scottybdiving

I have read many good things about the interior cleaners and polishes from this place. I am thinking about purchasing the interior cleaner and exterior polishing kit with the orbital. The orbital seems pretty pricey compared to the ones at Pep Boys and Sears. Is it worth the difference or is it just another orbital polisher?

blittle

I have not used their orbital but have used their cleaning/polishing products including cloths, etc. and they are very good.

Stumblefoot

Scotty,

I too haven't tried their orbital, but can vouch for their cleaning products like blittle says.

scottybdiving

Thanks, it sounds like everybody is pleased with the products. I could swear that somebody(s) posted here that they purchased the entire kit.

fmr

I have also been using their products for years and while they are a bit on the expensive side they are very good. I do not have their orbital but own, and also recently purchased to give as a gift, the Porter Cable 7424 (brand & model most recommended) -- works quite well. They typically run around $120, but found a lower price on ebay from this seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Porter-Cable-742...QQcmdZViewItem

JDT1

Does anyone know how good the Meguiar car care products are, that are formulated for Mercedes?

Newbie_2_MB

I haven't used Griot's orbital, but I do use their interior cleaner and rubber/vinyl dressing. Their stuff is great.

toothdr

lowes usually has them for under $100 7424 or 7336 same machine just different pad which you have to change any way. try a pc kit from chemical guys or auto detailing supplies- a lot cheaper you get the pads and adapter with the kit and their sealants are great. Auto detail suppliers carries meguiars and chemical guys probably make girots stuff anyway. they make private label products for most of these resellers. let me know if you want to know which sealants to use. meguiars nxt 2 sealant followed by ultimate detail spray is the best off the shelf stuff I have used. Mercedes ceramic clear coat is very hard to polish if its scratched or swirled. if you want to machine polish it Menzerna makes something called Menzerna PO 83 Super Intensive Polish (PO85RD3.02) and you will need the green factory polish pads. you can only get them from properautocare. they say Menzerna is what the factory uses. All the menzerna products work great like full metal jacket but they ain't cheap. properauto care also has a pc kit they will put the menzerna in it if you want. they also have good learning articles if you are new to machine polishing. If you want to see demo of porter cable try you tube http://youtube.com/watch?v=J2sLCoHsEoo

StevethePilot

Doc, how is it you joined a year ago now and you're still a "newbie?"

toothdr

before I buy a new car I do my homework and check out the owner forums for a while. I just got the benz in november but I have been detailing for 30 years. use to work in a body shop and corner gas station in college and dental school

85mm

That was me! I got the starter kit which you quickly realize is truly a starter kit as you end up wanting everything in the catalog. They will end up calling you to suggest other things people usually end up ordering after their first purchase. They are not pushy just helpful. All of their products seem really well thought out. All the liquids even smell just right. I picked up what looked like a long wheel brush at a local hardware store that looked like one they had in their catalog. It turned out the version I got had reed like bristles that scratched the wheels! So now I don't make fun of the Griot 'water bucket' and 'car washing slippers' lol!

I believe the orbital is made by porter cable. The kit does add up but I was selling my Discovery and was planning on getting it detailed. When some bozo scratched our new GL450 I decided to get the orbital kit to try to fix and semi-detai my discovery myself. The Discovery was silver so I didn't think a professional detail on it would make too big a difference anyways. I also had a couple rub marks on my Honda Civic.

The results were amazing. The heavier scratches on my Discovery were not noticable after a few polishes. The rub marks on my Civic are gone. The GL only shows a faint hairline scratch now. I didn't do a full polish on the GL as we just got it and I was a bit short on time. I plan to do full polish in spring.

Here's my recommendations on ordering. Get the orbital kit along with the car wash soap. Pick up some extra wax and polish applicators. I'd pass on the orbital wax and polish remover bonnets and pad as I think you really need a lot of them to complete the job. You know how you fold your cloth over to get a fresh surface? A couple spins of the wax or polish remover pad and you need a new one. Maybe get a few but get a bunch of microfiber towels to get it all off. Finally, try not to let the orbital spin while it's not on the car surface or you get a bunch of nice polish spots all over : ) You get a 30% coupon with your first order which you'll probably use to get the other half of the catalog. Good luck!

oknish

So, in your pro opinion, doc will it be -

Zaino? or

Griot's? or

??

Just curious as to which products you prefer and why.

oknish

Scotty - My $0.02 is to have the first detail done by a pro who will let you watch and learn. While it is hard to mess with an Orbital, it does take a bit of practice to get going. All the best.

scottybdiving

Good suggestions. Very informative. Looks like we have evolved a long way from the Turtle Wax days.

HoustonRider

its a better workout to do it by hand.... if you hit an edge with an orbiter you can burn the paint (literally).

All it needs is a little hand polish and a wax. If you're old it should take you about 2 hours. these are small trucks.

Stumblefoot

You've got a heck of a sense of humor! It takes all of 2 hours to wash the exterior and clean the interior.

Thanks for the laugh!

scottybdiving

How about the truck on the right..........if you are not old, of course. Can I get a calory count?

I think I will start out with hand polishing. White is pretty forgiving and doesn't really show swirls.

GL Troll

The Griot’s random orbital is a porter cable with Griot’s name slapped on it. So shop around. Doing it properly by hand will take a really long time and won’t come out as well. With a random orbital you’d have to try really hard to burn the paint.

I do love Griot’s selection of detailing tools, brushes, etc.

HoustonRider

ive got a 2500HD crew, its a bigger truck than this GL.. and its all black.

I'm gonna do a polish and wax this weekend... maybe i can time it..lol

toothdr

If you clay bar and do at least a light machine polish any thing you put on will look good. Its just a matter of how long it stays that way. Zainos is good: griot i have never tried, i am sure some one makes it for them. If you want to stick to german products all the menzerna ones are great. they have a full molecular jacket sealant and detail spray you will like. the old german classic is klasse all in one followed by klasse high gloss sealant. the trouble with "all in one" is its hard to get off by hand. I apply sealant with a pc using meguiar w8006 pads and remove with the same pads covered by their microfiber bonnets. The only off the shelf sealant I like is the meguiars nxt2 sealant and their ultimate detailer spray. Remember with all sealants you want them to bond with the paint and glass for 15 minutes to dry before removing. If you want stuff you can get in LA, what i am using now is a base coat (2 coats) of jetseal 109 which you can get from chemicalguys.com near lax. I use it because it lasts a long time. then I get something from newport beach called "der shiney stuff". this guy used to distribute klass products but now sells a good line of product he says are improved over klasse. A couple of coats of der shiney stuff over the jetseal makes the paint looks wet. To maintain it just use a good detail spray like der mist stuff, meguires ultimate, or menzerna high gloss acrylic after every wash.