinyl trim on it which has some fading. Each car collectively has all the kinds of paint damage you can think of from scratches, keys, chips, swirls, water spots on windows and paint, etc.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm trying to get the best possible kit for the best possible price.

[AjNavo61490]

i only use #3 and #1 and it works fine... kick #4 and #2 outta there...

the bonnets that i got i do not really use that much... they just don't work well like my towels do... so you can take those out if you have good mf towels

you really dont need green pads... you can use gray pads to spread waxes/glazes/sealants/ect.

[01vw18t]

just order the xmt udm intermediate swirl remover kit its on sale for $239.99 then get what ever else you think you may need

[vsupra123]

i just added that to my list and I'm asking if that kit is with the sale on the UDM. Hoping for something like $200 on the kit. $30 was slashed off the UDM alone for the sale so hoping for the best.

I deleted #2 and #4 swirl remover. Took out all the pads and everything that was already covered in that kit.

Still wondering about the degreaser. One of the cars has a bad case of brake dust on the rims.

[Whitethunder46]

Hey bro, glad to see ya joined!

You know what I think of the kit!

I just want to say, the main reason I suggested the entire XMT line is because you have 4 vehicles with varied paint conditions.

Can't remember what you said, but check out the UDM KIT. Comes with 2 of the polishes, backing plate, the pad cleaner/conditioner, a few pads, your applicator, and a few other goodies. Then fill out the rest of what you need.

This is what I did way back when, when I started.

[vsupra123]

you know if the all purpose exterior degreaser will work with the engine bay? Or can the engine degreaser be used on rims and wheel wells as well?

Im definately going to get the intermediate kit with the UDM....Also all the other products you suggested minus the 2 and 4 remover. I'm just going to hope that 3 fixes the existing swirls enough.

If I can get a nice price near $300 + shipping then I'll be picking all this up for use during spring break.

[Whitethunder46]

Sounds fine, you can always order some #4 later if needed.

What exterior degreaser are you speaking of? The engine degreaser you have listed is very powerful stuff and I wouldn't use it on anything but the engine.

Some people use Megs APC or APC+ on wheels/fenderwells/engine. But for engine I would use a high concentrate, like 4:1 or even 2:1. For wheels nothing less than 7-8:1 for me personally.

I really like Megs Wheel brightener. Bought a gallon of it and dilute it 4:1.
DP's wheel gel cleaner along with a lot of others on this site are very good and much safer to use on wheels than a generic degreaser like APC, purple power, etc.

[vsupra123]

aww, the intermediate kit isnt on sale....it might be cheaper to gather everything separate....i will try and see what i can do with it.

[MadOzodi]

Heh, I'm waiting for TOGWT to chime in. Whitethunder, if you've actually seen the condition of the paint on all 4 cars, let us know what that is. vsupra123, if you could post pics that would be even better.

[vsupra123]

I'll get on pics right now