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Dan@Adams

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Everything posted by Dan@Adams

  1. Outstanding work! I'm sure your mother in law was very happy with the finished result
  2. And let's not forget the two heavy hitters at the front of the pack! Here is the Day 1 Route Card. These are the types of clues and places we visit during these rally events. They're always challenging to find and very interesting and rewarding once you get there! I need to pull more pictures from my phone, but more updates coming your way soon!
  3. We woke up bright and early the next chilly, but beautiful morning, to begin the adventure for the next two days. Getting all of the vehicles lined up. The start grid order is determined by how much each team raised for the Epilepsy Foundation. More of the diverse vehicles on the rally as they are being handed their route card for the day:
  4. As soon as I saw that thread title in Recent Topics last night, I immediately thought "Uh oh...how can someone not be a fan of these awesome products!?!" which was then followed with an "Oh ok then " Sorry Carter, we're still trying to perfect our new Money Tree Spray, to aid with your depleting bank account...just kidding!
  5. I think it might be my new favorite product now too Tony! It keeps my daily driver looking awesome and protected in no time at all
  6. Sure! If I didn't live several hours away, I would go over things with you in person, but ur video series goes over machine polishing in extensive detail at this link on the website or if you search around through Youtube for Adam's and Porter Cable, you'll get quite a few hits of some videos from a few years back, but the information and techniques are still relevant. The general summary though would be: - As a general practice, work in about a 2 foot by 2 foot area or less, anything larger than this will make the Paint Correcting Polish less effective. As a side note, I like to wear hearing protection, as some of the machines are fairly loud and I already have some damage to my hearing from working in computer labs, Navy ships, and shipyards! After claying and ensuring that the finish is clean: - Apply either 3 or 4 pea-sized drops of polish onto the orange foam pad, or two lines of polish in a plus shape ( + ) - 1 mist of Detail Spray onto the pad face to prime the pad - Place the pad on the surface to be corrected. I like to blot the polish around some before I even turn on the PC. - On speed setting 1 or 2, spread the polish around the work area so that it doesn't fling onto you or other areas of the car. You can move quickly here since you are just spreading it. When turning off the machine, always "walk" the pad down on the surface as the machine slows, rather than pulling the pad off of the surface as soon as you click the machine off, which can wear out the velcro and possibly throw the pad off of the machine. Always start and stop the polisher with the pad touching the surface of the vehicle. - Bump the machine to speed setting 6, keep the pad face level with the surface you are working on, ensure you have a good grip on the PC, and then turn it on. If you haven't used a random orbital polisher before, it does have some power and vibration to it. Apply a little downward pressure in addition to the weight of the machine. You will hear the motor throttle down a tiny bit and the pad and backing plate will slow down slightly as well. - Work in an overlapping pattern - horizontal (left-right) passes on the panel, followed by vertical (up-down) passes - in a slow, controlled movement. After several passes in each direction, you will see the polish begin to "flash" - when a polish goes from being opaque to almost transparent or vaseline-like. This is when you know the micro abrasives in the polish have been worked to their full potential. - Wipe the area with a clean microfiber towel and inspect the results. If the water spots are still there, it may take a second application of Paint Correcting Polish, stepping up to the orange microfiber pad which has more correcting strength than the orange foam pad. You can then go back to the orange foam pad, and then finally to the white foam pad with Paint Finishing Polish to get the surface perfect and remove any minor micro-marring that the orange pad and Paint Correcting Polish may have made. I've found that the new formula of Paint Correcting Polish finishes down nearly perfect on a lot of clearcoats, but I still move onto the Paint Finishing Polish to give it that out of this world shine. - Wipe the area again after polishing and apply your preferred layer of protection - Buttery Wax, Liquid Paint Sealant, Americana, Patriot Wax, or H2O Guard & Gloss Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions
  7. Hi Joe, thanks for joining our fun community! As you can see, we're a pretty welcoming place around here, and we encourage you to ask questions and offer input! Let's see some pictures of the Camaro when you get a chance
  8. Yep, they look like water spots to me as well. If DS and a clay bar did not remove them, you will need something a little more aggressive like a polish. If you have Revive Hand Polish, I would start with that. If it doesn't remove them, you could try GENTLY working some Paint Correcting Polish into the spots by hand with an Orange Hex Grip Applicator, and then finish it off with some Brilliant Glaze. I've used the orange hex grip applicator on some tight to reach chrome plated front grill pieces without introducing an extra marring to the finish, but hopefully the Revive Hand Polish with the softer blue foam will do the trick! Let us know how things work out for you John, thanks.
