Thinking about getting a DA

[timbo7]

So ive been lurking on here for a few weeks now and bought a few products already. Like waxes and sealants and towels. I also bought some Meguiers UC and UP a week ago but I dont feel like applying by hand. Since I only do my car (black Subaru Legacy GT) and my wifes (Black Acura TL) I was looking at the Harbor Freight DA. My car looks pretty good for a 7 year old car but my wifes has a lot of swirls. I was thinking of washing, claying, UC, UP, Klasse SG, and finally collinite 845. I have all of that stuff purchased but dont have a da or pads.

This would be my first da so im confused as to which pads I should be getting for the HF da. I also read somewhere about a different backing plate. Links would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help so far. This is a great forum and website.

[Eandras]

If you posts pictures of the cars. This will allow members to determine what correction method is needed.

As far as pads I use the lake county CCS pads. Orange for compound, white for polish, black for finish polish, red for wax application. 5.5" pads with the 5" backing plate

Ed

[BobbyG]

Ed's spot on with his advice!

5 1/2" pads are the optimum size for this style of machine except for maybe the Griot's dual action because of its 850 watt motor. That said, even the most powerful dual action polishes are easy to handle with this size pad...

[Garnetmica]

Hey Timbo, I picked up the Harbor Freight DA and found that my backing plate was very stable and did not wiggle at all. It did however overlap the Velcro on the pads causing premature wear and failure of the pads. I opted to swap out the backing plate for a 5" one I found on Amazon: Genuine Mazda Miata Club Dash Stripe in Red

I bought a few test pads from Harbor Freight and a couple Meguiars pads. I first played with the Harbor Freight polishing pad and some 205 on my daily driver. It did a great job of polishing but did not cut. I didn't have any fresh 105, so I went to the Compound cutting pad with the 205 and it bit a little better. So I moved to my MX5 and its very dark, Stormy Blue Mica. I started with the cutting pad and 205 to clean the panels with RIDS and then moved to the Meguiars Swirl Remover and the HF polishing pads. Then Wolfgang finishing glaze 3.0 with the polishing pads. Aside from the factory orange peal, the car looks like a mirror.

I will say that the HF pads degrade rather quickly, the Compound pad more than the others. The finish pad worked very well. At $3 a pad they can be cleaned (which I have done as well, but easy to throw away. I'm sealing the car with Wolfgang Sealant 3.0 and topping with Wolfgang Fuzion.

[timbo7]

If you posts pictures of the cars. This will allow members to determine what correction method is needed.

As far as pads I use the lake county CCS pads. Orange for compound, white for polish, black for finish polish, red for wax application. 5.5" pads with the 5" backing plate

Ed

Thanks for all the quick replys. Ill get a picture up of my wifes car later. Shes not home now.

I see AG.net has those pads on a 6pack deal. Think ill get that. Which ones should I get double of? What product would I use with the black pad? The Klasse sealant?

I see theres a few different backing plates on here. Does it matter which one I get?

[timbo7]

Here are the pictures of my wifes car. Mine has a few swirls but not this bad. Does my plan above sound good or are other actions required?

[timbo7]

Bump

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using AG Online

[Mulehead]

Hi Timbo - Welcome from another new guy. So I've learned quite a bit in the last couple weeks. I started off with just a single pad in each grade...one orange, white, black etc...and quickly found out that i was spending way too much time cleaning pads, so the more the merrier. 3 of each i find works well, i can get through half my car without pausing too much.

My 3-series was in pretty bad shape for being a 2011. Lots of deep swirls and scratches. I found that using good Orange pads and M105 really cuts out a lot of work. I have completed the front end and I'm happy with it.........finally!

I used M105 with an orange pad with a couple drops of baby oil to work the product a little longer...still not quite comfortable with that process but as my technique improves it's getting better.

I followed that with ChemGuys v36 and v38 with orange and white pads respectively. I bought a set of Lake City Hydro pads that I'll be using for this step on the rest of the car...using the Tangerine and Crimson pads respectively.

I'll be finishing with a CG Glaze (speed 4 works well for me) on black pads...light pressure and minimal product.

Then JetSeal 109 and 50/50 by hand.

One thing I learned....sorta the hard way....don't over load your pads with product once they're primed. Also, slow down your speed as the pads get progressively softer. I burned up a white pad with too much product and too much speed.

I highly recommend getting a good DA - I went with the PC and it's great. (not that i know any different as it's my first one, but it's built well and runs great)

Clay bar is critical of course - you will notice a huge improvement in the health of the paint after this step.

I have used Klasse products in the past and really like AIO. I have not had much success with their polish, but it was probably my inexperience. There are many good products out there - All the lines Geek carries are well proven....Check out Wolfgang as well. Have heard good things about that line.

Have fun!

[FishyX]

You can get the Griots GG6 pretty cheap from Advance Auto with a good coupon code. I just grabbed one a few weeks ago for $95.00 shipped.

[goodinblack]

Ed's spot on with his advice!

5 1/2" pads are the optimum size for this style of machine except for maybe the Griot's dual action because of its 850 watt motor. That said, even the most powerful dual action polishes are easy to handle with this size pad...

So what is optimal for the gg6?