Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

Harbor freight buffer, what pads/waxes

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Old Jul 9, 2013 | 08:03 PM
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Default Harbor freight buffer, what pads/waxes

I bought a cheap harbor freight to get myself started on learning car cleaning
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-inch-...der-92623.html
We will see if it lasts to finish my test car...

First thing I need to know is, what backing pad will work for this buffer. I'm looking to buy a lake country 6", could someone send me a link to a backing plate that will screw right into this polisher? I just don't want to buy one to find out its different "screw" sizes...

After I get the backing plate, I found this info reading another forum:

wash
clay
wash
m105 lake country orange pad
m205 lake country white pad
wash
adams machine sealer/wax with lake country black pad
Then some kind of wax to apply by hand as a finishing touch... ANY WAX RECOMMENDATIONS?

How does that sound to detail a red Camaro?
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Old Jul 9, 2013 | 09:53 PM
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If you are using harbor freight return the one you bought and get item #69924

And for all other questions see here .....https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...-detailer.html
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Old Jul 10, 2013 | 02:11 AM
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This is the one you want.
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-varia...her-69924.html
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Old Jul 11, 2013 | 11:34 AM
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Originally Posted by The Guz
OP if you're going with a HF polisher I would agree this would be a better choice, as for pads some disagree with me but I just used the orange pad and followed up with the red pad on my black 2010 SS.

There's a lot of good online products but for most people over the counter products work just fine. Products I used are, Meguiar's ScratchX2.0, NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 - Liquid or if you want a real paste wax use there NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 - Paste, Smooth Surface Clay Kit.
Attached Thumbnails Harbor freight buffer, what pads/waxes-2010-camaro-ss-002.jpg  
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Old Jul 11, 2013 | 12:35 PM
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OP, I just did a full paint correction on my WS6 using the Harbor Freight DA and it worked perfectly. I used the backing plate that came with it as well; no complaints. I did not use any Harbor Freight pads however. I used the new Adam's dual stage paint correction system, which came with pads. Are their other DA's that are better; maybe. Does the Harbor Freight DA do what it's supposed to and allow you to correct your paint; yes. It all depends on how much you want to spend. For me, the Harbor Freight DA did the job at a fraction of the cost of other DA's. Now, I have something I can use in the future for other vehicles and did so on a budget.
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Old Jul 11, 2013 | 01:20 PM
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Looks like the HF pads aren't much good, I used pads from Chemical Guys with excellent results. I'm wondering also if a 4" or 5" backing plate with the size pads wouldn't be worth adding to your collection, for a 4th. gen Camaro a 6" pad may be all you need but for other cars with more curves a smaller pad might work better. JMO
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Old Jul 11, 2013 | 07:35 PM
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I use the lake country pads on a porter cable. I get them on autogeek. I would go with orange, white and black/grey. I bought an orange pad and a blue pad at harbor freight to test them out but I have not had the chance to. If you want to get something over the counter to do a full correction I would recommend meguiar's ultimate compound, their ultimate polish and their ultimate liquid wax. I have used that and it works well.
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Old Jul 13, 2013 | 10:19 AM
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1. You bought the wrong polisher. Buy the dual action one as stated.
2. Ditch the backing plate, trust me IT SUCKS. You may think the backing plate is ok, but trust me, when you get a new one you see how bad the one that comes with it really is. Autogeek and other detailer sites online sell quality plates.
3. Lake county pads a great. I found the harbor freight pads are ok, but they are such poor quality that you only get one job out of them.
4. Start with Megs Ultimate line (ultimate compound and ultimate polish, finish with their ultimate wax). Great for beginners and you can get it over the counter.
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Yes,ditch the harbor freight polisher. Those things are totally junk.You don't even want a good quality rotary polisher if you are a newbie. Get a porter cable and read the the thread on here: Ask a professional detailer ls1 tech. Study it and read it carefully. That will save you a lot of time and help you from screwing things up. There is a lot to detailing so,go to a body shop and get a junk fender to practice on.
When I went to trade school for auto body for three years that's what we did.practice on something you don't care about first before you mess up a perfectly good paint job.
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