Orbital polisher advice? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Dr. Kill · 03-18-2008, 09:44 AM

I am looking at ordering a polisher to help keep my black Boxster all nice and shiny. The two that I am currently looking at are:

- Griot’s Garage Random Orbital
- Porter Cable 7424

Does anyone have any input on these two options? Anything else I should consider?

Allen K. Littlefield · 03-18-2008, 10:07 AM

Dr., I have the Griots and have no problems with it. I have heard the cable is just as good. I imagine price would dictate. The Griots does a nice job and I am pleased with it. I recently purchased Griots small polisher and I like the fact that I can get in and polish those small curved areas. I have one of those 5 wheel rolling stools to sit on while doing lower doors, sills, etc. and it saves a lot of wear and tear on my back. I hope it gets warm enough soon to get on it and polish and wax the Boxcar for spring and summer. Good luck on your choice.

AKL

Perfectlap · 03-18-2008, 10:12 AM

ok if you have black I would encourage you to look at another option.
THe Cyclo. Faster results in with less elbow grease.
I have the PC and it does a fine job but on a high speed setting necessary to buff out swirls and scratches the thing virbrates way too much. Leaves my arms numb.
But then again you shouldn't be doing this more than a couple of times a year.
If I had a black car I would definitely opt for the Cyclo but since I have the lowest maintenance color I stuck with the PC. I also think FK1 425 spray polymer is a must have for black, its like teflon for your just waxed surfaced. Use it for quick detailing and you can really stretch out the life of your wax.

Check out the videos in my signature. The guy in the clips has a black SUV and really spells it out.

Dr. Kill · 03-18-2008, 10:58 AM

Interesting - the cyclo looks very cool, but appears to cost twice as much as the other options. I am going to need to think this through.

Thanks for your responses.

Grizzly · 03-18-2008, 11:13 AM

Doc,

I own the Makita, the Porter Cable and the Cyclo. The Cyclo is the better of the three by far. The only complaint I have about it is that it is not variable speed (I'm sure it could be made variable speed if I wasn't an electronic imbecile). It is far better balanced and vibrates far less than the Porter Cable. By the way, the Griot's polisher is a Porter Cable, just prettied up for Rich Griot.

I've owned my Cyclo for at least 10 years. At first, I could only get two types of pads for it. Now, they sell all the different pads, yellow, orange, green, white, blue and black.

Perfectlap · 03-18-2008, 11:39 AM

You can also use the Cyclo to clean your carpeting and probably your leather as well. They have special brush attachments for fabrics.

Sputter · 03-18-2008, 12:46 PM

I can't speak for the Cyclo but I agree with Perfectlap, in that the PC-7424 vibrates quite a bit at high speeds. Nature of the beast I guess.
I do like the PC-7424 and have no problems recommending it.

Jim

Frodo · 03-18-2008, 03:48 PM

Quote:

"You can also use the Cyclo to clean your carpeting and probably your leather as well. They have special brush attachments for fabrics."

Posted by Perfectlap.

If you happen to be married, you may want to avoid using this while your wife's around---she may get ideas. Next thing you know you find yourself in the bathroom cleaning mildew off the tiles over the tub with you new Cyclo. Griz, maybe you could address this---you experience any problems in this regard? (I assume without knowing that you are married.)

Grizzly · 03-18-2008, 03:55 PM

Nope, haven't run into that yet, but of course, I didn't buy the brushes.

Cyclo also sells sanding discs so you can sand with it as well.

rule1 · 03-18-2008, 04:28 PM

I would go with Griot's it's the best!!!!

JFERR · 03-18-2008, 05:10 PM

Go to autotopia.com. Great articles to help you decide.

I just bought the Ultima polisher and the Sonax pads and polishes after reading their articles.

Autogeek.com is another good web site.

Hoping to detail the Jade Black Mercedes E500 this weekend.

Good Luck

Benny986 · 03-18-2008, 09:22 PM

i am using a friend's meguiars version of the PC unit. i like it a lot.

if i were to buy one, it would be the PC.

yellowboxster01 · 03-19-2008, 04:30 AM

Griot's and Meguiars polishers are the porter cable just with someone elses logo on them.

geoff · 03-19-2008, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowboxster01

Griot's and Meguiars polishers are the porter cable just with someone elses logo on them.

The Meguiars one has a lifetime warranty. Anything breaks and send it back for a new one. At some point, when it breaks, all they can do is send the latest model