Newbie Question on DA Polisher Conversion

[JoeyRoland82]

Hello,
Years ago, when I was a young buck, I picked up the latest and great machine of that era: The Ultimate Detailing Machine 1000. I didn't get much use out of it since I managed to burn through clear coat with the heavy cutting pad and compound. Back then, your basic two choices were the UDM and the Porter Cable7424. Fast forward and the former basically flopped with no support for the product. BUT, from what I've read - whether it's true or not - is that the UDM was based on the PC7424.

Well, today I finally found my UDM and it fired right up! I also have all the old/unopened Lake Country pads I picked up along the way and didn't use. Thing is, when I look at my "project" - I notice so much of the car is just glass & windows. And while the 6.5" pads I have would probably be great for someone who actually knew what they were doing, I wanted to see if there was a way to convert the UDM into something smaller so I lessen the risk of burn, (when the clear coat incident happened, I was ignoring a raised line on the car body and not realizing the the pad was contacting that sharp edge). Thinking it's just a modified clone of the old PC7424, I was hoping to find an easy solution for swapping the backing plate, (6 inches I believe but can verify), to something like the smaller ones I see.

So my questions: what does "smaller" mean? Am I looking at 3", 3.5", 4" pads? And does that mean getting a new backing plate of the same size, (provided it's 5/16 or whatever the UDM manual said)? And from what I've seen regarding the Porter Cable - if that's even the path to mimic - is that the a new counter weight was needed but then some argued that only applied when it was used as a sander. If the function is fine and it's just bad from an ergonomic point of view with vibration, I'm okay with that. I guess I should've started with the whole goal here. But my intention is to use the UDM as a mini polisher to give me the best control without investing a lot, (as I'd rather save that for a newer DA down the line). Longer correction time is totally fine. And ANY help is greatly appreciated!

And random: I also found all my old Autogeek invoices/packing slips. Surprisingly, the prices really haven't gone crazy since the 2008 purchase. Sure did seem like I had a thing for Menzerna and Poorboys

[Rsurfer]

Get a 5" backing plate and pads. All DA backing plates are 5/16 thread.

I remember the UDM, but not much more.

[Paul A.]

A while back when still using my PC 7336 i eventually abandoned any pad larger than 5, 5.25 inches. I replaced my 6" bp with a 4.75" and ran 5" pads. It was sooo much better.

I replaced the 6" counterweight with a 5" (2 screws) and noticed it was slightly smoother.

I then went even smaller with a 2.75" bp and 3" pads for a while in tighter spots but didn't like the aggressive throw...a bit harder to control. A 5" counterweight whips around 3" mass likes it's 5"!

Now there are specific small diameter machines that fit those needs.

No experience here with the UDM but if it is similar to the Porter Cables you might want to try 5" bp and pads. Making use of what machine you have is doable.

[JoeyRoland82]

Thanks all! I'm definitely liking the idea of sizing down. Paul, you mentioned 2 3/4 for 3" pads. Would a 3" BP and 3.5" pads kind of accomplish the same thing? From what I read, the earlier UDMs were sort of PC 7424 clones but also "unique", (not sure what that means), but the later UDMs were just 7424XP clones. Unfortunately, I have no clue what "version" UDM I have. I'm just curious in terms of figuring out which counter weights I should be looking for.

Again, thanks for input!

[Paul A.]

3" bp with 3"+ pads is absolutely fine. The point is having just a bit more pad diameter than backing plate diameter esp when working in tighter recesses.

Just be mindful that if you still have a 6" or 5" counterweight it's gonna want to whip that smaller bp/pad somewhat aggressively. But it's workable with good machine control.

I'll be honest and admit i'm doing all my tight corrections with my rotary and 2" pads for that reason...better control.