Other than my arms will be puddin for a few days afterward...

I've decided to do this because my buddy has a 10" Orbital buffer & the mere sight of it makes me tremble. It looks big, cumbersome, and my novice experience with the use of it has me thinking I'll roast the paint right off my car. I've got the Porter Cable in my sights, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger on it quite yet. My car is beggin for a real good shinin' now, so I'm going old school, using some good ole elbow grease.

My question for you guys is what kind of applicator pads should I use and where can I find them? Any other tips are most certainly welcome.

This is what I was thinking of doing:

1. After washing her up, I was gonna start with some 3M Perfect It II rubbing compond (can I use this by hand? If so, what kind of pad?)

2. Pump down some beers, and then apply some #7 show car glaze (another pad reccomendation)

3. Apply some Ben Gay to my arms, then some NXT Gen Tech wax to my car (paste or no?)

* I may clay bar it after the wash, but I was hoping the 3M would allow me to skip it.

any help or input would be great, & if you see any holes in my process, let me know.

Thanx

 

Don't skip the clay bar step. The 3M stuff won't replace the clay bar (nothing will). You may want to use a less aggressive polish after the 3M to bring out more gloss in the paint. Then proceed with the #7 and NXT.

 

So instead of a 4 step process, am I looking at a 6 steper? Lord have mercy, I'm gonna be mush.

So: wash, clay bar, 3M, less aggressive polish (any recommendations?), #7 & then the NXT. Please pardon the newb, but I thought the #7 was my polish, so with that in mind, am I using 2 types of polish or should I dump the #7 (is that the aggressive one) or am I simply using a less agressive one first, then a more aggresive one in the #7 after?

How does this sound: wash, clay bar, #9 then the NXT.

 

I'm not that familiar with Meg's #7. If that is less aggressive than the 3M, you can skip my polish step. I was figuring that the 3M was pretty abrasive and you'd want a less aggressive polish before waxing. I use Menzerna Final Polish as the last step before the wax. Always use the least aggressive polish right before the wax.