Best $50 to spend on accessories

[jmikolich]

Hello All,

I received a 7424XP for Christmas this year, with no added accessories or backing plates or anything. I've never used a machine polisher before either so keep that in mind for recommendations.

I've got a small amount of supplies from hand caring for vehicles, but our currently vehicles are new, and I want to keep them looking their best.

In our stable of vehicles: 2016 WRX Premium in Ice Silver Metallic (Light silver), and 2014 VW Tiguan in Black

If you had $50 to spend on accessories or things to make machine polishing possible, what would you buy?

Currently I'm leaning towards the following things (Yes I know they exceed $50, but I'm hoping to stay low key)

Lake Country 5" backing plate
Chemical Guys Assorted Pad Kit with Pad Cleaner in 5.5" pad size

My goal is to be able to wash clay wash vehicles, then apply a glaze by machine, then apply wax by machine and wipe off by hand. The vehicles have no major defects currently so no real cutting should be needed (though I could be wrong and just untrained)

What do you guys/gals think?

[Zelfiris]

If you're not aiming to do paint correction, I would not recommend to purchase the 5" backing plate at this time.

Do you have enough brushes for detailing? Maybe a wheel woolie brush for the wheels?

[Setec Astronomy]

I haven't used these pads, but you could get 2 white, 2 black, and 1 red for $48, or skip the white if you really think you don't need any polishing, or 2 white, 1 black, 1 red (polish/glaze/wax) for $32, then you have money left over for the backing plate and stay under $50:

Porter Cable 7424 Backing Plates- Dual Action Hook & Loop backing plate for your porter cable 7424, The best backing plates for the Porter Cable 7424
Lake Country ThinPro Foam Pad System 5.5 Inch

[JeffM]

I would get a white thin pro pad and a bottle of essence, a bottle of reload and call it a day.

[PaulMys]

$50 will be a stretch. But if you've got a hundred to spend, then you could get a nice 6-pack of 5.5'" pads of your choosing for just under $50, and a CCS spot buffs 4" complete kit for around the same price.

Oh..... Then you need your products.

Bottom line is, you are going to get hooked on, and become an Autogeek junkie just like the rest of us. :P

[cleanmycorolla]

$50 isn't going to get your far, and keep in mind they're two different cars, two different paint systems, you never know how each will react to the only one product you're purchasing. I'd save up some more if I were you, invest in quality pads, towels, brushes, more towels, nice paint cleaner and a sealant. And also, just because a car is new, doesn't mean it swirl free. You should clay, check for possible corrections that are needed who knows what crap they used to hide swirls and such.

[custmsprty]

$50 isn't going to get your far, and keep in mind they're two different cars, two different paint systems, you never know how each will react to the only one product you're purchasing. I'd save up some more if I were you, invest in quality pads, towels, brushes, more towels, nice paint cleaner and a sealant. And also, just because a car is new, doesn't mean it swirl free. You should clay, check for possible corrections that are needed who knows what crap they used to hide swirls and such.

And combined what is your total investment in those two cars? Not being facetious but you're setting your sights pretty low to spend $50.00 or so to protect the investment you've made into those two vehicles.

You can get this combination for less than $100.00 and take great care of both of those vehicles. I'm guessing you have about a $45,000 investment plus interest in those two vehicle unless you paid cash.

Get the Buff & Shine 6 pack, 2 orange, 2 white, 2 black. Use HD Speed and HD Poxy and you can get results like this:

HD Speed Orange B & S Pads topped with HD Poxy Using Black Pads.

[cardaddy]

Yeah... I'm with the others, $50 really is just a drop in the bucket.

Lets not even talk about towels yet, because you need AT LEAST a dozen (like the Gold Plush Jr's) and even then that's not enough to compound, then polish, then wipe LSP of a vehicle. Much less have enough to make a decent wash load. That's where you'll need a couple dozen Jr's (or more), and at least half a dozen Korean edgeless, plus several more plush, as well as general purpose towels. (That big membership store with Cost in it's name, followed by co at the end, has a great deal on 36 towels that are perfect for wheels, jambs, interiors and such.)

