chupr0kabra

I keep mine in a cabinet. This is an older picture, but you get the idea. There are some things I keep in the house, though, such as paste wax. I keep that in a cabinet in the laundry room, since the garage gets crazy hot in the summer. -Mike

Also, something that sometimes gets overlooked, make sure your bucket is clean before you start. -Mike

Yes, they do. Regardless of what kit you buy, prep work is the key. The first time I epoxied a floor, I used a couple off the shelf kits from Home Depot, and didn't do a lot of prep. Within a couple years, it was starting to peel where the tires came to rest. Also, because I opted not to use the flake material (clown barf), the floor got really slick when it was wet. Lessons learned. The next time, I used muriatic acid to etch the floor, laid down a thicker coat of material (from a kit I bought online), and included the clown barf. That held up MUCH better, and will probably last at least 10 years. -Mike

I plan to do an epoxy coating in the fall/winter (it's 98 degrees in Houston during the summer, so...no). I've done this in a couple houses, and you'd be surprised the difference it makes. I looked into Race Deck and Swisstrax, but for my needs, epoxy was the way to go. I don't know what the forum rules are for recommending companies, so if you're interested in the kits I've used in the past, send me a message. I've done it myself on both occasions, and it's pretty easy. This was the end result of the last house where I did it: -Mike

You find yourself using your "emergency stash" of waterless wash and microfiber towels to wipe off a bird bomb in the parking lot...on a car that isn't yours. -Mike

Continued working on my garage. We bought this house from an investor (flipper) in October, who left the previous kitchen cabinets in the garage, thinking I might use them out there. Nice idea, but I decided to go with shelves instead. We came from a larger house, so we ended up using the garage as a furniture overflow area for a few months. Aside from some extra shelves (which are going back to Home Depot) and a few broken bins that need to go to the trash, everything is finally in its place. The final planned step is to scuff and power wash the floor, then do an epoxy coating. I may also look into insulation, because the one attic vent is not nearly enough. It is several degrees hotter in the garage, which is murder in Houston's summers. Back of garage/chemical cabinet Corner of "things that roll" Shelves Kwik Lift and towel bin -Mike

I washed, clayed, polished, and waxed our daily driver yesterday. It's a 2014 Ford Fusion, Sunset Orange Metallic, with ~60k miles. It is parked outside almost exclusively, so it has its fair share of bumps and bruises, but the paint came out looking pretty good, overall. Where I had a problem was on the roof. There are probably a dozen little brown spots that look like dried tree sap. Typically, these come off pretty easily, but some of them were remarkably stubborn. Given the fact that it was 98 degrees (felt like 1048 degrees, even though I setup my portable canopy, since the garage was occupied), I ended up giving up on them, but I would really like to get rid of them entirely, so I'm looking for advice. Things I tried (in order): Wash Pre-treat with Waterless Wash, let dwell for a couple minutes, then light scrubbing with a microfiber wash mit Clay bar After the clay bar didn't remove them, I decided to just polish the roof (left it for last, to minimize the chances of pad contamination). Polishing was done with a white MF pad and Adam's Finishing Polish on my trusty old Porter Cable 7336/7424. I also tried hitting a few of them with a 4" white foam pad and polish on the same PC, just to concentrate on the area. In the end, the spots simply laughed at me. I feel like the next step involves fingernails and/or the edge of a plastic card, but I would prefer to get after these chemically, if possible, to reduce the chances of scratching. Any ideas would be welcome. -Mike

Good looking truck! Not a color I'd pick, personally (not really enough "pop" for me), but it works well with the black and red accents. I have a 2011 Pyrite Mica Tacoma. Really good truck, but I made the mistake of buying the I-4 double cab. It gets decent mileage (which is why we opted for the 4-cylinder), and it's well built, but it just can't get out of its own way. We will probably end up selling it later this summer, since we barely drive it any more. -Mike

I'm glad I saw this thread, because I've been wondering the same thing for a while. Good information in here! I've been a big fan of rinseless wash products for a couple years (when I run out of the stuff I have now, I promise to give Adams a try), and I purchased some Adams Waterless a while back for quick garage queen wipedowns and spot treatments for bug and bird bombs. I realize it's cheaper to dilute rinselss as a pre-soak, but I just feel a little safer using Waterless in conjunction with my rinseless solution. Plus, this method works well for me, so I'm not keen to change it! -Mike

