Mythos_S3

Perfect response. It's also easier to work with when smaller.

I will either do that or just move the vehicle outside! It was shot with my iPhone 6S+ You would think that would suffice. Haha Thanks again for the ideas.

Thank you! Be sure to post some pics of your ride when you are done! And feel free to ask any question you have!

Thank you! I should have reorganized that. I always do it before the paint work, but I wanted to group all of the paint items together. Next time I will be sure to include that. Also, if it was full paint correction I would most certainly tape off the trim. It was only a quick one step on a daily driver, so I was just cautious and stayed away from the trim. Should have stated both of those! Thanks for the feedback.

Thank you I think organization is key! This took about 4-5 hours. It was $200. Let me know if there is anything I missed that you would enjoy for the future.

Thanks for the feedback! Next one I will try and get proper amounts and how long they should last. It's difficult for me because once I start I just keep going. So I often miss key documentation. As for the photos, the lighting was terrible, you should see the originals. I'm not much of a "photoshopper" to say the least lol

Paint Sealant Once the paint correction was done I was ready to apply the Liquid Paint Sealant (LPS). I continued using the cyclo, but switched to the grey sealant pads. I made an “X” on the pad with LPS and turned the machine speed to 3. I placed to machine on the paint and turned it on. When applying LPS all you want to do is apply it and get even coverage there is no need for multiple passes. So after I applying it to all panels I went back and wiped it all off. If there is still residue on the paint you can use a shot of detail spray to help remove it. Tire and Fender Dressing When I use Adam’s Tire Shine I like lots of gloss, so here is my method of applying. I spray the tire liberally and let it soak while spraying down the other tires. Then I come back and using a Hex Grip Tire Applicator I spread the Tire Shine to a nice even Gloss. After spreading the Tire Shine, I use Detail Spray to wipe down the wheels to remove and overspray from the tire shine. If you don’t like to much gloss, you can spray Tire Shine directly on the applicator and then spread it. As for the fenders I always use Adam’s Invisible Undercarriage Spray (IUS). Whether they are cloth or plastic IUS makes the fender nice and black. All you have to do is spray liberally for a nice even matte finish. Here are the before and after photos. Trim and Rubber Dressing The two products I use to make trim a nice rich black is, Adam’s Vinyl, Rubber and Tire Dressing (VRT) as well as In and Out spray. These two products are easy to use and don't leave a greasy residue. I use In and Out spray for the trim around the windows, and the trim below the windshield. I spray it evenly across the trim and use a microfiber to remove any residue and blend the dressing. As for the VRT, I used a foam block and applied it to the step up bars. Apply VRT directly to the block and fold the block together to evenly distribute the dressing. Then I simply the spread the VRT on to the piece of trim I was working with. Work it in until it is an even finish. Make sure you apply these products before doing the windows. Here is the finished product. Applying Glass Sealant and Cleaning Glass Adam’s Glass Sealant is a must have for any vehicle and can be applied to all windows. When applying Glass Sealant you should clay the glass first making sure there are no contaminates on the glass. Using a Microfiber Applicator put about 10 drops of the sealant onto the applicator. It doesn't take much. Apply the sealant evenly using cross hatching technique. Allow the sealant to haze up. Buff off the residue using Adam's Glass Cleaner and a Blue Glass Towel. When properly applied water should bead off in a ridiculous fashion and wipers become almost useless in the rain. In my opinion this is the best way to clean glass without any streaks. Fold the towel into Quarters. Spray the window with Glass Cleaner. Wipe evenly in straight lines. then flip the towel to the dry side and buff any remaining residue in the same straight lines. Final Results This GMC Denali came out great even though it only had 700 miles on it, it still needed some love. Now it is prepped for winter and in showroom condition. Please feel free to ask any and all questions you may have. I am here to answer them. Thanks for looking.

