I like the Excel Propel 2 pads *the one with Scallops on the ends), especially the orange pads for repair work, and blue for polishing or putting LSPs on. But I also like the Meguiars yellow for fine polishing for the PC for speed glaze #80(if you don't want to get the difficult swirls out, but I would imagine you bought the PC to get after the swirls).
I know Excel's pad are excellent and recommended by many on here (scottwax for one), but there are many good pads out there. But Patrick at Excel also offers discounts if you buy a Pad Kit. Maybe the other's do to.
I haven't tried them yet, but I think Excel is offering their ExcelErasure, which is also top notch in quality. Has anyone tried these?
One thing I didn't know which is very important to pad selection, is sometimes different pads take slightly different backing plates and they actually do make a difference in polishing paint. I wouldn't have thought it but it does matter. The P2's are slightly bigger and they like the bigger backing plate (6") The Meguiars pad I use their 5" in backing plate.
After having seen the new Erasure pads, I would think the standard 5" plate might work best, but it's fun experimenting.
Besides buying the PC, I think the next best thing I did was buy a whole range of pads as it helped me in my process of going after defects. Sometimes you need the most aggressive pad, and sometimes you don't, and you will play around with different polishes. The next thing I would recommend is getting Optimum Polish, it's a great product to learn on, easy to work with, and it will deliver great results.
Although some will say you can get a near perfect finish with a PC (what is a near perfect autopian finish anyway), you may exceed your expectations with a PC or never meet them. The shine will dramatically increase in most cases, but the dreaded swirls will come to life sometimes under harsh lighting and they can drive you crazy if you let them. PC's are awesome, but don't expect miracles as I did in the beginning. As they say, they do have limitations ( in bright intense lights), but under the general sun, in most cases, you can get out the majority of swirls that no one but an autopian will even notice in the sun.
One more thing I could recommend, Mike Phillips has a new DVD devoted to using a PC. I have heard nothing but good things about it. Here a link to buy it.
http://www.showcargarage.com/index.php?page=1960Corvette $ well spent
Good luck on your new PC and pad selection
Doug
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So Cal Shine Shop TO CAL
Attention To Detail Is What Separates Us From The Rest
great pads for a starter set
