Hi there!

I've never been too much into car care. Admittedly, I treated my previous cars rather poorly because whenever I got them, the exteriors were in good-but-not-great condition. I recently acquired my first GT, and the paint (Ford's laser red) is perfect. It's so clean and perfect, that I want to keep the car looking like that forever.

I went out and bought a chamois, some Meguire's liquid wax, and Mequire's Gold series car soap. Then, I read on this forum about polish (something I'd never heard of before).

I'm looking at getting an orbital polisher/buffer, so I don't have to do it all by hand. I think I will find the motivation to polish/wax more, and do a better job of doing it, if I have a tool that will make my job easier. Plus, I'll spend less time and effort with a polisher than buffing by hand, which means I can pay more attention to the work I'm doing, get less fatigued, and (hopefully) end up with a better overall look.

The best price I found on the porter-cable recommended by everyone is about $100. I know that I should probably just get it, but I can't exactly afford it right now (I'm still paying off the car). I have found some more polisher/buffers in my price range, but I fear they are garbage. But, I wanted to see what you guys thought.

One company that seems to make more reasonably priced polishers is Wen. The one I was looking at was Wen 6010 6" random orbital polisher. It got a very positive review for both polishing and buffing from this site:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/pw/wenpolish.htm

I know 6" isn't very large (zing!) when it comes to polishers, but the guy really seemed to like it. I found a couple of other reviews of it, and each one was glowing. People just really seem to love this product.

Wen also makes an 8" model, which is inside my budget. It appears to be a bit beefier than the 6", and spins a bit faster. The 6" spins at 4k RPM, while the 8" spins at 5.2k RPM. I don't know if this is helpful/useful/important.

However, these Wen models are not variable speed; they have one speed and stick with it. Obviously having variable speeds would be a plus, but is it a necessity?

My main usage of this will be to use it to apply polish to the car, then buff the polish off, then apply wax to the car, then buff that off a few times a year. If the Porter-Cable one is the only way to go, then I guess I'll just have to save my pennies. But, if these Wen models can do the same job, just maybe not as easily or not as quickly, then I'd be willing to sacrifice speed for money. I don't want to waste $50 on a pile of junk and end up having to buy the Porter-Cable model anyways, but if I could save some money with these Wen products that would be awesome.

So, what do you guys think? Also, if you have any specific advantages/disadvantages of the Wen products over the PC, I'd love to hear them. I'm sure there are a ton of things I just haven't thought about yet, and hearing why you chose one over another would be most beneficial.

Thanks!

 

There is a masssssssive difference between that Wen random orbital and the Porter Cable. The Wen has absolutely no correction abilities, they often offer a wool bonnett that is severely abrasive and will turn your paint finish into one giant hazy abortion, even with that weak piece of crap Wen. The people that offer great reviews on the Wen, they are likely planted reviews, or people who simply don't know a good paint finish from a bad paint finish. All of those low speed cheap random orbital buffers are only good for applying glaze & waxes, even then the PC will do a much better job.

The PC is almost 100% MORON PROOF. You really have to be a complete and total tool to hurt your paint with it, the only thing I could ever see someone doing is dropping it on your car.

I don't know where you can source a PC with the backing plate for $100 bucks, but if you can get it with the plate and pads for anything less than what some websites sell them for...go for it.

Personally, I use Justin @ Obsessivedetail.com. He carries a limited amount of products, but they are all tried & true. He caters to your needs and his customer service is almost impossible to beat.

 

+1 for Justin at Obsessive Detail. His price on the Porter Cable 7424, backing plate and pads is very competitive. The whole package is cheaper than almost anything you will find and the customer service is the best. He has a wealth of knowledge and will let you know what you need to do to get the results you want.

Another option is to do it by hand. You won't get the same results that you would with the PC, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper and can make your car look pretty darn good.

 

Well damn. Although I expected as much.

Thanks a bunch for the explanation. I guess I'll need to save my money then.

Another question: You said the PC is almost moron proof. I was reading about how to polish a car, and the idea of rubbing gritty stuff onto my poor car just sounds terrible. Obviously it has to work or else no one would use it, but how hard is it to screw up your paint with polish? It seems like if you do it even a bit wrong, you'll ruin your paint. Is it super easy and I'm just being dumb?

edit: Also, can you polish by hand? And if so, is it difficult?

 

its not really gritty stuff. to rub it between your fingers, you wouldnt be able to tell much difference between a polish and wax. but polishing properly will take out all of the swirls and fine scratches. it can be done by hand, but it is a very tedious process and will kill your arm. you have to rub it in until the plish breaks down, which with a PC takes 2-3 minutes per section (depending on the polish) and i could imagine would take about 10 minutes of rubbing by hand to get it to break down. then multiply that 10 minutes by however many 2ftx2ft sections there are on your car. haha.

 

you're on the right track thinking that abrasives polishes are bad. heres the reason why they're not:

a true paint polish contains diminishing abrasives, meaning the more they're rubbed (worked) into the clear the smaller the abrasives become, once the polish is fully "broken down" the abrasives are no more, they've broken down to nothing, during the time they're being broken down they're taking the swirls/scratches out by removing a tiny bit of clear.


now, if you were to take a bottle of chrome polish and rub it on your clear you'll make a terrible mess, because those abrasives aren't diminishing abrasives.



also, those r/o polishers don't have enough power to help your paint, but have plenty to hurt it.

for the most part you're thinking on the right track, good job. eventually you'll be able to get a PC and i can almost guarantee you'll absolutely love it.


i can also vouch for justin, great guy and customer service

 

Ugh... 10 minutes times how many 2x2 sections... yeah. I'm just getting a PC .

Diminishing abrasives... that's pretty cool! I'd never thought about that. Thanks for the explanation.

Yep, I'll just be saving up for the PC. I already ordered a waffle-weave from Justin, and his shipping was lightning fast. Unfortunately, www.tools-plus.com has the kit for $99 with $7 shipping, so I think I may have to buy from them. But, I'll look at it more seriously when I have the cash together.

 

I am borrowing a PC to try compound/polish this weekend. I'll report back on how I do. Right now my concern is the weight of the PC machine and how much of the car I will be able to cover before my arms give out. [8D]

Here's a great series of videos Justin suggested on polishing: http://paintcare-n-detailing.com/pc_video.html

Another product I'm watching is the Meguiars G110. Depending on how I make out, I might be in the market for a lighter weight polisher. http://www.autogeek.net/pinnacle-twi...g-machine.html

 

They give you the PC, but nothing but a wool pad. That wool is too abrasive for you to start with. You should always start with the least aggressive polish & pad combination.

 

The way you hold the PC, it's weight has almost no effect to you. When you are holding it on the car, you don't need to use anymore pressure than you would pressing a microfiber against the paint.