Help an old school guy out

[Hammered]

I have painted quite a few cars but have always hand finished them after buffing and polishing with a 9" rotary. After spending a ton of time reviewing old posts on this board, I'm still not sure that the Flex 3401 is the best polisher for me, or exactly what pads and number of pads I need to get. I only maintain my personal vehicles (all bc/cc urethane) these days but do have an upcoming job trying to restore an original lacquer paint job on a 79 'vette.

Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Paul A.]

If you have rotary experience i will bet you'll find the Flex a wonderful machine. What was only available to rotary users is now available with the newer DA's (Flex). They can correct with the forced rotation but coupled with an oscillating da orbit that goes from compounding to final finish with ease.

I will be transitioning over from my traditional Lake Country flat 5.5" pads to the new hybrid pads very soon. Look up Mike@DetailedPerfection's post on the Flex 3401 with hybrid pads post.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

I have painted quite a few cars but have always hand finished them after buffing and polishing with a 9" rotary. After spending a ton of time reviewing old posts on this board, I'm still not sure that the Flex 3401 is the best polisher for me, or exactly what pads and number of pads I need to get. I only maintain my personal vehicles (all bc/cc urethane) these days but do have an upcoming job trying to restore an original lacquer paint job on a 79 'vette.

Your help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hi sir,

I have painted a few cars as well using a SATA jet HVLP 4000.

Seeing as you have experience using a rotary, the Flex 3401 will be a natural transition for you. With it being a gear driven DA, you will not have to worry about maintaining pad rotation as well as not worrying about instilling holograms.

I also recommend grabbing some Menzerna FG400 as your compound and SF4000 as your polish as a minimum.

For pads grab the Lake Country Hybrid pads as these were designed for the 3401. I mentioned my article below that I wrote to help others achieve the maximum potential from this setup. There are many pages now of useful information that is worth the read.

Don't hesitate to ask further questions,

Mike


If you have rotary experience i will bet you'll find the Flex a wonderful machine. What was only available to rotary users is now available with the newer DA's (Flex). They can correct with the forced rotation but coupled with an oscillating da orbit that goes from compounding to final finish with ease.

Agreed. Well said.


I will be transitioning over from my traditional Lake Country flat 5.5" pads to the new hybrid pads very soon. Look up Mike@DetailedPerfection's post on the Flex 3401 with hybrid pads post.

Thanks for the mention. Here is the article that he is referring to.
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-university/77155-my-technique-concerning-3401-menzerna-products-hybrid-pads.html

[Loach]

The Flex 3401 is a great all in one machine. It will do everything from compounding to finishing down soft paints to perfection. Now days, you'll find a lot of guys who are still using rotary buffers for the compounding step switch over to a dual action polisher for the finishing polish step to prevent light holograms. That's what I continue to do. But that takes two tools. The Flex is a "safer" tool to use, it's more difficult to burn through paints compared to a rotary, but I've found that the vibration of the tool was a bit of a handle for my brittle hands for me to use it for every step, so I continue to use my Dewalt 849x for compounding and just switch to the Porter Cable for polishing. And I believe those two tools came out to about the same price range as the Flex. The vibration aspect might not be a problem for you, you just have to decide if you want one tool to do it all that I think is ultimately more fool proof and safer, or different tools to suit the specific job you're doing.

As far as pads, I'd start off with a minimum of two pads designated for each step, compounding, polishing, and final polishing. Lake Country makes some great pads.

[Hammered]

Thanks guys - I just spent a ton of time reading up on the suggestions. I never knew there was so much to know about polishing.

Well it sounds like the menzerna and hybrid pads are the way to go, but I don't see a kit with that combo?

Also, what color pads and how many of each do I need?

[Hammered]

Okay - So I have read and read and read posts on what's best.

Most common advice is:
LC backing plate kit
Hybrid pads
Menzerna FG400/SF4000

Question is: Why is there not a kit for this setup if it's so popular? Before I pull the trigger on a big order I want to make sure there isn't a deal I'm missing.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Okay - So I have read and read and read posts on what's best.

Most common advice is:
LC backing plate kit
Hybrid pads
Menzerna FG400/SF4000

Question is: Why is there not a kit for this setup if it's so popular? Before I pull the trigger on a big order I want to make sure there isn't a deal I'm missing.

The setup you listed is perfect. The Hybrid pads are the bee's knee's on the 3401.

As for a kit I'm not sure. I would like to see one put together as well.

For 90% of what is normally accomplished, grab 3 orange, 3 white, and 3 black pads. If you are needing to pull out sanding marks then grab a few of the purple Hybrid wool as well.

As for sizes of pads I generally match up the size of the pad to the panel. So smaller pads for fenders and such and the larger 6.5" pads for hoods.

[Hammered]

Thanks Mike - Of course I would like to see a kit too. Let's see what the man in charge says before I order.

[Hammered]

Anyone from AOG want to answer?

[chevelless414]

Just ordered this "kit" last month haha. Such a great combo. I agree it should be made as a kit!

[Hammered]

Just thought I'd check in and let everyone know what I wound up doing. Like chevelless414 above, I made up my own kit following Mike's recommendation above (also used his technique). I bought three each of the orange, white and black pads, but think I could've gotten by with 3 orange, 2 white and 2 black. I also bought some BlackFire Wet Diamond sealer. I've done three cars now, two easy DDs and one heavy resto. The Flex is absolutely great for medium to light work and far better than my old rotary polishers. It makes those final steps so much easier, I wish I'd gotten this tool years ago.

This is my first experience with the BFWD sealer and with the Flex and black pads, it makes applying sealer so quick. I especially like that I can apply the sealer over the whole car and buff the residue off later. No more trying to catch the sealer within a certain window to buff off. Still need to see how it holds up though.

My heavy resto job was a '79 Corvette, garage find, with all original lacquer paint that had been sitting inside and out since 1988 (before the Berlin Wall fell). The paint had many heavy scratches and deep stains from wet leaves even after a thorough cleaning and clay bar. After two applications of FG400 with the orange pads on a test section, I was getting nowhere so I busted out my old buffer and 9" wool pads with some heavy cut buffing compound and laid into the paint hard. This closed up the paint nicely and got many of the worse defects out. Afterward, I went back to the Flex and used Mike's technique and was thoroughly amazed at the final results. Unfortunately, most of my before pictures got lost so I only have the one below. The close up on the hood is where there were many deep stains.

I would've spent far longer with less satisfying results trying to do the final polish with my rotary or hand polishing. Thanks AG!

[BrandonS]

You will love the combo you bought. It is what I settled on after a few years and lots of cash trying different combos out. I use the same flex3401 and menzerna and hybrid pads. The only time you will reach for a rotary is in extreme situations. I still use mine to compound a boat but always follow up with the flex. enjoy

[Mach1USMC]

Great work and nice purchase. If you like the 3401 may I suggest picking up a PE-14. This combo is amazing - I'm a Flex fan for life now. I've done about 10 details now with this combo and am blown away at how much easier it's made my work.