So we'll put the towels aside for now.


So you're going to do some buffing and polishing, and surely spreading LSP like sealants and waxes with your new PC.

This is where you NEED:

• a 5" backing plate
• at LEAST half a dozen pads!
• a pad brush

Considering the paint on your Subie is known to be soft (some are uber soft) you might just get away with white pads as your highest cut ones. If that holds true I'd get 3 if not 4 white pads. Then I'd get 2 or 3 blue ones. Or 2 blue ones and 1 black one.

Better yet is 4 orange, 4 white, 2 blue, 2 black. Why? Because THAT is what it takes to get the job(s) done. What you'll find with a lot of compounds and polishes these days is the white pads (and the orange, albeit to a bit lesser degree) are by far the ones you'll use on more jobs. On soft paints white pads can cut well enough (with a more aggressive compound) to get the job done. Yet they are not a heavy cut pad, so with a polish they have the ability to actually finish down quite well, especially on harder paints.

Finally... only your test spots will tell you what actually works for YOU, on YOUR vehicles. Don't discount that. Don't go too aggressive either. You just need to practice with more than one pad, more than one compound, till you find what works best for EACH of your vehicles.

So THIS is what people are talking about when they say $50 isn't going to go far. But considering you have the PC, if you PLAN ON USING IT, then your only REAL choice is to invest in a proper backing plate, and a proper amount of pads to start realizing the true potential of what that machine is capable of doing for you.

[Don M]

At some point you WILL need to do some kind of correction so it might be wise to get at least a couple medium polishing pads (such as the Meg thin yellow pad) and stay with the 5" backing plate and 5.5" pads as they are generally the best performing size for the PC. I too have to "sneak" detailing supplies and often slip them in while grocery shopping or if buying on-line, I slip in something for her too

$100 sounds about right for an initial outlay for the basics though.

[Dan Tran]

Yeah... I'm with the others, $50 really is just a drop in the bucket.

Lets not even talk about towels yet, because you need AT LEAST a dozen (like the Gold Plush Jr's) and even then that's not enough to compound, then polish, then wipe LSP of a vehicle. Much less have enough to make a decent wash load. That's where you'll need a couple dozen Jr's (or more), and at least half a dozen Korean edgeless, plus several more plush, as well as general purpose towels. (That big membership store with Cost in it's name, followed by co at the end, has a great deal on 36 towels that are perfect for wheels, jambs, interiors and such.)

So we'll put the towels aside for now.


So you're going to do some buffing and polishing, and surely spreading LSP like sealants and waxes with your new PC.

This is where you NEED:

• a 5" backing plate
• at LEAST half a dozen pads!
• a pad brush

Considering the paint on your Subie is known to be soft (some are uber soft) you might just get away with white pads as your highest cut ones. If that holds true I'd get 3 if not 4 white pads. Then I'd get 2 or 3 blue ones. Or 2 blue ones and 1 black one.

Better yet is 4 orange, 4 white, 2 blue, 2 black. Why? Because THAT is what it takes to get the job(s) done. What you'll find with a lot of compounds and polishes these days is the white pads (and the orange, albeit to a bit lesser degree) are by far the ones you'll use on more jobs. On soft paints white pads can cut well enough (with a more aggressive compound) to get the job done. Yet they are not a heavy cut pad, so with a polish they have the ability to actually finish down quite well, especially on harder paints.

Finally... only your test spots will tell you what actually works for YOU, on YOUR vehicles. Don't discount that. Don't go too aggressive either. You just need to practice with more than one pad, more than one compound, till you find what works best for EACH of your vehicles.

So THIS is what people are talking about when they say $50 isn't going to go far. But considering you have the PC, if you PLAN ON USING IT, then your only REAL choice is to invest in a proper backing plate, and a proper amount of pads to start realizing the true potential of what that machine is capable of doing for you.

Take it from this guy...and me!

My life summed up when I first started. I told my wife I can do everything with $150. DIDN'T GET FAR!

so like many will say just be prepared for what your geek future holds.

I will applaud you for seeking guidance here on AGO instead of on your own. You will learn MUCHO!