GC 6" - Pre-buy questions

[RAMRebel]

Wow! Thanks everyone and especially Mike! Help like this is one of the many reasons I buy ALL my stuff from Autogeek!

And special thanks to everyone for having patience with a beginner!

[RAMRebel]

Last question (I think!) :-)

Should I go with the 7/8" or 1-1/4" Hydro-Tech pads? I don't know what the reasons and applications for the thicknesses are? Apologies if this is in some of the links Mike posted, I haven't had the chance to look through them yet...

[dmayer]

I use a GG6 with a 6" backing plate and 6" Griots orange pad for compounding/polishing and it works fine (I've not used a 5" backing plate and 5" pad though so I can't comment on these being better). I use a red pad for waxes and sealants. A red pad for the Collinite 845 is just fine since when you're applying waxes/sealants, you aren't correcting/cutting (unless you're using an all in one product such as HD Speed, in which case you wouldn't use a red pad anyway).

The baggie test is to see if you have any embedded contaminants or anything stuck to the top of the paint that you can FEEL. If you feel the baggie sticking, you should clay the surface. If you clay, spray plenty of clay lube as the clay should be very slippery and glide as you move it across the paint. Detail sprays seem to work very well for me for clay lubricants.

To determine if you need to compound/polish, you need to LOOK at the paint under a bright light source/sun at the proper angle to see if there are swirl marks or scratches. Walk around your truck to get the correct angle for the light to reflect onto the paint and you will see swirl marks if there are any. I have also found from parking way out in a Wallymart parking lot at night under the parking lot lights that it will show you all the swirls you want to see (or not want to see of course). If you do find swirl marks that stare at you and drive you crazy, that is when you compound or polish. The way I understand it, many of the compounds available these days finish down to a nice shine and you don't need to polish afterwards. I have used the Griots BOSS Compound and I'm very happy with the shine after using it with an orange pad. After wiping down the surface, I then just apply a wax/sealant with a red pad or by hand (I like to apply a nice wax with a soft foam hand applicator instead of machine).

Also remember: You don't have to do the entire truck in one day. You can do a panel or two a day. That way you don't feel like you're killing yourself. I am just a hobbyist who works on his own cars and I can't usually spend a whole Saturday and/or Sunday to work on my car (wife won't let me get away with it, and my body feels exhausted if I do it - I'm upper 50's with a bad back), but I can compound and wax/seal a panel in an hour, not feel exhausted, and just enjoy the experience. Then I just use a detail spray (I love Crystal Mist) to keep the finished panels looking good.

Also, unless you drop the GG6 on the paint or keep the GG6 in one place with compound for a VERY long time, you won't damage the paint. Do a few passes (alternate vertically and horizontally over a 2' x 2' or 3' by 3' section) moving along slowly- about 4 overlapping passes in each direction) applying some pressure, and then after that, a couple of passes with light pressure, and it should finish fine.

By the way, the Griots Garage pads are very good quality. Get an orange one and a red one (or two of each, especially the orange) and you'll be fine.

Just my $.02. Have fun! Autogeek has lots of products to try and spend your money on. ha!

[2pennies]

I do not believe so. While I love my GG6, and most of the Griots stuff I have, they are good at making you pay for options. The 5" backing plate will run you about 20.00

OR you could just purchase one HERE.

There is a sale offering $5 shipping right now. You could purchase the Pinnacle and the Backing plate in the same purchase for a lower price than ordering them individually. If it weren't for my free Amazon Prime account, I wouldn't ever buy from anywhere but here.

[Mike Phillips]

Last question (I think!) :-)

Should I go with the 7/8" or 1-1/4" Hydro-Tech pads? I don't know what the reasons and applications for the thicknesses are?

Thick pads absorb the power coming out of tools like these and disipate it. This shows up to your eyes as pad stalling or no pad rotation. You NEED pad rotation to remove swirls and scratches.

Thin pads work best on free spinning tools like the GG6 that's why the entire industry has changed from making THICK PADS for free spinning tools to THIN pads for free spinning tools and I'd actually like to think that some of my work in the industry is the cause for this evolution.

