Holograms on fresh paint

[glfnaz]

Conner.... dude.... you humble me brother.

You know.... that whole thing that you see on SO (freaking) MANY *other* forums these days where a new guy comes in and asks questions and somebody spouts off dribble about "you should search, use the search". yada yada yada... THAT JUST ERKS ME! I'm sure you know as well as I do that the "search" doesn't exactly work like you/me/we would like it to. Heck, I get better results if I use Google to search, (and add Autogeek, Cardaddy, Conman, etc. to the search terms) than ANY forum software search comes up with. Of course that surely has to do with the way the software works. In that it DOES NOT use "boolean operators" when doing searches.

I'll be the first to admit that I *CERTAINLY* don't know (anywhere near) what many do, especially those that do this day-in, day-out.... but I DO know what I 'know', (and especially what I read). Hopefully I can at least attempt to share what I know (and of course by extension what I've read). After all, what is an education (from elementary, to graduate school) if not reading, practicing, and putting that knowledge to use?

But sure... I'd be glad to have stickies out there. Perhaps you/someone should run that up the flagpole 'round dese' hear parts. I know there isn't a week goes by that I don't get messages about microfiber! Which is why CarMomma keeps telling me I need to at least have some sort of blog...... (to which I generally roll my eyes thinking to myself that nobody wants to know all the junk that is rattling around inside my head).

Annnnneeeeee-----whooooooo thanks again Conner for your kind words my friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cardaddy is the best. When I've asked for advice (being a newbie) he's always got great words of wisdom to help out.

[conman1395]

Conner.... dude.... you humble me brother.

You know.... that whole thing that you see on SO (freaking) MANY *other* forums these days where a new guy comes in and asks questions and somebody spouts off dribble about "you should search, use the search". yada yada yada... THAT JUST ERKS ME! I'm sure you know as well as I do that the "search" doesn't exactly work like you/me/we would like it to. Heck, I get better results if I use Google to search, (and add Autogeek, Cardaddy, Conman, etc. to the search terms) than ANY forum software search comes up with. Of course that surely has to do with the way the software works. In that it DOES NOT use "boolean operators" when doing searches.

I'll be the first to admit that I *CERTAINLY* don't know (anywhere near) what many do, especially those that do this day-in, day-out.... but I DO know what I 'know', (and especially what I read). Hopefully I can at least attempt to share what I know (and of course by extension what I've read). After all, what is an education (from elementary, to graduate school) if not reading, practicing, and putting that knowledge to use?

But sure... I'd be glad to have stickies out there. Perhaps you/someone should run that up the flagpole 'round dese' hear parts. I know there isn't a week goes by that I don't get messages about microfiber! Which is why CarMomma keeps telling me I need to at least have some sort of blog...... (to which I generally roll my eyes thinking to myself that nobody wants to know all the junk that is rattling around inside my head).

Annnnneeeeee-----whooooooo thanks again Conner for your kind words my friend.

Of course! Regarding searching Autogeek, I haven't used the search for over a year. I search using Google's site search function
Just type the search and at site:autogeekonline.net

Example:
Microfiber towel suggestions site:autogeekonline.net

Works great.

[custmsprty]

Get a Griots' GG6

[cardaddy]

I just took your advice on that deal $97 shipped : ))). I didn't think it would actually take that many pads, but I appreciate the heads up. I just assumed the pads would be able to go straight through since I know they can last a while.

Regardless what I saved with going with the GG6 I'll use to get more pads!

I just have to remember to order a 5" backing plate!

Glad you got the GG6 deal!

Suggested it to two guys the last few days, one of which found out it's out of stock at AAP. Maybe you bought the last one!?!?

In any event, they still have the SKU as active, so should be getting more in. (This I confirmed yesterday by chatting with a rep from AAP. Which BTW wants one himself!)

Wow! Glad I read this post. I had NO idea it would take that many pads either. I thought I had plenty....... guess I need to double up just to be safe.

Yeah... just search on pad overheating, or failure, etc. There are PLENTY of examples that should have you adding pads to your cart ASAP.







That aside....

Yep, you should see how many pads I have. When I first ordered them when I first bought the GG6 (and didn't know any better than to order 6½" pads). What I *DID* know then though was to order way more than I needed. At that time I had no less than 5 vehicles here at the house, a Pontiac, Denali, and a Cadillac all from GM, yet all with different paint. Then had a 4Runner and of course my lil' G35.

By and large you'll need more of the middle pads (in the cut spectrum) than anything else. Focus on orange, white and blue. ESPECIALLY white ones as you can use them both for compounding AND final finishing.

Of course if you are working with CCS pads.... and I have more of them than anything else, (in both sizes) you also have the green CCS pad to add to the mix. Its REALLY soft (firmness wise) but has more cut than the white pad, less than the orange, but isn't anywhere NEAR as firm as either of them. It actually is soft like a red pad (if not softer), but has cut to it.

The gold pad is likely a waste of your time (and money). Sure... it's crazy soft, and will finesse down (soft) paint with something like Menzerna SF4500 to the nth degree. But with the plethora of polishes we have these days, the red pad (or even the black one) is likely all you'll ever need.

Honestly though... I have three times as much in my pads as I do in the GG6. And that was BEFORE I even bought another buffer! Truth be told... one of the main reasons I bought the Flex 3401 was to use all these darned 6½" pads I have that I never used with the GG6 for all these years. That puppy (the Flex) will go to town with a big fat pad and never blink an eye doing it.

Now of course I also drank the Kool-Aid and ordered a mess of the hybrid pads (along with the LC backing plate kit) when I bought the Flex. But you know what? I actually think those pads are too small for the Flex with the weight and size of the machine. I mean SURE they help keep it from 'walking', but technique can help that more than a pad EVER will. They are nice, but you ALSO have to remember that the color convention that goes along with the Lake Country pads that we've known all these years is thrown out the window when it comes to these puppies. I mean tangerine... then cyan... say WHAT? They are surely not orange, nor blue, nooooooo it's tangerine and cyan, and a totally different pad on the cut scale!

[Jester2893]

I just wanted to thank everyone who helped me, I got all my wonderful stuff in today .

Since some of my car was painted and some wasnt this is the steps I am going to follow first.

Wash car
Clay parts of car that wasn't just painted
Attempt two test spots with Menzerna 4000 via white pad (test spot on fresh paint & on older paint)
*If I'm satisfied with test spots I'll do the whole car the same way, and possibly finish over the freshly painted panels with Menzerna 4000 and a black pad.

Here is where I'm trying to figure out the best course of action. If I'm not satisfied with the level of correction of Menzerna 4000 and a white pad, should I step to the 4000 and orange pad, or should I go to the 2500 and white pad/orange pad or should I always use less abrasive polishes first with more cutting power pads so like in this order:

Attempt:
4000 with white if fails then,
4000 with orange if fails then,
2500 with white if fails then,
2500 with orange