red94chev

For sale, no trades.

About 6 of them are never used and the rest only have been used a few times. The big ones are 5.5" and the little ones are 4".

$110 shipped in the US.

The website claims that it sets up in 3-5 minutes.  I usually make my way around the car and wait a few minutes and then start removing it in the order you applied.  If I'm doing a wax topcoat, I'll go for it right after sealant removal.

13 hours ago, Rich said:

 

I'm of the opposite mind set.  I prefer to have my paint as protected as possible BEFORE having to drive through salt and cinders.  Makes spring detailing easier and with less damage.  But I want that protection there year round. 

I didn't say don't put any protection on the paint before winter.  I said I wouldn't bother polishing right before winter if you live in an area with road salt, especially if your considering ceramic coating in the spring.

Most certainly get some fresh sealant on before winter.  Then in the spring, do your polishing and protection of choice.

I don't know where you're located but if you're up north with road salt, I would wait for spring to do any correction/polishing.

There's just no way around not getting some minor swirling and whatnot after 4 months of grit being blasted at your truck.  Once winter is over, strip your sealant, get the paint to your standards, and then reseal or do your switch to ceramic.  No point in doing all the work over again.

A lot of that old trim came with some type of a film or clearcoat on it.  So what happens over the years is the base metal will start to corrode and lift the top coat and you end up with that hazy looking trim.  The only way to really fix it would be to completely refinish it.

Yeah, the shoe cleaner was too aggressive for the bottle they put it on.  I recall seeing a thread about this issue on the collectors page on facebook.

I would say they should be fine.  Any curing would be done during the baking process.

If a clay bar doesn't do anything, I would try to chip it off with a plastic razor blade.  Looks like some kind of sap or maybe a glue or adhesive that spilled on the road and got slung onto your car.

Gonna need to polish/compound through the dead gelcoat and get some protection on it.  The ceramic spray would be my choice of protection.

Check the nozzle.  Mine gets little pieces of sediment stuck in it from time to time.  I use a safety pin to push it out.

If anything, I would foam the car with UFS and use WnW in the bucket (I actually do this).  I don't see any advantage in mixing and WnW doesn't foam as well as the other soaps in my experience.

300k gone.

You're gonna have to polish them and get them sealed with something.  Ceramic would be best but hitting them with Paint Sealant every 3 months or so would work also.

I would like do a single trade if possible.

Looking to trade these 4 for a Ceramic Wax, Paint Sealant, and One Step Polish.

The Matte Detailer is a little over half full. Your bottles don't have to be 100% full either.

Thanks, Jake

Wash > Iron Remover > Clay Bar > Polish > Seal.

I'm running an AR Blue AR383SS with all the quick disconnects, a 50' 3/8" hose, and a snub nose gun.  I love it.

The key with using electric PW's is the nozzle size.  I ended up with the 3.0 size.  This is what balances your pressure vs flow.  All the pressure in the world doesn't do anything without appropriate water flow.  You don't need much pressure for washing cars anyway.

You can get away without swapping many but quick connects, a longer hose, and nozzles make the experience 10x better.

Have you tried washing with the Wheel Cleaner again?  Sometimes it will reactivate the residue and allow it to come off.

I let the stuff dwell for maybe 30 seconds, even a couple minutes seems way too long to me.

No, the tips are not interchangeable nor are the insides of the "lid".  The foamer is an aerator where the sprayer is just a sprayer.  The only thing interchangeable between the 2 is the bottle part.

I believe that's the answer you are looking for.

So there's a whole lot of Adams videos that go way more in depth but here's the general order of operations for a "full" detail and your maintenance washes.  I would suggest checking out some videos though.

Wash

Iron Remover (not a big deal if you skip this)

Clay (I usually rinse after to remove any junk that the clay removed)

Polish (this is when you'd do this but I'll assume you don't have the stuff for that)

Coating Prep (not 100% necessary for paint sealant but it can only help, it removes any leftover oils on the paint for the best sealant adhesion)

Sealant (always use your strongest layer as your base layer)

Wax (if you want to use a wax, put it over the sealant after it's cured)

First Maintenance Wash

Wash

Dry with detail spray as a drying aid or dry with H2OGG to seal in wax and keep protection at a maximum

Continue with H2OGG once a month or so and dry with Detail Spray for your other washes

24 minutes ago, Rich said:

Got my new grit guards today and they fit perfect.  I'm happy with the product, not happy that the washguard piece doesn't snap onto these like the red ones did.  Something that should have been thought of. 

Adams or Grit Guard didn't design/manufacture these.  I'm thinking about trying one out in my soap bucket and saving the grit guard and wash board for the rinse bucket.

Any of the following would work.

Wash with Strip Wash.

Add some APC in the bucket with regular Car Shampoo and wash like regular.

Foam the car with APC and then wash like normal.  This is what I do on customers cars (generally pretty neglected).

The claying process will remove anything left after the wash process.

Dry sanding on aluminum and yes, follow the circumference of the wheel and work your way inwards, you'll see it in that link.  He actually lifted the car up to let the wheel spin which would be more consistent than working on the ground. 

Well I guess you have 2 options then, brushed finish or polished.  Both processes start out the same.  Brushed finish will look something like your older pictures.

I would start with 220 grit sandpaper to knock down the bulk of the corrosion and pitting and work your way up to 1000 or 1500.  You'll end up with something similar to what you had in your before pics.  On the last stage of sanding, try to sand in a uniform motion around the wheel so you get a nice consistent look.  Here's a link for reference.  https://www.clublexus.com/forums/the-tire-rack-s-tires-wheels-and-brakes-forum/522813-diy-brushed-aluminium-wheels.html

If you want to polish, start with the above process.  The kit that Devon linked would be great to start with, those buffers are 1/4" shank so they won't fit in a Dremel but you can use them in a die grinder or on a drill. A good step after that would be a Powerball with something like Adams metal polish.  Think of those compound bars as Adams Heavy Correcting Compund and Adams Metal Polish is more like the Finishing Polish.

Then maintain with Eco Wheel Cleaner or just shampoo and touch up every once in a while.  Aluminum is pretty sensitive to harsh chemicals.  Hope that helps a little.

If you aren't looking to maintain them as aluminum needs, I would look into getting them sandblasted and powdercoated. 

If you're wanting a polished finish, you'll need to sand them down first to get rid of the severe pitting and step out your polishes to bring the shine back.  Adams metal polishes aren't really designed for that level of polishing.  Not saying it can't be done but it's a lot of work for what looks to be a beater/winter vehicle.

Yep, I've never thrown a coating towel away.  I keep a bucket close by with apc and water in it and throw it in there after using.  I let them soak for a while before washing.