Adam’s Polishes Winter Prep on a 2016 GMC Denali Hello everyone my name is Charlie, I recently started detailing at Adam’s Headquarters in Louisville, CO. My goal is to post write-up’s of the detail’s in order to (A) show you what Adam’s amazing products are capable of, and ( help answer any and all questions you may have about the product and how to use it. The first few write-ups may not be perfect as I have never documented my own work before. So please chime in giving me any pointers or ideas you would like to me to show in the future. I hope you enjoy. This customer recently picked up this beautiful GMC Denali from McCaddon in Boulder, and by recently I mean there were 700 miles on the vehicle. So he called headquarters and requested an exterior new vehicle/ winter prep. Smart guy if you ask me, getting your vehicle protected shortly after delivery is key. When he dropped off the vehicle I was handed the keys and got to work. These are some photos to show you what I was working with. Please excuse the sideways photos Wheels/Tires/Fenders I proceed to start the washing process (as you should always do first) with the wheels tires and fenders doing one half of the vehicle at a time. For this step I used Deep Wheel Cleaner, All Purpose Cleaner, a wheel woolie (black), a wheel brush (red), a fender brush (grey), a tire brush (blue) and a lug nut brush (red). With everything still dry I sprayed down the face and barrels of the wheels with Deep Wheel, and then the fenders and tires with All Purpose. Remember to not let the Deep Wheel Cleaner sit on the wheels very long, a maximum of 4 minutes before rinsing. When the Deep Wheel reacts with the brake dust it turns purple. So don't scrub them immediately. I scrubbed the face of the wheels with the wheel brush (red) and the lug brush (red handle). Then continued to scrub the barrels with the wheel woolie (black). Once the wheels were done, I scrubbed the fenders using the fender brush (grey) and the tire brush (blue). Finally I rinsed everything and continued to the other side of the Denali. Wash On to the hand wash, first I prepped my buckets as well as my foam gun. In my clean soap bucket I put a new wash pad into the bottom and added about 2-3 oz of Adam’s Car Shampoo directly onto the pad and then filled it with clean water. As for my rinse bucket, well I filled it up with clean water obviously. Now to prep the Adam’s Polishes Foam Gun for ultimate suds action, I added about 2-3 oz of Car Shampoo to the reservoir and filled the rest with warm water. Starting the wash process I rinsed the car with water to remove as many contaminants as possible. Then came the fun part, the Foam Gun. I Sprayed the whole vehicle down with the foam gun lathering it with suds in order to make optimal lubrication to reduce the risk of scratches. After the vehicle was drenched with soap I grabbed the wash pad and started scrubbing. When you soap a vehicle you should always wash top down using only straight line motions, never use circular motions. Reason being, straight scratches are easier to buff out as opposed to circular scratches. Also, always rinse the wash pad every couple of panels depending on how dirty the car is and save the bottom third of the car for last or use a different wash pad for these areas as they are always the dirtiest. The less contaminates in the wash pad, the better. When rising the wash pad, I dunk it in the rinse bucket, scrub one side on the grit guard then flip it and scrub the other side followed by ringing out the water before dunking it back in the soap bucket. These extra simple steps can make a huge difference in quality of your paint after just one wash or a one hundred washes. When I was done soaping this huge GMC Denali I rinsed the entire vehicle off. Then I proceeded to the scary step, drying the vehicle. Drying Once the car was completely rinsed of all soap, I grabbed a bottle of Adam’s detail spray. I sprayed it all over the entire vehicle, to add lubrication for the drying towel. Drying a car is almost guaranteed to leave minor scratches so adding detail spray greatly reduces the odds. When the car was covered in detail spray, I grabbed a Great White drying towel and starting with the roof and working my way down. When using the towel I applied very light pressure to avoid as many scratches as possible. Using only straight motions (no turns with the towel) I used one side to pick up the majority of the water, then I flipped the towel using the other side to pick up the remaining water thus leaving a streak free finish. Also the reason for only using straight motions; it’s more difficult to see straight scratches and they are more easy to polish out. Continue this process until the entire vehicle is complete. Clay Bar After drying the car it was time to clay it. Yes that's right even a vehicle with only 700 miles needs to be clayed. So to start out I checked how rough the paint was using a plastic bag. Using a plastic bag increases your sense of touch. So, very lightly I moved my hand in a plastic bag over the paint, checking all panels. The flat surfaces were worse than the vertical surfaces, most likely from sitting on the dealership's lot. After checking the surfaces I grabbed the Big Blue Clay Bar and inspected it to make sure it was clean and ready to use. I stretched the clay to about the size of my palm and made sure it was flat by pressing it against the paint (shown below). Then using Adam’s Detail Spray (You should probably buy a gallon of this ) I sprayed a couple mists on the panel to lubricate the clay bar to give you an idea of how much detail spray there is a photo below. Again using medium pressure and straight lines, I clayed the surfaces after every few panels you will want to flip the clay inside out to get a fresh surface. Just remember to keep the surface lubricated, the clay should slide across the panel like butter in a pan. You don't have to wipe off the panels until you are done. Also, if you drop the clay bar, DO NOT REUSE IT THROW IT AWAY even if it looks fine, it’s not. Polishing Once I had finished claying the Denali, it was time to check for swirls and do some correcting. The car was in pretty good shape but there were some minor swirls on the GMC as shown below. I these are small enough swirls that Adam’s Paint Finishing Polish could take care of them, there was no need for Correcting Polish. My polisher choice was the Cyclo, because I didn't need to do a lot of correcting and the Cyclo covers a large surface area because of the two 4 inch pads. I put 4 dots on each white pad and a mist of detail spray to each pad to add lubrication. Once the pads were prepped I put the machine on the paint and turned the speed to 2. Then turned the machine “on” just to spread the polish around in about a 4 square foot area (2x2). Then turned the machine off and changed to speed to 5. When polishing you want to use cross hatching technique overlapping about 50% each time (shown below). Once i fished the first panel I wiped the polish residue and inspected the paint, this was to make sure the Paint Finishing Polish did the job. Don't forget this step and do the whole car, then realize that you didn't use a heavier polish. I don't add very much pressure to the machine because you want make sure the pads are spinning as well as oscillating. Sometimes it helps to mark the pad with a straight line using a sharpie on the side. If the pad is not spinning this means you are applying too much pressure or holding the machine at an angle. I polished over each section about 2-3 times, cross hatching each time until the polish was fully broken down. When fully broken down the polish should look oily almost like Vaseline. You should only have to reapply polish every other panel. If you spray the pad to lubricate it and dab it on the panel you should see some polish on there (it looks white). If not you can reapply polish, two dollops should be enough. Here is the finished product.

