I'm looking in to buy a buffer / polisher. My Question is a Porter-Cable Polisher worth the money or shold i get a cheaper version like the Craftsman one? If you have any experience with the buffers / polisher your input will be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

Definitely worth the money, but go with Griot's. They have a lifetime warranty.

 

Porter Cable 7424XP or the Flex are both a great choice.

 

I have the 7424XP and was in the same position as you about whether to buy the more expensive porter cable or start with a cheaper one.
I'm glad I chose the PC. Auto-geek.net is where I got mine

 

I have a Meguiars G110V2 for sale. It is the latest version and highly regarded.

 

^^ A great machine also

 

I've had my Craftsman 9 inch orbital buffer for over ten years. Still can't do an entire car with one. It looses its contact surface when I use it on the sides of a car and when I press on it to keep contact to the sides it stops spinning. Its great on the roof, hood and trunk lid so using on the truck is almost a waste of time...but I do used it. Those high speed polishers can burn into your clear coat or get snagged on door edge guards or door handles if you get to close. Does anyone know of a wet/vac type carpet shampooer that sprays a cleaning solution and vacuums up rinse water at the same time? I have a Oreck rug shampooer that has an attachment that did that (sprayed a cleaning solution thru a handle that had a water rinse that picked up the cleaning solution in the same pass) but its not as good as it used to be.

 

are these actual buffers? or just a orbital polisher? i have a cheapy orbital but it wont even touch the waterspots on my truck.

 

The 7424XP is a dual-action orbital polisher, it can remove a lot of defects though. I wouldn't even compare it to the cheap orbital

 

Well i went with the porter-cable. Now what pads do i need to get?

 

You can go with something like this:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-330-a...g-pad-kit.aspx

or a bigger kit like this that comes with compound and such

http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-478-a...ssory-kit.aspx

I like Adam's stuff, its a little pricey though. I'm sure KLC will have some other recommendations.

 

The Dual action ones are very much less likely to burn through your clear coat. Orbital polishers on the other hand.... not so much, but I worked as a detailer for a while and got to try my hand at using a good quality orbital (lol luckily not on my paint) and now almost prefer the orbital ones...

A good carpet shampooer is the bissell green machine. you should be able to get them used and they work well for car interiors

 

Go with 5.5" LC Flat or Hydro-Tech pads.

As for polish and compound, go with the Megs twins or Menzerna line. For OTC products I'd use Megs Ultimate Compound and Polish. They are basically the consumer retail line of the Megs twins.

 

Yeah. I watched that "how-to" on that Adams polishes. 4 pads!!!! WOW... I'd never bring my car out after that. I looked at the green machine. Seems to plasticee . I was hoping someone knew who made an industrial grade type.

Thanks for the info...

 

I did some looking and found one....Sanitaire.com Model SC-6070a....