By hand or DAP?

[Aub1e]

I recently purchased a 03 Tahoe. It is in much need of a detail. I have a DAP but I am all out of pads. I was hoping to spend the weekend giving the Tahoe a waxing, etc. but NO PADS! There are no retailers in my area that carry pads that will fit or any that I am interested in. Should I postpone the detail project and order some pads or just do it by hand? I plan to compound/polish/wax. IYO will I get the same results? I am sure that doing it by hand will take longer and require allot of physical labor.

Thanks,

JRW

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Personally I would never try to compound or polish an entire car by hand.

If you were just going to wax I would do it by hand, but it's best to wait and have all the tools and products you need to get the best result.

[Srtonly]

If done by hand u can have uneven application of wax polish or even compound first I would recommend test coating the vehicle like a 2x2 section to see if that helps with oxidation and tree sap if it does do the vehicle so it looks detailed and continue to find the pads and everything what kind of DA do you have?

[Aub1e]

Thanks guys for the responses. I am gonna wait and order some pads and do it right. I live in Florida, on the emerald coast, and the salt air is very damaging. I wanna make sure I do it correctly. I have a Porter Cable 7424XP. I have always used Meguiars pads. I am wanting to try the Lake Country brand. What LC colors do yall reccommend? I am thinking of oredering the 6 pack of CCS pads? I have no idea what colors I need. Or do I need to Hydro-Tech pads? I will be using the following products: Meguiars Ultimate Compound, Meguiars Ultimate Polish, and Meguiars Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax. All are liquid products.

Thanks,

JRW

[ski2]

Get a 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads. Allot of great pads out there, but IMO flat pads offer the most effective correction. Hydro Tech pads at least offer a simple solution in that there are only 3 levels of aggressivenes.

[Aub1e]

Get a 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads. Allot of great pads out there, but IMO flat pads offer the most effective correction. Hydro Tech pads at least offer a simple solution in that there are only 3 levels of aggressivenes.

Thanks ski2. I have a 5" backing plate. The Hydro-Tech pads drew my intrest for that exact reason...simplicity! :xyxthumbs: I do not mind putting allot of time into it. It usually takes me 2.5 days (around 20 hours) to do a vehicle front to back/inside & out/ top to bottom. I like to take my time and get excellent results. I think allot of how the final result is 30% product and 70% effort and attention to "detail".

Thanks

[Srtonly]

Ill send u a pic of lake county pad descriptions so you have a better ideal ok

[Aub1e]

Ill send u a pic of lake county pad descriptions so you have a better ideal ok


Great! Thanks!