I am a noob to machine polishing , but I spend a bunch of time at
http://www.autogeek.net/ (forum) reading up ... great resource , great store section also.
I use a
Griots 6" DA .. works great ....
I also have the 3" DA ... so-so for polishing , works great for ultra thin wax coats and makes waxing VERY easy.
I stayed away from micro-fibers for no good reason , until I tried them. Now I have a shit ton of them laundered , folded , and kept in clear plastic storage bins. It's the only way to go , dusting , drying , wax removal , window cleaning (NO LINT !) , etc , they best EVERYTHING I have ever used before. Bought them at Costco ...
For polishing , I like the
Meguires 205 with an orange pad for water spots and swirls. Using the above tools and materials , it takes having a shiny car to whole new level. It is not "heavy" enough to buff the oxidation out of the Bronco , I'll probably need a much heavier cutting compound and pads. ( yes , i tried , it does work , but it bogs down the pads FAST , use the right tools for the job)
The Meguires 105 (heavier cut) dries out too fast while buffing (my experience). From what I have read , Mezerna has some of the best compounds to use , so maybe I'll order some one of these days.
For wax , I am currently using Collonite. The
#845 has a much better look than anything I have used in the past from the typical box stores , it is supposed to last a long time , but I wasn't impressed with that aspect of it.
I just bought a can of the
#915 , haven't had a chance to use it yet , supposed to look even better and last longer than the 845.
Just last week , I ventured into the next level of auto finish care , coatings.
After much prep work , I applied
opti-coat 2.0 to my 2001 Sentra.
HOLY SMOKES , it looks like it was dipped in glass now !
Just a warning , it is not the same warm , deep glow that a carnuba wax has , but rather a very reflective and hard looking aspect to it. It also does NOT feel slick like a waxed surface , slightly more grabby like cleaned glass. Either way , dust and other stuff does not stick to it nearly at all , a lot of it blows away just by driving it , but the stuff that does "stick" wipes/washes off with ease.
It's really incredible.
I can't wait to get the rims coated so that I can just spray away the brake dust from now on !
Sorry for being so long winded , as you can see , I'm pretty pumped about what can be done to a cars paint without loads of sweat now-a-days.