Help needed creating a detailing kit...

[AODfan]

I know there are alot of products out there and needing some advice on which products I should get since I dont really have any to begin with, so a clean slate really. I have heard good things of Poorboys products and XMT. But anything else let me know. As far as budget wise I would say about $100 for all of it. I currently own a PC 7424 so thats a chunk out of the way and just focusing on product. In the past I had browsed these websites:

http://www.prestostore.com/cgi-bin/storefront.pl?ref=exceldetail
http://www.autogeek.net/

 

[AODfan]

(bump)

 

[NCZ13]

im surprised i didnt see this sooner.

I would pick up an assortment of pads.

polishes i would look towards the menzerna line. Intensive polish, and final polish/final polish II should suit your needs just fine.

as far as wax, a great carnuba for the price is Pinnacle Signature Series II. 8oz jar for I believe 35. Its a good balance b/w quality and price. I use it personally and love it. It smells great, looks great, and has great protection. Its a wipe on wipe off wax, so it can be used in the sun. And being of its quality i have yet to ever have it stain trim.

This should be at or around the 100$ mark.

I would also pick up some nice wheel brushes, and a good gel wheel cleaner. Ive been using Chemical guys gel wheel cleaner, and i dilute it 2:1. Its a great product, and is just as good as the pricier p21 gel wheel cleaner.

 

[ThrillRide]

(bump)

Sorry man, been slamed trying to get clients taken care of before the holiday.

If I had a hundred bucks to spend this is what I'd do.
Assuming you already have the needed pads for the PC...


Wash:
I love Optimums No Rinsh Wash and Shine. If you're interested in a no rinse product I'd pick some of that up. They're regular wash is nice too. ~$12

Drying: Very important to have good towels. If your washing and drying is high quality technique and products, the rest is details . You can really save some money going to walmart and picking up some of the plush blue microtex towels. They are actually good quality. The rest are crap though lol. Make sure to get a 70/30 blend towel. ~$as much as you want to spend.

Got clay? pick up some automagic clay at the auto store. Don't need to waste the money on an expensive bar that will do the same job. ~$11

Polish: As NC mentioned, Menzerna is great stuff, but it really needs to be used with a rotary for best results. I'd pick up some Optimum polishes. They are cheaper and less dusty. The Polish is probably all you will ever need. You can vary the pads to get desired results. Works at a nice finishing polish and does well with heavier issues with the right pad. Doubtful you will ever need anything stronger on your personal vehicle, unless you make a mistake . The polyseal is a nice AIO choice. A good AIO is nice to have around. Klasse is a really good choice as is clearkote's vanilla moose. The XMT stuff is nice. I actully have some if you're interested. ~$30 for a polish and AIO.

Wax/Sealant: You can really go over board here...at least I could lol. I love carnaubas so they will always be on hand. There are some nice choices that will help you stay in budget. Got a Harley Davidson store near by? Pick up some S100 carnauba wax. Same as P21S but cheaper for the bike guys. Poorboy's Natty's blue paste wax is really nice. For synthetics I'd pick up some Optimum opti-seal. You just can't go wrong with this stuff. ~$15-30

While at the Harley store pick up some S100 (same as P21s) gel wheel cleaner and total cycle wash. Two awesome products. ~$25. Alot more if the p21s brand.

Thats close to your $100 mark. The towels is what can really add up. But if I were on your budget amount those are the things I would pick up.

 

[AODfan]

I did some research and read that Optimum was designed with rotary in mind and would take longer to break down with the Porter Cable...but that could depend on the user too.

 

[AODfan]

Oh, forgot to mention, I dont have any pads just the PC

 

[altspace]

For a "starter" kit it's already been said above. When I first started I bought when I needed to get the job at hand completed. Over time you experiment with other products and simply find what you like best.

 

[NCZ13]

ah completely forgot about MF towels.

Get your towels from exceldetail.com

great prices, and great towels. Their monterey drying towel is one of the softest drying towels out there.

as far as XMT polishes go, ive used them (they were the first polishes i used) and they worked just fine, and smelled nice too. I just found i liked working with menzerna better.

I was under the assumption you already had a good car wash, but if not you have many great options.

I use optimum car wash, and optimum no rinse, and for extremely dirty cars, Chemical guys citrus wash and gloss. ONR is great for those quick washes, and OCW is a great product taht smells great, is extremely slippery and cleans well too.

Now CG CWG is different. Its a much stronger cleaner than OCW, and will strip off any protection you have on the car. Its cleaners are very strong and will remove grime build up with ease.

Thrillride, i didnt realize taht the harley stores had a equivelent of P21 gel wheel cleaner. do you find their Total cycle wash to be the same as TAW? I knew they had the s100 wax and the TCW, but not the wheel cleaner.

 

[AODfan]

What pads do you guys recommend ?

 

[NCZ13]

with a PC nothing bigger than 5.5

But it also depends on what you prefer to work with. I prefer to work with flat pads, I do have CCS pads, and i feel that flat just works better with a DA polisher

 

[BurnoutX]

autogeek.net is my source.

i generally rely on the Klasse Classic Contours kit, i use the orbital buffer, and the yellow pads.

por21 for the final "wax" after all the other steps are finished.

also Porboys (sp?) for the scratch removal,etc

 

[NCZ13]

well your going to need more than yellow pads. THose are pretty heavy cut pads,and youll need a softer pad and a finer polish to follow.

 

[ThrillRide]

Thrillride, i didnt realize taht the harley stores had a equivelent of P21 gel wheel cleaner. do you find their Total cycle wash to be the same as TAW? I knew they had the s100 wax and the TCW, but not the wheel cleaner.

Yes the exact same. S100 is equivilant to p21s. Same company and products. S100 is just remarked for bike guys. Lower prices for the same stuff. Pretty cool.

 

[ThrillRide]

I did some research and read that Optimum was designed with rotary in mind and would take longer to break down with the Porter Cable...but that could depend on the user too.

Actually OPT polish works just fine with a PC. I have no problem getting results. In fact OPT says it will work with any machine.

 

[ThrillRide]

Oh, forgot to mention, I dont have any pads just the PC

This will take a chunk of your budget. My prefered line of pads are the lake country CCS foam pads. For just your car I'd recommend getting at least 2 of each level....white, orange, yellow for sure. Couple grey would be good too. The other finishing pads really aren't necessary for you. For some toucher issues I really like lake country's foamed wool pad. I'd stay in the 5.5 to 6.5 size range. Looking at about $60 of your budget there.

 

[AODfan]

I didnt see Automagic Clay at the auto store(O'reillys), but I did see this:

 

[AODfan]

So I decided to get what I needed, I spent twice my budget but think it will be for the best down the line....I also picked up that Mothers Clay Bar kit.

 

[NCZ13]

looks good.

although i dont think you need that many MF mitts...

Also try playing around with the other vendors products, you might be able to save alot of money because of the black friday specials going on.

autogeek.net
detailersdomain.com

 

[AODfan]

Yea well I got the different mitts to see which I liked best, I shopped at two different places.

exceldetail.com and autogeek.net

 

[bgibb68]

ok so i read through this and NEED to do this once i get some stuff done on the ol' gal.....but what would be the list of things needed from you detailing vets. items, maybe brands, would be what i like to see such as

buffer and pads
wash
polish
etc