First Big Purchase

[BradsDetailing]

Hey everyone. I bought my very first car, a 2010 honda civic, last march. The soft water-based paint is what jump started me into detailing. I've purchased a couple waxes like turtle wax and nu finish at my local store in the past but now I'm serious about it and I've been doing research off and on for the past ten months.

As the title states I'm making my first big purchase, hopefully by the end of the night. I feel confident in what I have will get a good quality job done the right way. I'm looking for any comments on products I have in my cart, anything I should add, delete or anything else. All comments are welcome and I thank each of you very very much in advance for the support.

I'm also looking into getting the porter cable but unsure on which combo to go with and which pads would be best for starting up a small side business. Any help with choosing pads, compounds and polishes would be great.

The products I already have are:

3 Cobra Deluxe jr 600's 16x16
1 Cobra Supreme Guzzler
3 Cobra glass microfiber towels
Klasse AIO and HGSG
303 Fabric Guard
303 Aerospace Protectant
Optimum No Rinse
Mothers California Gold clay bar kit
Mothers California Gold Showtime instant detailer


Products in my cart:

Medium black nitrile gloves
Gold Plush Micro-Chenille wash mitt
Cobra Guzzler HD 16x24
Car Pro Iron X iron remover 1 Liter
Mother Tire, Wheel and Wheel well brush kit
3 Flex foam tire applicators
Wheel lug nut brush
Diamondite Waterless Bug Eraser
303 Vinyl/Fabric cleaner 128oz
Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel 128oz
Wolfgang finger pockets
Ultimate Roll Off 128oz
Wolfgang Polishin Pal combo kit
Miracle Towels 3 pack

Right now this is for me until summer, in Wisconsin, hits. Then I'm looking to detailing cars on the side. Maybe one or two during the week and a couple during the weekend. Products quantity suggestions would be awesome. Thanks again.

[CM8 6MT]

What machine are you using?

[BradsDetailing]

Porter Cable 7424 XP

[CM8 6MT]

Porter Cable 7424 XP

I'd recommend some 5.5" pads for the PC. Also, I see you have some WolfGang products.

I would recommend you pick up Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0, if you dont have a sealant already. You might want to add some polishes to your arsenal, as well as some cleaner wax. Mother's cleaner wax works great. If you want a little bit more kick, try Pinnacle's XMT 360.

[Crazy Amos]

I agree, PC is a great way to go for your first polisher, or you could go with the new Griots I think it has some more power than the PC now.

The PC is awesome, I just wish it had a the lifetime warranty like the GG. I burned up my PC on a RV after my warranty was up....which is crazy because the PC is a beast. You cant go wrong with either though.

How many pads do you have or are getting?

[BradsDetailing]

I have none

Cluless on how many I need, would go through and of what type.

[Andr3wilson]

I'd recommend some 5.5" pads for the PC. Also, I see you have some WolfGang products.

I would recommend you pick up Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0, if you dont have a sealant already. You might want to add some polishes to your arsenal, as well as some cleaner wax. Mother's cleaner wax works great. If you want a little bit more kick, try Pinnacle's XMT 360.

+1


I have none

Cluless on how many I need, would go through and of what type.

Well you have two options (that I would recommend)

1. Lake Country CCS 5.5. These are great beginner pads. I would get a three pack. Orange, white, Blue/Red

2. Lake Country Hydrotech 5.5 pads. These pads are amazingly smooth and great overall. You have two options in thickness. 7/8'' and 1 1/4''. Personally I have the lower profile pads, they are more aggressive and have less cushion. I would recommend you try the higher 1 1/4 profile pads. Again get a 3 pack. Cyan, tangerine, crimson.

[mcarter3533]

I have none

Cluless on how many I need, would go through and of what type.

Certainly start with an assortment of pads...Lake Country orange, white and black would be a good start. At least a couple of each. Go with a 5 inch backing plate and 5.5 inch pads. Porter Cable 7424XP is an excellent choice for DA Polisher.

Check out some of the kits AG has available with the XP.

[BradsDetailing]

Alright, Im looking to get into the polishing in spring/early summer time. Thanks for the information guys.

Any opinions on everything in my cart? Thinkin I may need some more mf's

[cleanmycorolla]

Any opinions on everything in my cart? Thinkin I may need some more mf's

you can never have too many!

[BradsDetailing]

Any recommendations?

[CM8 6MT]

Any recommendations?

Cobras are nice.

[cardaddy]

Brad,

Everything you have so far is perfect, you'll get good use from all of it. You mentioned you were 'thinking' of a PC. Get the Griot's, period. The price difference (if at all) isn't worth even worrying about. The Griot's will run 6½'s & 5½'s just fine. The thing about smaller pads with the PC is you pretty much HAVE TO HAVE them. The other thing though is they are so much cheaper you can get a LOT MORE of them. If you do plan on getting into detailing you will need a lot of each color. Between now and summer, if you have a garage where you can practice, then you can start experimenting with different compounds / polishes and pad color combos.

At the end of the day however, if you plan on doing a car or two in a single day you'll need a lot of pads. You'll find you reach for 2 ~ 3 colors more than the others, maybe only 2 more than the others, and those will be your workhorse pads. It'd do you good to have at least a dozen each of those 2 or 3 colors. When doing a decent sized vehicle you'll have to pull a pad, prime a new one and slap it on and keep working, just don't have time to clean them and wait for them to dry.

Under the heading of not offering more than people need, most clients will only need a wash and a quick AIO, perhaps a liquid/spray wax/sealant to top it off. Take a SUV and a cleaner/wax/aio and you might be able to get it done with half a dozen pads. Simple, quick, down-n-dirty. Do any paint correction and well.... that number goes waaaaaay up. ;)

Realistically, the pads from light cutting (orange) to polishing (blue/black) get the most use where the fine finishing and very fine / jewelling pads don't get a much. For instance, the gold jewelling pad I don't even own. Have very few reds even. But then as they get harder, do more work, etc, the count goes up, IE if you're doing a lot of compounding you'll need a lot of yellow, orange, white for instance. :dunno:

Any-who, welcome to AGO, you've got a really good start. :welcome:

[BradsDetailing]

Im really happy with the cobras I do have. Ive heard good things about adams too.

Thank you very much cardaddy for all your info and experience and sharing it with me. It wont go to waste. Im a perfectionist so everything I'm doing with detailing has to be done right and I have to have the quality products for the job. Any recommended spray sealants?

[RLucky82]

At least bare minimum 3 yellow, 3 orange, 3 green, 3 white, one grey one red and or maybe a blue. 5.5" or 5" plus some 3" pads for tight spots and curves. Don't bother with 6.5" pads. If you really see yourself doing 2 cars on the same weekend you will need to double that.

Yes Adams are great but unless you have a flex 3401 to turn the big 6.5" pads don't bother. You will get more done faster with 5" on the PC!