DA polishing pads

Posting this so everyone can see the input that guys have to share.
I have lake country hdo orange polishing pads. These seems to be fairly versatile for my use. Question is should I have more colors for different grades of "cutting"?
Should I have a cutting, polishing, finishing, waxing?
I don't have deep scratches and think I can get away with megs 205, but might need 105 at some point. And I also may want to use a glaze at some point between polish and sealant.
Do the pads really make that much of a difference? Or is it more of the product you apply with the pads. I'm all for buying quality stuff that will last. But would I be wasting product such as a compound or glaze by using it with an orange pad?

Let's here what the experts and novices have to say. This is such a great detailing crew. When I was I. Tacomaworld I never checked out the detailing forum but I think I visit this one more than others here at tundras.com

Thanks everyone

 

I have a wide variety of different color pads by Lake County but I use there CCS pads. I personally never use a cutting pad to wax and vise versa don't use a wax pad to cut.

 

I have 3 orange hdo pads and 2 orange ccs pads. No other colors. But may get some finishing pads or cutting pads based on what I find here.

 

I have a number of different pads for different tasks. Even have several different cutting pads for the various grits of cutting compound I use.

 

@SouthBoundSteve
@driverdog
@War Machine

Do we need all these different pads?
Are my orange ones versatile enough?

 

The hard part about pads is that there is no clear cut way or formula that one can can just plug in a pad and a compound and have a secure result. all pads are so different and different pads react with pads in different ways. In reference to your exact question Pudge, the product or compound that you use will have a large affect on the vehicle than the pad will, BUT, not by much. There are so many combinations of pads and compounds out there that can wield you different results or the same results if you were to try another combination. Overall though we suggest using pads for the suggested purpose for the best results. this can assure consistency and allow results for the desired affect.

Long story short, I can say for sure if you use that polishing pad with the meg 105 you wont get the same results you would with a pad more suitable for cutting. If you are at a point in which you are going to be cutting, then I would go ahead and grab a cutting pad for that purpose.

In regards to the 205, that one should be ok, but it may give more cut than you need though. I haven't used that combo for sure to know.
Ill run it by corey and see what he says though.

Hope this gives some insight.

 

Thanks so much. This is exactly why I posted this!

 

I decided to grab a couple lake country hdo black finishing pads on ebay with their 15% coupon. I'll be testing the orange hdo and black hdo pads with 205 soon. Reading up about the 205 I think I can get come cut with the orange pads, and its versatile enough to also get some good finish by changing to a black pad.
If I need more cut at some point I'll look into 105 with more of a cutting pad. I'm not sure I wanna get into more cutting that I achieve with 205 and an orange pad though. We'll see

 

@Pudge I’ll be following this thread so I can learn the same things you are.

I have almost no experience with doing this yet. I’ve acquired quite a bit of products, but outside of just playing around with a few panels here and there, I haven’t done much. I have yet to do a whole vehicle. I was able to get some pretty good scratches out of my wife’s truck though using cheap black pads and Meguair’s Scratch X 2.0.

Luckily I haven’t paid actual money for much of it. I have blown a good bit of Amazon gift cards on it though. I started collecting stuff to get ready to apply CQuartz to my truck, but time and weather have kept it from happening the last few months. I don’t have a garage big enough to hold any of my vehicles, unless I take them to my workplace. I can do that, but I haven’t had enough time.

I have way more products than I’ll likely need for anything. I have several colors and brands of pads, and probably a dozen different compounds and polishes sitting there being wasted. I’m hoping that I can really get going on this once it cools off outside.

I’m also keeping my eye out for some junk fenders or hoods people have. I’d like to get some pieces I can put in my garage to practice on.

 

I'm with ya Jason. I used megs ultimate polish on my truck last month and was semi happy with the results. I used lake country ccs orange pads. I still see some scratches and swirls that I really think I should be able to get out with the right combo of polish and pads. I may need a heavier compound such as meg's 105 which I'm open to trying.