I used to have a black 2006 C6 coupe. That is one of her cleaner moments. I loved that car when she was clean, which was usually about 45 seconds before my eyes were drawn to a chip here, a hairline swirl there, and a million little specs of dust and/or "divots" in the paint. I will never say "never," but I'm going to have to have a very different mindset about what I consider "clean" before I ever own another black car. I have an infinite amount of respect for people who can keep a black vehicle detailed. -Mike

Yeah, but then I have to make the machine noises with my mouth, and the neighbors think that's pretty weird... -Mike

Thanks! The color reminds me a lot of the Camaro I used to own. For me, it was really kind of a perfect color. Dark enough to show off when it's clean, but metal flake to help mask any minor imperfections in the clearcoat. My previous car was a black C6 Vette, and it drove me insane trying to keep it clean. -Mike

I typically use a 50/50 mix with 70%, too. I like to use it as a final prep step after clay but before polish. I don't know if Adam's Finishing Polish contains fillers (don't care, either - it works), but many finishing polishes do, and wiping the car down with alcohol after polishing removes those benefits. -Mike

We finally had a break in the rain in Houston last night, so I washed the new Mustang. It took a while, because I had to learn where this car collects water (spoiler alert: everywhere) and it was filthy from a few weeks' worth of rain, but I'm pleased so far. There are lots of little nicks and spots in the paint that should polish out. I'm hoping to get to spend some quality time with the car and my polisher this weekend! I did break out my white pad and Finishing Polish for one spot on the roof where it looks like bird poop etched. That came out pretty easily. -Mike

I can't post pictures yet because it won't. stop. raining. Will get some once the weather clears enough to get her clean. -Mike

Mildly rambling post warning. My wife and I traded in our fun car ('06 Corvette) for something slightly more practical ('16 Mustang GT). The reasons are many, including newer amenities and four seats (we have a five year old). We are very pleased with the purchase, but being a detailer really changes the experience. Aside from the features we wanted, here are the big factors that went into our (my) decision: Not black. Cannot handle another black car. The C6 was black, and it drove me insane. Avoid white, red, yellow, and orange, because these colors on the Mustang don't have metal flake. Looking at the wheel spokes with the specific thought of, 'the Wheel Woolie will fit in those spokes nicely' Also, the C6 was a garage queen - only 32,000 miles on the odometer. The night we traded her in, a massive hail storm broke out. The C6 barely ever saw rain, so I was a nervous wreck. What if the C6 got damaged? Then the deal falls apart and I'm stuck with a car that needs a lot of work! What if the new car gets damaged? Who takes responsibility? Fortunately, both cars escaped relatively unscathed. There is one small ding in the hood of the Mustang, and the dealer has agreed to take care of it at no cost (good PDR guys are awesome). As I have told friends and co-workers about the purchase, I hear myself saying things out loud that sound crazy to a non-detail person. All this to say that detailing cars makes me look at them in a very different way. -Mike

He's looking to do a full restore. Unfortunately, my details are a little sketchy, as he's asking me for advice on what he can do to restore them, but I have exactly zero experience with magnesium. -Mike

A co-worker and I were talking about cars the other day, and he mentioned he has an old Merlin (in a million pieces, sadly, but he's working on it) with magnesium wheels, and he is looking for a way to restore these. Does anyone have experience with magnesium? -Mike

1987 Chevrolet Blazer (2.8L - perfect for a clumsy teenager) - hand me down from my older brother (and I was happy to have it!) 1985 Monte Carlo SS (305) - Another hand me down 1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra - Last hand me down 2000 Camaro Z28 - My first purchase. Ended up modding this past the point of being fun to drive. 2005 Chevy Equinox - Wifemobile. Just traded this one in this year. 2006 Honda Accord - Retried the Camaro from daily driver status 2006 Corvette - Bought used in 2009. Sold the Camaro and made this my new fun car. 2011 Toyota Tacoma - Traded in the Honda for a truck 2014 Ford Fusion - Traded in the Equinox for a new family car -Mike

Howdy! Just checking out these forums for the first time. I've been using Adams products for the past few months, and am very impressed with the results on my OHLORDWHYDIDIBUY black '06 C6. I've been a hobbyist detailer for about 10 years now (if you are an old-school ls1tech.com member, you may remember my NBM '00 Z28). Looking forward to continuing my education and maybe even sharing some tips I've learned along the way. -Mike