I want to purchase a DA (never owned one before, just manual labor and the joints are wearing out), and thought I would ask if anyone would share their good/bad experience with any partiuclar brands, before I make a bad buy. Also, any experiences with polishes, good or bad for classic cars.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice,
Howard

 

I have had snap on, cp, and am currently using a porter cable. Did not like the original pad on the porter, but otherwise liked them all about the same. If you are not doing production volume you don't need to get fancy. Just don't buy no name cheapo and expect it to last. Personally I like the porter best of the bunch, now that I have a different backing pad. (got that from the local bodyshop supply)

I just read this post again. Sorry I was responding to something I thought I saw. If you have a DA sander it can be converted with a special pad for polishing as well. 3M, and McGuire's probably make some of the better stuff out there, and should be readily available

 

Ditto the Porter-Cable, or for hobbyist use a 7" or 10" Sears orbital polisher will work fine. That IS speaking of their older ones- not sure what their current selection will do because I'd almost bet they're made in China. Milwaukee makes nice DA and rotary polishers too, but airboddy knows Milwaukee is expensive.

Polishes are always going to be a personal preference. Meguiar's is excellent and readily available in most chain auto parts stores. 3M is also an excellent line but odds are you'll have to go to a body and paint supply to get it. I used a product line called "Presta" for a while back in the mid 90s when I was doing a lot of showcar detailing and it worked well too. Burford "Pro" yellow or blue wax was always a fine quality finish wax no matter what you used to bring out the gloss before you applied wax.

Talk to some of the body shop supply houses and see what they recommend, or what most of their shop customers are using as far as product and pads.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice, I will look into your recomendations. I really appreciate the help. I'm sure I will save a myself a lot of agravation and money by following your guidance.

Thanks,

 

Here is an awesome site that has more info than one can absorb!!

http://www.autobody101.com/forums/vi...8245269b2336f4

 

That is a great site, and your right there is tons of info...

Thanks,