I'm thinking of getting the Meguiar's G100 Dual Action Polisher. I had originally planned to get some other mods, but with a little boy on the way, I have more pressing expenses at home now. I still want to get something and since I spend a good amount of time each weekend washing my truck and wife's car I was thinking that the G100 would be a good pick up. I have a discount random orbital that works ok for now but not great. My #1 question would be what all do I need to get with this. It seems to be unanimous that plenty of pads are the first thing to get. I'm thinking of ordering this tommorrow from ADS as I will be detailing a friends cars this Friday. If you were buying one or if you have bought one, what would your recommendations be?

 

I bought my G100 from www.autodetailingsolutions.com and I went with one of their packages, I couldn't say enough good things about ADS!

 

One of the ADS packages could definitely save you money. At the least, you'll want a cutting pad, a finishing pad and a polishing pad in addition to a flexible backing plate. Another option is to ask Rick at ADS to sell you the G100 by itself and then buy a basic Edge pad kit such as their 3 pack special of 6" pads for $45, which essentially gives you 6 pads since they're double sided. Or Rick may put together a special package for you with the Edge pads??? You'd also need an Edge drive adapter, but you don't need any backing plates with this system. Don't forget to ask for your free Meguiar's duffle bag if you spend more than $100 there

http://www.autodetailingsolutions.com/Egde2K.htm

If you can find a good deal on the Porter Cable 7300SP or the 7424, it's pretty much the same thing as the G100 if you want to go this route. Lowes was closing out the 7336SP at a huge discount, but most Lowes have probably sold out of these, hence one of the reasons you see so many on eBay right now from people who bought them at $47 and are reselling them for $90+.

The Edge pads are nice and I've been using them a while, but the Meguiar's pads also work well and so do pads made by Lake Country, etc. And you can usually find the Meguiar's pads or other brands of velcro backed pads at your local paint, body & equipment stores where as you'll probably have to use mail order for the Edge pads.

If you plan to use the Meguiar's polishes, consider getting some of their #80 speed glaze as it's a very versatile product for removing many kinds of light defects. For a good Meguiar's sealant, consider their #21 synthetic sealant. I'm sure you'll get plenty of other suggestions as well and Rick at ADS can also give you more suggestions.

 

for a simple setup, I would suggest:

G100, with backing plate
a couple of 8006 pads
a couple of 9006 pads
some #80
some #21
some #26
some good Microfiber towels ..

I have heard some good things about the Edge pads, but I haven't had a chance to try mine out yet (still sitting in a box on the floor).. if you want to try those, then do like qadsan suggest, and give Rick a call, and see what he can do for you, and what he would suggest.

You don't have to worry about Rick trying to sell you stuff you won't need or use.

 

I got mine from ADS. What I got was:
3 8006 pads
2 9006 pads
1 7006 pad
microfiber bonnets
#80
#7
#21
microfiber towels

I don't really use the 7006 pad and microfiber bonnets though as I still prefer removing polish and wax by hand. But I would never go back to applying polish and wax by hand.

 

I like your recommendation Gipraw. Very Good stuff

Some more things I can think of to consider adding might be...

* A couple foam applicator pads for hand polishing or applying dressings
* All purpose cleaner for cleaning tires, wheel wells, etc.
* A tube of Meguiar's Plast-X incase you want / need to clean up or remove scratches or hazing your headlight lenses or instrument cluster lens.
* Meguiar's Hyper Dressing for dressing tires, engines, wheel wells, etc.
* Various brushes (tire scrub brush, etc)
* Plastic razor blades
* Spray bottles
* Detailing Clay (I like Clay Magic from Autozone better than Meguiar's Clay)

It really depends on how far you want to take this, but the package listed above by Gipraw is definitely a great start that would also produce stunning results from a pro detailer in many applications.

The foam applicators I mentioned can come in handy for applying dressings to trim or plastics, or hand polishing intrument lenses, etc. All Purpose Cleaner works well to clean tires (scrub them with a brush) and get them ready for dressing. It also works well for cleaning inside wheel wells, etc. Meguiar's Hyper Dressing can be diluted and applied to produce a finish from gloss to matt (your choice). It works well on tires, engines, inside wheel wells for giving them a nice clean look, etc. Plastic razor blades can come in handy for cleaning a number of things either by themselves or when used inside a microfiber towel. Good spray bottles always come in handy for APC, dressings, clay lube, etc.

In addition to getting some high quality Microfiber towels from ADS or where ever, you may also want to get some less expensive Microfiber towels for wiping down inside wheel wells, wheels, under carriage, trim, bumpers, etc. You can get decent quality inexpensive MF towels for this purpoase at Sams Clubs or Costco stores. If you want a great deal on inexpensive good quality waffle weave MF towels, then visit your WalMart store (yes...WalMart :o) and head to the Housewares section where they keep their kitchen towels. Looks for a 2 pack of white waffle weave towels hanging from a rack with a blue tag on the top that has the brand name "Mainstays" on them. The tag will also say "2 Pack Ultra Fine Waffle Weave Microfiber Kitchen Towels". They're 16" X 26" in size and are made from 77% polyester 23% polyamide. These are GREAT towels at an incredible price of $2.96 for a 2 pack and they hold up pretty well after a number of washings. They do however have tags on them, so you'll have to remove the tags, but I really like these towels for certain uses. I also like that they're bright white so you can more easily see any dirt or particulate on them.

No matter which towels you buy, always wash them before their first use to make sure they don't have any abrasives in them that might scratch the paint. Towels arean't always manufactured in the cleanest of environments, nor are they always handled by the cleanest of hands or transported by the cleanest of methods, etc,

 

Ok made the purchase today

DA Polisher
1 Polishing Pad
1 Finishing Pad
1 Backing Plate
1 Gal Last Touch
1 Gal All Purpose Cleaner Plus
32 oz Speed Glaze #80
32 oz Body Solvent
12 oz Express Wax
1 Bottle Hi Tech Wash
1 Grit Guard

Things I already have to go with this:
NXT Wax
#26
Cleaner Wax
NXT Window Cleaner
NXT Trim Dressing (can't remember the name)
Show Car Glaze
Meguiars Tire Gel (purple stuff)
Plast-x
Strach-x

and so on.

oh yeah QD and Meguiars Clay, ran out of NXT wash, so I have Deep Crystal right now.

 

Purchased a G100 also today.

For the wax and polish... went a different route. Needed something that will hold up to the abuse the Jeep gets.

 

Mine gets here tomorrow. What kind of tough wax did you get?

 

Going with an aircraft sealer... Seen it on a few jeeps, and amazed at how the mud/water just rolls off the paint. Its like no wax I have seen... even after 6 months of abuse.

I will do a write-up on everything once the stuff shows up.

 

Sounds good as long as it is clear coat safe.

 

Perfectly safe with clear coat.

 

Rejex?

 

Yes

 

Supposed to be really good stuff. It has an almost cult like following with some motorcycle enthusiests. I would try it if I could top it with Carnuba.