What pads?

Wondering what pads are recommended for polishing an Outback with all the bits of body cladding. Looking at the space between the bump strip along the door and the lower cladding, I'm thinking a 3" pad would be best for getting in here?

 

Also, what's the difference between "Mild cutting pad" and "Polishing pad"?

It depends on the time of the month....and how heavy it is...jk...

 

Is this for a rotary device?

 

Subbing for the answer...

It's a Porter Cable random orbit.

 

There's lots of small areas that I'm not sure how to tackle, like the dip in the bumper below the headlights for example.

I would highly recommend checking out http://www.autogeekonline.net forums for some really good tips on polishing.

 

Mild cutting and polishing pad differences.. A mild cutting pad is typically for use with a mild compound. As you get used to polishing, you'll learn to mix heavy cutting compounds on lighter cutting pads and vice-versa, but that's typically what it's for. A polishing pad is for a final polish. After a compound, the painted panel can look "hazy". This is where you polish it to get the gloss back out of the paint.

 

I hope this helps. My recommendations on compounds/polishes:

 

Meguiar's M105 (heavy cutting compound), Meguiar's M205 (the next step after M105.. polishes up), Menzerna PF2500 (one step swirl removing polish), Menzerna FG400 (similar to PF2500 but can cut a little more aggressively), Menzerna SF4500 (very fine finishing polish).

 

Where are you located? In PA by any chance? I'd be glad to help out. Post up some pictures of what you're dealing with and I can help further!

You don't really need to change pads for different areas of the car. For cars I really can't recall ever using anything other than the standard 5 or 6 inch pad. No need to go down smaller than that since your backing plate is likely 5 inches anyway. Just stick with the normal size pad and just move slower around areas that you don't want to damage. If it is hard to get to with your polisher, then it is likely also hard to get to in order to create swirls, so the need for real cutting power probably isn't great there anyway.

I seem to recall the foam pads being pretty stiff. How well do they ride up and over the moulding on the door and the cladding? And if you angle it in order to navigate these raised areas, does that apply too much pressure at the opposite edge of the pad and risk burning the paint?

You really don't have to worry about burning the paint with a Porter Cable. Rotaries are the machines that do that. I honestly can't recall ever doing any damage with my PC in the many years I've been using it.

 

I'd be careful of using a pad that is too stiff on Subaru paint. You can haze the crap out of this paint really easily. It is very soft and very easy to haze. The best thing I've found is to use something softer like a Red or Blue pad and then adjust the cutting polish instead of adjusting the cutting pad. Always use a diminishing abrasive product so you don't have to polish ten times to get the paint clear and you should be fine. Definitely avoid the stiff pads on Subaru paint though. Unless it is an '04 or earlier the paint is just too soft to hold up to firm pads.