I have just been reading that meg's 205 may be versatile enough to get a slightly heavier cut with the LC hdo orange, and also a light polish/jeweling with the LC hdo black. But have not tried it out yet. Obviously the amount of product, pressure, and technique have a lot to do with it, which is why I need practice and insight.

@SouthBoundSteve have you found that this is possible or am I way off here?

 

25 minutes? That’s not long at all.

 

Here’s a decent pic of my paint with the sun hitting it. The marks aren’t generally visible, but I see them in the sunlight. What type of pad / product would you guys recommend?

 

That's what mine looked like, kinda spiderwebby, I used megs ultimate polish and an orange LC ccs pad. It did just ok but did make a significant improvement. Next time I'm gonna use LC hdo orange and then black pads with megs 205.

 

Damn it Steve now I wanna buy and try that with my black pads after I use the 205 with orange lol.

And you've been right all along..... Once I get this paint corrected and shined up....I will coat it. Might take me a year of trial and error as far as paint correction. But some day I'll get it to where I can coat it

 

I have Essence, so I’ll try that. I also have Carpro Clear Cut and Reflect, along with a couple of Maguiar’s, and a bunch of CG stuff that came with my polisher.

 

Here’s to hoping I get to actually use all this stuff I have at some point.

 

What scratch and swirl polisher do you guys like best. Just started using V36 from CG, with a orange pad. Haven't tried VSS yet, has anyone tried it? Should I get a different product?

 

I stopped at a body shop and they gave me a trunk lid to practice on. all they ask was to bring it back when I was finished. They just sell the parts for scrap.

 

That's pretty cool. What color is it? How bad is the paint. I'm interested!

 

Cool. I’ll check with a couple. My old neighbor works at one. Too bad I wasn’t into this when I lived there.

 

I've been through the whole Chemical Guys 'V' lineup.....V32/34/36/VSS/V4......and was disappointed in each product. I'm not knocking CG in general, they're no different than any other line...some good products, some not so good. Their compounds/polishes leave a little to be desired, in my opinion. I've had good success with the Griots Garage BOSS creams for defect removal, and it's tough to beat the tried and true combo of Meguiars 105 and 205. As far as pad choices, I think thin is in. I use the Griots BOSS pads (5.5"), and I've heard good things about the thin pads from Lake Country.

 

How would you compare this method to using a dedicated headlight restoration kit? I currently have one of Meguair’s kits I haven’t used yet. My wife’s Sequoia is in bad need of this.

 

Driverdog's "vicious" cycle of headlight hazing will continue until Driverdog decide to use a UV clear coat after polishing. Of course buffing the headlights every 5 months may be an exercise in zen for him..;-)>

B

 

$12 SYLVANIA - Headlight Restoration Essentials Kit - UV Block Clear Coat, Most Important Step to Restore Sun Damaged Headlights, Surface Activator, UV Protection for Clearer Headlights - 1 Fl Oz

https://www.amazon.com/SYLVANIA-Hea...7273953&sr=1-2&keywords=sylvania+headlight+uv

SYLVANIA - Headlight Restoration UV Block Clear Coat - Most Important Step to Restore Damaged Headlights, Surface Activator, UV Protection for Clearer Headlights - 1 Fl Oz

It's Consumer Reports #1 rated product and I've personally used it on the Mrs' car('05 Mazda 3s) as have most of my friends (2011 Tundra-2012 Tundra). Follow the directions and you'll be loosing that "zen and the art of headlight polishing" in no time..;-)>

B

 

I just did my headlights last week using Chemical Guy's sanding and polish, orange 3" pads for the first 2 polish steps and a black pad for the final polish step. Finished them off with Meguires Keep Clear UV protection.

Very happy with the results but we'll see how long it lasts. Supposedly up to a year.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...r-2nd-gen-tundra-today.68/page-79#post-782556

 

Looks very nice!

B

 

Thank you.

I was surprised at how little effort it actually took. About an hour to do both sides. I think the key was getting some 3" pads for my Porter Cable DA. That and the Chemical Guy's kit. Can probably do another dozen pairs of headlights with the leftovers from that.