  9. Hi Phil, your list pretty much covers every generally area, but dirty windows are a pet peeve of mine so I seem to clean them a lot. Have you ever tried Glass Sealant on them? Hmm, some other ideas...polish the exhaust tips (inside lip of the exhaust tips too if they are double wall), SVRT on the wiper cowl and wiper arms if they aren't painted, Invisible Undercarriage Spray on the inner fender liners, In & Out Spray on all of the wire loom and rubber hoses in the engine bay, SVRT on the rubber trim of the door jambs...I'm running out of ideas
  10. Ha! I wasn't going to guess, I know I can't participate, but I definitely did not spot that on my shirt in that picture! Congrats Eric!
  11. Hey Stewart! I was just up in your area last weekend for a charity road rally, such beautiful countryside all throughout Michigan - it was my first time driving through the state. I too, started to get into detailing back in high school with my first car, and my hobby and passion kept growing since then to now detailing around 20 vehicles a year for the last 3 years, even with a busy travel schedule for a defense contractor...but now I get to focus on cars full-time! We certainly appreciate your business! What kind of car do you have now or in the past? Post up some pictures if you don't mind sharing We are always willing to help answer any detailing questions here on the forum. It's a very friendly community with a lot of shine fanatics just like you!
  12. Love it! I'm not sure if maybe you applied it after these pictures were taken, but just in case, have you considered any Super VRT or Tire Shine for the tires? SVRT worked great on all of the rubber window trim, wiper cowl, side mirror arms, rear bumper plastic step and lower insert, and the satellite radio antenna on the roof on mine when I had it. Here's a great kit to scrub the tires with APC and then dress them with SVRT to give the tires a nice satin, semi-gloss clean look: http://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/adam-s-tire-trim-combo.html Or if you want more shine to your tires, this TIre Shine Refill Kit will last you a long time! http://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/adam-s-tire-shine-refill-kit.html
  13. A few shots of some of the other vehicles in the rally that I snapped before the sun went down: Completely stealth...gloss black sponsor decals on a gloss black car...we do tend to draw attention from police officers with all of the stickers, but they are usually very understanding once we explain that it's a charity scavenger hunt and not a race. Trucks and SUV's welcome too: Then we had the pre-rally driver's meeting and auctioned off some items for the Epilepsy Foundation. I put together 5 different Adam's kits. It was my understanding that it was going to be a silent auction, but then they made me get up there in front of 100 people and explain the products and kits. Luckily I knew more than half of the people, and I got to talk about my passion, so I wasn't too nervous These 5 kits - Car Wash Bucket with Car Wash Trio, Waterless Wash & 2 Towel Combo, Detail Spray & 2 Single Soft Towels, Basic H2O Guard & Gloss Kit, and the Americana Premium Shine Kit - all with a T-Shirt thrown and air freshener thrown in, raised just shy of $400 for the charity! Thank you to all of the bidders! After a very long day, and even hungrier stomachs, some of us took a nice half-mile walk after the driver's meeting to grab a late dinner...yum! Day 1 Start Line and Checkpoints are up next, stay tuned!
  14. Ok I'm back home after quite a bit of fun and headaches on the rally, so the story continues... After frantically packing up a ton of last minute stuff into the truck bed (because the third door handle broke and I couldn't easily put anything in the extended cab behind the seats...bummer), I got on the road and headed North on Friday morning! Getting close to Pittsburgh, PA: A half hour into Ohio...RAIN...I laughed at the rain as H2O Guard & Gloss defeated it. Hahaha. I do NOT think I would want to drive one of these... Really cool twisty wooded entrance into a rest area in Ohio: Lil' Blue Racetruck looking pretty: Cool bridge up ahead! Just a taste of the beautiful fall foliage on this trip: Over 10 hours of driving, just me and some tunes, and open road, but I finally made it to the Best Western in Mackinaw City, Michigan and I wasn't the last rally team to arrive! Seven more teams showed up after me. Quietest and most fuel efficient vehicle on the rally parked next to the loudest and worst fuel efficient vehicle on the rally? I had to
