Check my shopping list - Newbie!

[ear2ear]

Hey guys great site - I'm going to buy everything over Black Friday - Cyber Monday.

Vehicle: 2009 GMC Sierra

Paint: Carbon Black Metallic (mostly stock - some repainted by body shop)

Problem: Needs a minor paint correction. I always hand wash, but it is 4 years old. Also has slight BISO.

Please check my list: Most is easy except a couple questions...

(already have clay)
PC 7424XP - maybe the HF cheapo
5" LC backing plate
5.5" LC flat pads

I want to go with Menzerna products...
PF 2500 with orange pad.
SF 4000 or SF 4500 (can't decide) with white pad.
WDGPS 3.0 with black pad.

I need a little help choosing between SF4000 & 4500. Black paint, but I've read the GMC clearcoat is hard. I don't know what clearcoats the body shops used...

For the pads - am I good with 3 orange, 2 white, and 1 black? I'm hoping to get away with buying a 6 pack.

Also need some MF towels, so I plan on the Combo pack to get a good sampling.

What do you all think?

[Pureshine]

I would get the Griot's instead of the PC I think is a better polisher and I would get Menz FG400. You need a 5inch backing plate for the Griot's I think it comes with a 6inch.

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Griots DA -- Griots haves more power than the PC.
Menz F400
Menz SF4500
2 Orange
3 White
1 Black



You might not even need to use the orange cutting pad with FG400. I use FG400 with a polishing pad as my one step compound/polish for daily drivers with lots of swirls and RIDS.

FG400 with polish pad and flex 3401.









I suspect with your car being black you'll need to use SF4500 after FG400 to really enhance the gloss and clarity of the paint.

[ear2ear]

Thanks guys. You both suggest FG400... Do I really need something that aggressive? The truck isn't terrible so I was thinking middle of the road on that chart. Is my BISO dictating the FG400?

Those are some great before & after pics.

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

What is biso?

PF 2500 will probably work, I just prefer fg400. Your product and pad will decide the level of correction, so while it might have the highest rated cut with a cutting pad, if you use a polishing pad it will reduce the cut, thus being a more vesititle product. If you buy PF 2500 and it's not enough cut you really can't add more cut, if you're already using it with a cutting pad.

The Griots and PC DA aren't the most powerful machines either, so you'll also need to take that into consideration.

[ear2ear]

Haha - I've done enough reading on AG to pick up a few acronyms...
BISO = bodyshop installed swirl option

Thanks for the help that makes sense. Maybe I was a little scared of a full compound.

I guess I don't mind the lack of power. If I can do it in a weekend or 2 that's fine. Trying not to spend too much for now.

[Scott@IncrediblyDetailed]

Haha - I've done enough reading on AG to pick up a few acronyms...
BISO = bodyshop installed swirl option

Thanks for the help that makes sense. Maybe I was a little scared of a full compound.

I guess I don't mind the lack of power. If I can do it in a weekend or 2 that's fine. Trying not to spend too much for now.

Just do a test spot.

Arm speed, pressure, machine and pad all play a role in correction. Start a test spot with SF4500 and a polishing pad and see what happens, that might work (depending on the hardness of your paint). If not switch to FG400 (or PF if you go that route) with a polishing pad, light pressure and slow arm speed and see how that works out.