I cover this in 3 of my how-to books,

• The Art of Detailing
  
• The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine
  
• How to detail boats with Marine 31
  

And I recently wrote two new articles on this topic...

5.5" SUPER THIN FOAM PAD OPTIONS for your Dual Action Polisher



Super thin 5.5" foam buffing pads






The primary benefit to super thin foam pads is that free spinning orbital polishers are able to rotate and oscillate these pads better than thick pads.


What does this mean to you?

You can compound and polish paint to perfection faster than ever before when using orbital polishers like the Porter Cable 7424XP or the Griot's Garage 6" DA polisher.



Currently Autogeek carries three brands of super thin foam pads,


From left to right

Lake Country 5.5" ThinPro foam pads

Griot's Garage BOSS 5.5" foam pads

Meguiar's 5.5" foam discs









Lake Country 5.5" ThinPro foam pads






Griot's Garage BOSS 5.5" foam pads






The Griot's BOSS foam pads are unique from the rest in that they have a hole in the center of the pad.





Meguiar's 5.5" foam discs





Thinner, smaller pads rotate and oscillate easier simply because they have less mass. Not only do they rotate better because they have less mass but since there is less mass pad saturation is not as influential of a factor as it is for thick pads on dual action polishers.




On Autogeek.com

It's a good idea to purchase a backing plate from the same company you purchase your pads so that way you know you're the velcro attachment system for the pads and the backing plate will match.


Lake Country

Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 5.5 inch


Lake Country 5" Dual-Action Hook & Loop Flexible Backing Plate




Griot's

5.5 Inch BOSS Pads

6.5 Inch BOSS Pads

Griots Garage 5 Inch Vented Orbital Backing Plate




Meguiar's

Meguiars 5 Inch DA Foam Discs

Meguiars Soft Buff DBP5 DA Polisher 5 inch Backing Plate



Need a dual action polisher?

Below are the simple, safe and easy to learn how to use dual action polishers available at Autogeek.com

These tool all offer an 8mm orbit stroke length and work best with the thin pads and matching backing plates shared in this article. These tools all operate the same way just some of them use a longer body style for those that prefer a traditional shaped polisher.

Note: Some polishers are available with a heavy duty 25' electrical cord pre-wired into the tool. These are exclusive to Autogeek and when purchased through Autogeek you get the same factory warranty as the version with the stock electrical cord. The longer cord enables you to safe time because you don't have to mess around with extension cords coming un-plugged. The 25' cords also use the recommended heavy gauge wire to protect the tools electronics. Using an extension cord that uses light gauge wiring can damage your tool and void your warranty. Wiring in your own extended cord will void your warranty.



Porter Cable 7424XP - Standard cord

Porter Cable 7424XP - HD Cord - 25' Heavy Duty Cord already pre-wired

Griot's Garage 6" ROP - Standard cord

Griots Garage 6 Inch Heavy Duty Random Orbital Polisher - HD Cord - 25' Heavy Duty Cord already pre-wired

Meguiars MT300 Dual Action Polisher

Chemical Guys TORQ 10FX Random Orbital Polisher

Shurhold DA Polisher

[Mike Phillips]

Last question (I think!) :-)

Should I go with the 7/8" or 1-1/4" Hydro-Tech pads?

I would go with open cell foam pads like the ones I show in my article I just shared in this thread. Hydro-Tech pads are closed cell and don't tend to hold up as well over time as open cell.

I explain why in "The Art of Detailing", it has to do with tensile strength. I think it may have been left out of the updated version, "The Complete Guide to a Show Car Shine" but I'm not sure why it was left out?

[RAMRebel]

Thanks Mike! You really should consider a career in detailing, and possibly contributing to a kick-ass detailing website and forum... I think you have the knack, and would be really great at it!! <jk>

[RAMRebel]

Man I have never been so glad I asked these questions BEFORE I bought something! I've definitely been enabled to succeed with all the help I've received!! Heh, nice rhyme lol...