Nissan 370Z Forum - Foam Pad Options

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Foam Pad Options

My buddy picked up a DA polisher for his Q60. The thing is swirled and scratched to hell. Nothing too deep; just extremely noticeable swirls commonly seen on black cars. I'm going to order a bunch of LC pads for him and show him how to do a proper detail.

So my question is what specific pads should I get for this job? I think it is bad enough that we should do at least one pass of cutting or heavy polishing, one pass of medium-light polishing and then a finish pad.

For the initial cutting or heavy polishing stage, I am looking at the Orange, Cyan, or Pink pads.
For the next polishing stage, I am looking at the Green, White or Tangerine pads.
For the finishing stage, I am looking at Black or Crimson pads.

Anyone have any suggestions or guidance for the application of Adam's Compound/Polish/Liquid Sealant/Buttery Wax products? Or any generic input on the various pads being considered? :tiphat:

Here are the colors and the description from Lake Country:

( Click to show/hide )

Go to Buffdaddy.com

You will want a firm pad for a black car. I would suggest M100 only where needed. Then M205 for the last stage. You will have to trial a few spots to get your routine down. I have been using Mequiar's since the 1980's. That is all I will use. Most of the time it is all in your technique.

Just looking for pad suggestions :twocents:

Firm pads are available in all different levels of cutting aggression. I'm looking for a little more detail than "firm" lol

I’m still on peasant grade detailing supplies hahaha. I’ve only used HF pads and DA, and off the shelf compounds, both relatively weak, works for me tho to stay on the safe side.

Good luck and have fun!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JARblue (Post 3989106)

Just looking for pad suggestions :twocents:

Firm pads are available in all different levels of cutting aggression. I'm looking for a little more detail than "firm" lol

White and Yellow.

What DA did he get? Rupees I hope.

You may only need the M100 for the top of the car where it get's water spots. Don't try to get the front perfect due to bug marks or you may burn the paint. Hard to do with a DA. That will be an area where you will need to back off to keep the clear thickness in good shape. Plus the paint has a flex agent in it. Easy to make a mistake.

I started detailing cars in the 80's with an old heavy machine and progressed to a variable speed Black and decker buffer. I got going with the DA back in 2017. It is much easier to not make a mistake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooler (Post 3989109)

White and Yellow.

I have all the Meguiar's foam pads in 4 inch. They work fine. But I don't want to pay $18 apiece for the 7 inch versions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooler (Post 3989110)

What DA did he get? Rupees I hope.

HF :facepalm:

I told him that's ok since we're going to use quality detailing products and get some decent foam pads. The equipment will be perfectly fine for basic paint correction. The real key is to use proper technique anyway, so that's mostly what I'm helping him out with.

M205 may be all you need. The M100 is just for where it is bad. M205 will knock the swirls right out. Back in the day I would add grit to Finishing compound for additional cutting properties. I do not recommend that for the average person.
I have wet sanded and polished a few cars that we have painted. That is nerve racking.

The plan is to start with the polish and see how it fairs. But I fully expect we'll have to pull out the compound. It's pretty serious swirls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JARblue (Post 3989120)

The plan is to start with the polish and see how it fairs. But I fully expect we'll have to pull out the compound. It's pretty serious swirls.

Are they love marks going left and right or swirls from a previous polishing with a circular buffer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooler (Post 3989112)

You may only need the M100 for the top of the car where it get's water spots. Don't try to get the front perfect due to bug marks or you may burn the paint. Hard to do with a DA. That will be an area where you will need to back off to keep the clear thickness in good shape. Plus the paint has a flex agent in it. Easy to make a mistake.

Should be reiterated to all beginners, customers, even some professional detailers, to not blindly chase perfection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cv129 (Post 3989124)

Should be reiterated to all beginners, customers, even some professional detailers, to not blindly chase perfection.

That flex agent makes the clear/paint flexible. You can burn that chit right off the car and not know it until months later when it starts to turn.

I see folks on Youtube polishing their cars like crazy all the time. The thing is, they never keep them long. They will never figure out what they are doing is not what you should be doing. They just pass it on to the next owner to deal with IF it happens.

Orange, white, black. Been using LC for a few years on various vehicles. And a boat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooler (Post 3989122)

Are they love marks going left and right or swirls from a previous polishing with a circular buffer?

Swirls from poor wash technique and probably a few polishing passes. It's a DD so we're not going to tear up the clear coat for a perfect finish. But I bet we can get a lot of them out without too much cutting.

The real question is where do you draw that line between the amount of cut and perfection. I'm not asking that here because no one can answer that over the internet. Every car is different and we'll just have to see how it is when we get there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by geeteezee (Post 3989137)

Orange, white, black. Been using LC for a few years on various vehicles. And a boat.

Exactly what I was already leaning towards. And precisely what I was looking for. Cheers, mate :tiphat:

if you want to save on clear but hide some deeper scratches on a black car

https://carzilla.ca/products/xtreme-...ing-glaze-32oz

it contains acrylic resin filler to mask deeper scratches in a way that is semi permanent, and creates a good surface for bonding of ceramic coatings afterwards.

not really a fan of a typical glaze or filler but this is different than typical

for pads I really like uro fiber

Lake country CCS orange white and black

also sonax perfect finish and a rupes yellow foam pad works nicely for finishing

Quote:

Originally Posted by JARblue (Post 3989212)

The real question is where do you draw that line between the amount of cut and perfection. I'm not asking that here because no one can answer that over the internet. Every car is different and we'll just have to see how it is when we get there.

When your paint thickness gauge says its time to call it good. ;)

Orange and white CCS pads should be all you need and really doubt you need the orange. If its a daily hitting it with M105 in the bad spots then hitting the full car with M205 will transform the car more than likely.

Since we're working with a 7" polisher, I ended up not going with Lake Country pads as they only have 6.5" pads. Got some 7" Rupes pads for $10.50 each from The Rag Company. I got fine yellow foam pads for light correction/polishing and ultra fine white foam pads for wax/sealant application.