orbital buffer...?

I personally use the Mothers 3 step and the PC on a midnight blue 93 and it looks better than showroom finish, take the time to do it right and you'll have a really nice finish. I have tried to see if i can hurt the clear with a PC and its not possible. I have the old hood off my car that had perfect paint and i sat there pushing down enough to have some force but not bog it down, and after about 20 minutes in one spots there was not a sign of damage.

I will leave you with only a quote from one of the Sites Bob recommended ..... >>>>>>

MAINTAINING & IMPROVING PAINT GLOSS
It is polishing, not waxing, that offers the most improvement in the overall appearance of paint. If you wax over bad paint, it’s still bad paint. When you polish bad paint (paint with scratches, heavy oxidation, swirl marks, stains, water spots, etc.), you remove the bad paint to reveal a fresh finish. Obviously you can only do so much polishing before you wear out (thin or completely remove) the paint, so only polish as much as necessary to maintain healthy paint.



And more >>>

Be very careful compounding and polishing on heavily oxidized paint until you know how much healthy paint is remaining. You could find yourself removing too much paint, creating thin spots or worse. If you over-buff an area of paint, you will completely wear away the clearcoat or color. The only repair for this mistake is to have the panel repainted.

THOSE were tips on how to use the PC 7424 unit. On that note I think I rest my case!

Once again I wish not to argue .....

I also do not want wrong info to hit "Newbe's. I've seen cars in person with Destroyed paint. Yes, they were stupid and didn't really pay attention to what they were doing. When I asked what they used the answer was "A porter cable".

In my hands and most people I'm sure they are fine. The original question which I answered .... is if the paint is not too bad and cheapy unit will do. And yes, a PC can hurt your paint.

Scott 96Cobra said:

I will leave you with only a quote from one of the Sites Bob recommended ..... >>>>>>

MAINTAINING & IMPROVING PAINT GLOSS
It is polishing, not waxing, that offers the most improvement in the overall appearance of paint. If you wax over bad paint, it’s still bad paint. When you polish bad paint (paint with scratches, heavy oxidation, swirl marks, stains, water spots, etc.), you remove the bad paint to reveal a fresh finish. Obviously you can only do so much polishing before you wear out (thin or completely remove) the paint, so only polish as much as necessary to maintain healthy paint.

And more >>>

Be very careful compounding and polishing on heavily oxidized paint until you know how much healthy paint is remaining. You could find yourself removing too much paint, creating thin spots or worse. If you over-buff an area of paint, you will completely wear away the clearcoat or color. The only repair for this mistake is to have the panel repainted.

THOSE were tips on how to use the PC 7424 unit. On that note I think I rest my case!

Click to expand...

It is easy to pull quotes out of context to try and make a point. This is just an explanation of what polishing is and what it can do. David was not specifically referring to the PC in either section. When you use an abrassive product you are removing paint whether it is by hand, by orbital, by PC or by buffer.

Once again I wish not to argue .....

I also do not want wrong info to hit "Newbe's. I've seen cars in person with Destroyed paint. Yes, they were stupid and didn't really pay attention to what they were doing. When I asked what they used the answer was "A porter cable".

Click to expand...

I will concede that yes if you try hard you can do damage with the PC but, that is also true working by hand or even with the cheap orbital. Stupid is as stupid does no matter what tool they are using. Typically what I see when people have problems with the PC it is because they are trying to stretch it beyond its limits trying to achieve what should really be done with a rotary buffer. I have seen people put wool pads on the PC and use compounds that are designed for a rotary. These compounds require the heat generated by a rotary to break down properly and when used with a PC they do not break down and wind up scouring the paint. Any tool is dangerous if not used with common sense, even the cheapo orbital you are pushing.

Let me clarify my point since I guess I need to be really specific here. My point is that the PC does not require the finess and skill that handling a rotary buffer requires. If you use a little common sense, the proper pads and compounds with the PC you CANNOT do damage with it.

Have you ever used a PC? I apologize if I am wrong but, from your posts it sounds like you haven't and you are going by the hearsay of others. I have been using the PC for more than 2 years on all types of paint and recently also rotary buffers. I know what the machine is capable of. It takes a lot of stupidity and effort to do damage with it. You really ought to try one before you condem it without any first hand knowledge.

In my hands and most people I'm sure they are fine. The original question which I answered .... is if the paint is not too bad and cheapy unit will do. And yes, a PC can hurt your paint.

Click to expand...

Actually during this thread the original poster has said that he is trying to remove swirls and scratches, the paint is 10 years old. The cheapy orbital just isn't gonna do the job. The best you can hope for with the orbital is to fill them in and even then most products out there only do a marginal job at that and the effect is usually temporary. The best solution is to remove them and in the hands of a novice the PC is the best tool for that job.

Smit0282,

I am sure all this is probably just adding to the confusion. If so I would suggest you head over to www.autopia.org. It is a site dedicated to detailing and there are lots of guys there who have been detailing even longer than I have that can give you all the straight dope on the PC. This thread has really gone off the bend and I do appologize for that.

No problem Smit .... we are all friends don't you worry.

I've been detailing cars for 22 years (old fart here). Yes, I have used the PC unit but since none of my paints are neglected I hide my swirls just fine with a NON abraisive polish and a basic orbital. The PC unit was nice to operate I will admit. Mind you I love the 10" as well. I most likely will buy a PC when my current one blows up.

I had great results with the 10" and polish on my 96 (which was neglected before I got to it), so if yours was in my posession for a couple weeks it would look great. You would have to keep up the polish though

Good luck which ever way you decide to go. Just be careful with a pc unit because it can burn a hole through your car (lol - that was a joke).