Looking to upgrade from a Porter Cable

[drewberg11]

I'm thinking about upgrading from my PC 7424xp. Some background:

I've had it for roughly three years. I owe it a lot of thanks as I was pretty terrified of trying my luck at detailing my own car. Knew nothing at the time and thought I'd just add more swirls or make the car worse. With the forums and autogeeks videos I took the plunge and haven't looked back. I've been keeping up with my own car, my wife's, and my fathers for general swirl and light scratch removal. For pads I've been using the 5.5" LC hydro tech tangerine which have cleaned up just about everything I've needed to with either Optimum Hyper Polish or the Wolfgang Swirl Remover & Finishing glaze.

Just last week I had to do my whole car again (last time was a little over a year ago) and I really grew frustrated with the PC. It cleaned everything up great but between the vibration, speed of correction (felt like watching paint dry), and difficulty using on tighter concave and convex panels, I'm really thinking of selling it and upgrading.

I have also had a couple relatives asking if I could do their cars after them asking who detailed mine so I'd like something that can get the job done a little quicker.

What I'm looking for is a smooth machine (less vibration), light, quicker correcting ability (can move across the panels a little faster while still correcting), AND the ability to do some smaller, narrower panels. Especially with my personal vehicle, a 2009 Subaru Legacy GT. It has some real pain spots for my current 5.5" pads, like the rear trunk next to the license plate, roof just in front of the sun roof, A pillars, and lower kick panel below the doors (picture attached below).

I've read a bunch on the different machines like the Flex 3401, Rupes 15ES Big Foot, and Rupes 12E Duetto. I'm sitting with information overload from all the threads out there. Depends which you look at all the above machines are recommended. I'm not looking to spend an enormous amount of money so I was hoping for one machine that suits all those needs. What would you suggest? Is the 15ES going to be too big for the thin or tight panels? Will the Duetto get the job done any faster than the PC?

[drewberg11]

[Eldorado2k]

Your absolute cheapest upgrade package would be:
Meguiars 5" Thin Foam Discs or 5" Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pads.
Lake Country 3" Backing Plate.
Lake Country 3.5" ThinPro Foam Pads.
Griots Garage Fast Correcting Compound.

Honorable Mention: HFDA.
That's if you want to keep it budget wise while still upgrading from what you have.^

Next step up: Griots Garage Boss 21.
Turn your current PC into a dedicated 3.5" pad polisher w/previously mentioned backing plate & pads for smaller areas.

[zmcgovern45]

Here's the thing about machines like the Porter Cable and Griot's Garage 3rd Gen DA... they are very versatile. You can use a 6.5", 5.5", 4", and 3" pad very easily to accomidate all of your needs. Sure, the PC is a little rough on the body as it requires more time, effort, and it can be a little shaky in the hands... but it is a great little machine. The GG 3rd Gen machine is a small step up in terms of power and feel, but they're very close so it would not be worth your time really.

We use all Rupes machines in the shop, but the downside is that you must have various machines for various pad sizes... Rupes LHR21 for 5.5" & 6.5", Rupes LHR15 for 5.5", Rupes LHR75e for 3" & 4", and Rupes Nano for anything smaller than 3". If you buy the Rupes LHR21 & Rupes LHR 75e to cover the majority of your needs, you're still dropping a lot of money on machines. So that kind of rules them out of the equation for you IMO.

The Flex 3401 has the ability to use various backing plates and is considerably more powerful than your PC. Perhaps this is your best option with your goal of only having one machine to accomplish everything. You may want to seek out other members in your area to see if you could give some different machines a test run before making your decision. It is hard to go on text based information alone - you need to feel the different machines in your hand and see which one fits your needs best while working.

[MarkD51]

I was going to mention what Eldorado2K mentions above.

While I've never used any of the Rupes to comment much, you may like some of the features, as you wish for, a smoother, quieter machine, but with the larger Rupes, you'd no doubt still be in the same boat with a large machine that cannot get into the tighter areas.

I'm also of the belief that the Rupes doesn't have the capability of swapping backing plates, that they are proprietary to their machines.

Thinner Pads, and various backing plates can make the PC a more versatile machine, and would probably help its efficiency with pad rotation.

If you have a decent air compressor, one less expensive option (rather than the Rupes I-BRID) for a much smaller machine could possibly be the little Griots Garage pneumatic DA.

http://www.autogeek.net/griots-garag...-polisher.html

[jkrig]

What I did was to get the bigger/better machine of choice (Rupes 21 in my case) that allowed me to correct faster but I kept my PC and swapped to a 3" backing plate to use for the occasional tight spots, headlights etc....

[WillSports3]

Keep your porter just get a smaller backing plate and pads for the smaller spots. If you want another polisher, the flex 3401 is a great choice. So are any of the Boss or Rupes polishers.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Flex 3401 and LC FORCE foam pads.

[Mantilgh]

I don't have a PC to compare it to, but the Duetto would be an upgrade. It has a larger orbit, not as big as the 15 or 21, but has a higher rpm than them. It should have less tendency to stall because of the smaller orbit. I've never had many problems with it not rotating on curved panels, a slight adjustment usually solves any.

If you do get an upgrade, like said, set your PC up with a smaller backing plate.

[Paul A.]

I'm of the same opinion as jkrig and Will and that is, if your budget allows, to keep your PC and outfit it with 3" BP and pads for the tighter areas. Then, get a Flex 3401 for the larger, overall areas.