  15. Happy Birthday Adam! (and happy birthday to my big brother too!)
  16. We also have a detail clinic every April at Grabiak Chevrolet near Pittsburgh! It's always an awesome event, Ray does an outstanding job
  17. First off, welcome Eric and congrats on the new truck! Be sure to post some pictures when it arrives! Depending on how much of the elements the truck sees before it gets to you, the steps you listed earlier might be enough - Two Bucket Wash with Grit Guards, Clay with DS, Revive Hand Polish, Liquid Paint Sealant, and then some maintenance applications of H2O Guard & Gloss every few washes; however, like Adam mentioned, if the dealership does an improper wash and dry or two while they are prepping the truck, it's possible that they might induce some swirl marks and scratches, and there could even be some scratches in it just from shipping The dealership may wax it for you, and if they offer, I would personally request for them to not put any type of wax on it...even if they do, you will be stripping it back off when you clay the surface. Using a clay bar on the surface will get it nice and smooth to then either hand polish or machine polish. New vehicles can get all kinds of surface contaminants in them just from shipping from the factory across the country to the dealership - typically rail dust embedded into the clearcoat if they are being shipped by train. After washing, you can do the plastic bag test. Put your hand in a clear plastic sandwich bag and gently try to glide your palm across the surface of a panel. If your hand doesn't glide and seems to get caught on the surface, then it will need clayed. I always clay every new vehicle I work on, but that's my personal preference. Once you have the surface clean and clayed, then you can inspect it for swirl marks and scratches. It's best to do this in bright sunlight, and if that isn't an option, I like to use my 500w halogen floodlights or my 40w LED spotlight in the garage. If there are swirl marks, that is where you would have to polish them out with Paint Correcting Polish and Paint Finishing Polish with a machine like the Rupes, Flex, Cyclo, or Porter Cable. This would replace the step of using Revive Hand Polish. If the swirls are very minor, you may only need to use Paint Finishing Polish rather than starting with the more aggressive Paint Correcting Polish. Our video series goes over machine polishing in great detail If the paint is looking awesome when you get it, you're happy with it, and you don't have a machine polisher, then Revive Hand Polish will still help bring out more gloss, depth, and clarity to the finish prior to putting on Liquid Paint Sealant, but it's just nearly impossible to correct swirl marks by hand. I had a gloss black TBSS as a daily driver for several years, and my polishing routine two or three times a year was Two Bucket Wash > Clay > Revive Hand Polish > Liquid Paint Sealant or Brilliant Glaze and Americana Paste Wax. The clearcoat on that particular truck was so soft that it would get light swirls in it very easily, so I opted to just use Revive on it most of the time rather than a full paint correction with a machine polisher...I got it looking as perfect as possible with a full paint correction for the new owner when I sold it though. I hope I didn't ramble too much. Please let me know if you have any questions, I'm always willing to help out!
  18. I agree, most likely yes. However, if the wheels have a lot of intricate spokes or crevices around the rim of the wheel where brake dust could build up, depending on the brake pad compound, sometimes those areas are difficult for me to get perfect and that's where Deep Wheel Cleaner will work amazingly well
  19. I think this thread has run its course and is veering off of the original topic. It's also starting to go against some of the rules in our User Registration Agreement, locking it up. Thanks for understanding, Dan
  20. Dan the man, do you have a 15th Anniversary sticker? I think it is quite possibly the only one I don't have since Adam's started all of the limited run sticker designs. I will gladly make a donation for one! I even have one of the Colorado state flag stickers, and I don't even remember seeing those available on the website. Maybe we should make a post showing a picture of each unique sticker design?
  21. Sweet truck! I'm glad to hear it was a minimal amount of work to get her looking perfect again. I applaud you for rocking a black truck for a daily driver...it takes a certain kind of madness dedication to daily drive a black truck and try to keep it as perfect as possible...not that I ever had a gloss black rocket suv for a daily driver for 6 years that I was quite meticulous about
  22. Very cool. In just the last 5 years, I've watched a couple friends battle through breast cancer, and it's never easy, so it makes me very proud that Adam's and all of our awesome customers can help make a difference.
  23. Whoa! That's one awesome giveaway, and to donate the corresponding pads and polishes is SWEET! I'm super pumped to meet everyone next weekend, it's going to be an incredible time!
  24. I'm really diggin the new Colorado and Canyon...great truck and sweet color choice Jason! If Chevy decides to ever make a lowered, all wheel drive, V8, SS variant of the Colorado...I would be jumping for joy
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