New to this how to start

2008 chevy silverado extended cab - color dark brahmah jewell effect, has metalic in it.

I want to polish the truck to get out light swirls etc.. nothing bad.

From what I have read, does the below process make sense, of course after prep work.

FG400 start out with maybe a green pad - check results test spot to see if I need to use a orange or yellow pad for more cutting if I need to remove more swirls etc...


Follow up with SF 400 with a blue pad.

Use a black pad for applying wax etc..


Also how much product should I expect to need for the above mentioned vehicle. Looks like the product comes in a pint size. Will a pint of each be more than enough product to do the entire vehicle. In my mind I think it would be plenty.

Also how many pads should I expect to go through?

Thanks in advance.

 

You'll probably end up stepping up to the orange pad. The green pad doesn't cut very quickly. Depends on how soft your paint is. On my Mom's IS350 I tried using the Green pad with FG400 and didn't really get much cut. I'm not sure how hard or soft the clear on your Silverado is though.

You want to rotate through pads to keep the backing from getting hot. I learned that the hard way. If you have two just rotate through those every time you apply more product to the pad or so. A pint will be more than plenty. A pint should be good for at least 3 cars. It goes quite a ways.

I haven't tried a blue pad with FG400 yet. I did use it with SF4000 and the results were great.

Good luck! If you get a chance post some before and after pictures.

What are you using for your protective coat? I would recommend Sonax Polymer Net Shield. It is fantastic stuff.

 

Welcome to the Forum !
Congrats on a beautiful Truck and color !

What make and model machine are you using ?
How much experience do you have with this machine ?
How many pads, what brand, what color, what size do you have now?

Are you going to Claybar or use a rubberized towel over it to remove the embedded dirt first ?

Dan F

 

Thanks for the replies.
I do believe I will use the Sonax Polymer net shield. I watched a video of a guy applying it and the results looked great. looks simple to apply as well.

I plan on doing a clay bar, I have done clay bar before and been very happy with the results, and I know it creates a super slick smooth surface. I have only ever done a hand wax after the clay bar.
I have never done a polish before, but I really have no fear of giving it a try as most things I dive into work out well. I am a total DIY type of person.
Figure if I start out less abrasive than what I think I need and go from there I should be fine.

My plan was to do the prep work then hit it with the polish FG400 follow up with the SF4000 then do the Polymer Net Shield

I have a PC 7424XP. New to me from my wife for my birthday. I am a fanatic about keeping my truck clean etc.. but it has some minor swirl marks etc.. that were on it when I bought it. Since I have owned it, it rarely goes a week with out a wash and I always hand waxed at least twice a year. Use detailer between etc..

Would like to post a picture of the truck, but not sure how to upload a photo on this forum yet. Will do some looking around and figure out how. If someone wants to chime in on how to do that, it would be appreciated.

 

You always want to try least aggressive first do a test spot with the green pad and sf4000 first if not enough step down progressively. You can post pics by using photobucket and just copying the image code into the post. I'd go with 4 agressive pads, 4 polishing pads, and 2 wax pads.

 

I know the addage is always start out least aggressive but SF4000 on a green pad on a PC7427xp isn't going to remove anything but light swirl marks and water spots. In my opinion you might want to check out HD Adapt which is a great product for 1 stepping that I've reticently fallen in love with. HD Adapt with an orange pad can tackle pretty much anything you throw at it and eliminates the need for a 2 step polish. And a 2 step polish on a huge truck for a beginner is going to take a VERY long time. I would try to get it down to 1 step if you can unless you are ready to invest a lot of time (which is fine! i'm just saying...).

Definitely give it a good wash
Iron-X
Rinse REALLY well
Claybar (or synthetic alternative) wIth lube
Rinse again
Dry
HD Adapt + Orange pad + PC7424xp
70% Isopropyl Alcohol mixed 50:50 with distilled water wipedown
Sonax Polymer Netshield

SUCCESS!

Another plus of HD Adapt is there is ZERO dust, I mean none at all which is awesome! I would use a lot of pads because I always like using fresh pads.

 

Yea, usually when I do the wash clay wax routine I already have a day in it.
So you are telling me I can just go orange pad use HD Adapt and be good to go. I don't have to move to a less agressive pad etc.. just use the orange and it will have a good finish.
Sounds like I may go that route.
I figured I would put aside a weekend to do this job, bu this would cut the time a lot if it is doable in one step as far as the polishing process goes.

 

Orange pads are great, I've finished down Jet Black BMW paint from the early 00's which is known to be some of the softest around to perfection, it's a versatile pad.

But like I said, doing it the proper way would to be use a light polish with a light pad but there's a 95% chance you're going to be unhappy with the results, and to get the results you want with that combo it's going to require many many passes, you're better off going more aggressive polsih/compound and a more aggressive pad to get the job done. Any by "aggressive" it's not that much more going to an orange pad and HD Adapt, we're not using a Rotary here with a wool pad and 3M compound from the 90s. We're using foam with a DA and a "combo" compound/polish product. I really think you'll be happy with the results. You may actually find this may not even give enough correction with this combination if your paint is really hard and you may want to step up to microfiber cutting pads but I'd suggest an orange pad first.

 

If you want it to finish well with a orange make sure you are slowing the speed down and letting up on your pressure on the final one or 2 passes or you will probably end up with trails or marring.

 

Yeah I do that, usually 6 passes...

First 2 passes: Speed 6, firm pressure, very very slow arm movement
Second 2 passes: Speed 6, solid pressure, very slow arm movement
Last 2 passes: Speed 5, very light pressure, SLIGHTLY faster arm movement

All this while doing a cross-hatch pattern, I usually get fantastic results. If I had a better polisher than a porter cable I could probably get by with less passes. I also look for the polish breaking down as well, sometimes when using a new pad, priming the pad you can get a little bit of excess product and you need to work it in a little longer.

 

I am going to go with the HD Adapt as you suggested. I ordered it already.
Thanks for the detailed outline of how you do each pass.
Looks like to get the good final finish the pressure needs to come off to polish and not cut on the last couple passes, makes sense.
I have been watching some online videos as well, several with guys using the HD Adapt.
Everything I have seen and read looks good about it.
Will let you know how I get along.
Thanks again for the input.

 

Cool, anxious to hear back to see how it went!

 

Thought I would try and post a photo of the truck.
I have not done the detail job yet.