The Adams Foam Gun nozzle is great! Obviously I mean when you detach the foam gun itself and just use the nozzle. Two birds with one stone! http://adamspolishes.com/adam-s-foam-gun.html?___SID=U

Welcome back Esteban! I love the new F-150's, the grey looks awesome! My neighbor picked up a dark red lariat a couple weeks ago. Be sure to check out the website for new stuff since you have been gone. I highly recommend H20 Guard and Gloss -Charlie

Welcome. These Forums are unbelievably helpful. There is so much information on here. But feel free to ask any questions you can't find answers too. I will be positing a huge write up on the basics soon. Look for it in the detailing library. -Charlie

Please be careful wet sanding Allen. I'd hate to see you ruin your paint. If you need any tips feel free to message me. I'm trying to do a full write up soon on wet sanding.

The Metro Vac is amazing. Yes it is expensive, but it is a real piece of machinery. When using it, you can tell it is a solid machine. The build quality is great. It's vacuum pressure is is amazing and it's ability to blow air is even more amazing. Defiantly a very useful tool for detailing. If you are willing to make the investment, then that is the one to go with, you won't be disappointed. https://www.metrovacworld.com/Vac_N_%20Blo_Automotive It should be available through Adams soon. -Charlie

That looks phenomenal! Great work! Love the red!

Hello Matt, I know the feeling of being very eager to get started. Starting your own business is very challenging. You should take your time, make a proper business plan and get everything straight in your head. This can take several months. In the mean time you can continue practicing your skills and slowly progressing. Also, having options for detail levels for your customers to choose from is key. Reason being a large percentage of your customers will not care about paint correction let alone notice your quality of paint correction. I started out doing two step paint correction ie. Adams Paint Correcting Polish followed with their Paint Finishing Polish. Let me tell you, it is a huge waste of time and energy. Currently my "full" customer detail includes, Wash (fenders, wheels, grills, emblems, doorjambs), one step polish, wax (sealant is an upgrade), tire shine, interior cleaning. Obviously that is the shortened version, but you get the point. Remember customer service is key, you must do what ever is necessary to make them happy. You can PM me with any other questions you may have. Charlie