mc2hill

Thanks for the thorough and well documented write-up Charles!

I just wanted to say Thank you to the Adams team. Recently there was a Tire shine refill kit as the daily special. I had placed it in my cart and gone looking around the site to see if there was anything else I wanted to buy. There was plenty but not at that time as I had just placed an order not long before that and wanted to get in on this deal after trying out the tire shine from a mystery box. When I went to place my order the deal had expired, I was a little surprised at 9pm eastern time and had posted about it. Matt replied and told me to call in the next day and they would take care of it. Well as true to Adams great customer service I spoke with Ben and he certainly did, honored the pricing AND the shipping special. Team Adams does it again, but it doesn't end there.
 
I received my package about a week later (living on the east coast can stink for waiting for products) and found inside a regular 16oz unlabeled spray bottle with the kit and a note explaining that the premium bottles were on back order. Ok thank you, you explained yourself and provided a very similar product for a special deal I had NO issues with that at all. I was happy that they took the time to print out something to put in the box letting me the customer know that there had been an issue. I was happy and didnt feel the need to say anything as they had helped out so much with getting the deal to me. 
 
Today to my surprise there is an Adams box sitting on my desk at work from yesterdays mail. I open the box and to my surprised there is a premium dilution spray bottle. Now I shouldn't be surprised this IS Adams after all and they have THE BEST customer service, but you tend to forget how great these guys are about not only attempting to make it right when there is a problem but also remembering to solve the problem when they can. I REALLY appreciate that level of customer service and am a VERY happy customer. 

You could try putting them in a ziploc bag and putting that in the fridge until the next day.  Worth a shot.

It should not be required each time, but maybe a few times a year.  
 
The reason for the initial APC cleaning is to remove any old dressings that could affect how VRT works.

Did my 2015 Challenger Scat pack over the weekend.
 
 
Started with a good wash . Next I masked off all the trim and started claying followed that up by swirl, haze remover then polish.  Finally used Americana on the whole car.   Trying to get it all done before putting it away for the winter. This weekend putting on the rack and cleaning the under carriage.
 
 
 

That's a pretty extreme way of cleaning up your fall leaves, is it hard to push the tree back up after you've removed all the leaves? Lol
 
 
I took the Firebird out and gave her wash! The weeks weather is supposed to be good, so the Jeep is spending the week outside!

Bought this fire extinguisher off of my neighbor. I believe its 1940's era. Can't nail down an exact year but it still had the Glass jar inside and it was intact which is pretty rare!
 

 
You can see how dirty and corroded the plate was.

 
Here is what it looked like after I dipped it into muratic acid to get a surface I could polish.

 
And here you can see what it looked liked after polishing with Adam's 1&2. I couldn't believe how well it turned it to a mirror shine. I don't have a good picture of the FINAL polish, but I dropped it off at a metal polishing service and he was also impressed with how well I got it by hand. They also clear coated it for me so it should look like new for 20 years!

 
Here it is at its final resting place next to its friend.

That's just wrong!

Taken from the window of the plane with my phone.

Welcome
Adam has a sale on now for the "basic wash and wax kit" that could be a start. The people on here are really great and informative. Mystery boxes only come around once in a while and you never know what you will receive.

While "black and shiny" are the first things I look for when buying anything, I will say that I do prefer the MetroVac over the two Ridgids and the Craftsman shop vac that I also have.
 
The hose on the MetroVac is smaller diameter (1-1/4") which makes it a little easier to get in and around the interior.  I also have the Craftsman Pro hose (basically the same as the Ridgid) and it is bigger (1-7/8") and not as flexible.
 
The suction with the MetroVac seems a bit more than the Ridgid.  I could not find much for suction specs on the Ridgids, other than the $350 RV2400HF that lists 80" of water lift, and the MetroVac has 95".
 
Whether the MetroVac is worth the extra money over a Ridgid comes down to personal preference.  It is not twice as good, for more than twice the price, so if you're on a budget, the Ridgid does the job.

Got the front windows tined 25% to match the factory tinted back glass:
 

 

 

 

Check out this Post that Dylan put out a while ago. He demos the different products that you can use to get different results, it is a very good read and the video shows the processes very well.

Spent the day with my wife in the National Park. She even enjoyed it, even though that sort of stuff isn't her thing.

Landed back home at 4:30 this morning. Left the 86 degrees of Hawaii and back into the -11 below of Alaska. Major temperature shock. Lol

If it was me, I would wait for the Rupes 15 Mark II, then for the tight spots pick up a used Porter Cable-type or new HF unit (around $60 with discounts, but will need some mods to get the best results).

Where do I start.
 
So far in the 3 months from hearing about Adams I research, tested with a friends product, and dove in with the 2 bucket kit. I would have said the car shampoo, but then I got my first Mystery Box. After opening it and getting a kick out of it I have order 10 more. 3 the last time there were up and 7 last week that I open today. I now own I think almost every product Adams offer for washing outside and inside. I even got the travel bag thanks to one of the boxes today along with the patio polish. (Jackpot) So I still have things to try out. But the wheel cleaner is my fav. as of now.
 
I want to try the paint sealant as I heard great things.

The lovely wife and I decided the garage is too small so we're going to expand it. More to follow...

Manny, check out the headlights in this writeup -  2005 Audi A8
I originally tried polishing them with a Orange pad on a drill with PCP, but no luck.  I ended up sanding them with 600 dry, 1000 wet, 1500 wet, and 2000 wet.  I followed by polishing with a old Green Focus pad with Paint Correcting Polish on an electric drill, and followed up with a White Focus pas with Paint Finishing Polish. 
 
I recently had to the same process on the headlights on our 2003 Accord.  
 
If you are sanding change angles when switching grits:
600  - side to side 1000 - up/down 1500 - side/side 2000 - up/down It makes it much easier to see when the previous grit's marks are gone. 

The counterweight changes are not required when using foam and MF polishing pads.  They WILL need be changed if you are sanding with your PC.  

I've found that my dual 500 watt halogen spot lights work best for silver and white cars. I will put them on the lower power setting for brightness, and either put them right in front of the car or right behind the car, at the headlight or taillight, and adjust it to about that height as well. Then I will look all sorts of goofy like a baseball catcher doing all sorts of odd left-right-up-down stretches as I'm looking down the car to make sure I removed all wax or polish. I do this with the garage doors closed, since it makes things easier without any sunlight glaring in, and so my neighbor doesn't think I'm practicing some sort of detailing kung fu

Somebody help!!! 
 
The Mystery Box sale broke PayPal. 

I get a lot of customers coming over from using other products and they think they want a spray wax. Brilliant Glaze and / or Detail Spray are our best products for that situation, and work outstanding. Sometimes it works, sometimes they go back to their old ways.
A few years ago I had a customer really bugging me for a spray wax, and telling me how great what he was using was working (a big local competitor) . Finally I went to look at his car, and we did a side by side.
His Mustang was a dark blue metallic, but was so scratched and swirlled it was just about a satin finish. It was terrible! But he used his spray wax and liked how slick it felt. He was convinced that was all there was to car care.
Oh well, you can't educate all the great unwashed.
Bruce
(sorry if that got a little off topic)

Thank you to all who have served and those still serving!  You all rock!
 
Here are a couple pictures of me...one from 2005 and one taken earlier this year.  Man I'm starting to look old!  haha