porter cable good for first timer??

[hemi1300]

have never in my life used a polisher/buffer before, mainly bc i have always been terrified i'm gonna burn through the paint and make it worse. Wife and i both drive black vehicles and my truck has some very minor hairline scratches in the clearcoat, not even very noticeable in the sunglight, but notice them all the time in the garage under the fluorescent lighting. Was thinking about buying this kit Adam's Basic Porter Cable 7424 XP Polisher Kit

but not sure. Not looking for showroom paint perfection, but something to safely remove a few hairline swirls/scratches in the clear would be great. Have tried numerous hand polishes/scratch removers with no changed results. Is the pc a good choice for a beginner just looking for the random paint correction? Any chance i could make the paint worse and haze it, or something along those lines?

[FL_Fsport]

Dawn is actually a pretty stout degreaser.

 

It does tend to dry out the plastic and rubber trim pieces so don't forget to apply a dressing that moisturizes them afterwards.

 

 

Can I pre-clean aluminum with the dawn soap as well?

 

I was thinking about cleaning the lips with the soap, claying them, and then polishing... think thats good?

 

 

 

 

The micro marring is kicking my *** right now.

[mc2hill]

Can I pre-clean aluminum with the dawn soap as well?

 

The blue Dawn is a degreaser, so you can use it remove any old wax. WCW or Car Shampoo followed by IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol mixed 50/50 with water) will work too.

[southtexasplayn]

One thing you can do to practice with your new polisher is go by any auto body shop and ask them if you can take some scrap panels 90% of them will not care at all. I work for a body shop and detail on the side and this is how I perfected my technique. I would take home a hood or fender or whatever decent panel I could fine that had noticeable imperfections and go to work on it without worrying about anything. Also did this to practice wet sanding before I take sandpaper to mine or anyone else's paint. It's a lot less nerve racking when you can take a key to paint and have no consequences.

 

I did the same thing. Practiced on old scrap body panels. Tought myself how to use a rotary and to prefect my technique.

[FL_Fsport]

The blue Dawn is a degreaser, so you can use it remove any old wax. WCW or Car Shampoo followed by IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol mixed 50/50 with water) will work too.

 

 

 

what is WCW?

[mc2hill]

The blue Dawn is a degreaser, so you can use it remove any old wax. WCW or Car Shampoo followed by IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol mixed 50/50 with water) will work too.

 

what is WCW?

 

Sorry the magic term converter thing did not kick in for that one - s/b Adam's Waterless Car Wash.

[scott5]

I just used my PC for the first time and I NEVER touched any machine before and watched the volume 8 video a few times and did my first panel and I must say I kick myself in the butt for not getting it sooner.