zapdon

First things first, thank you to TheWolf for coming up with a clever way to name a thread...I hope you don't mind that I'm borrowing it!!!
 
It's been far to long since I've posted something!  Finally had a beautiful weekend day here in Maryland (60+ degrees in February!!) so we all know that means its time to head to the driveway and clean some cars!!
 
Big change for this year is I've also moved to a new and different vehicle, the Jeep SRT <3!!  I absolutely love it, even thought its like 2x more to clean than my old S5.
 
Didn't really do anything special today, just a routine maintenance wash and re-upped on my H20 Gloss and Guard.  Also tackled the interior with some amazingly scented peppermint TID!!!
 
Here are some before and after pics the SRT!
 
Before:
 



 
I can't believe the brake dust these Brembos kick off!!  Its unreal!
 




 
The other front wheel, can't even tell they are supposed to be Black Satin Chrome!
 

 
During: (Love the Adam's Foam Cannon)
 








 
After:
 















 
All in all took about 90 minutes!!  Can't wait for the spring to give it the clay bar treatment and then give my first attempt at machine polishing!

2012 Chevy SS Camaro 5th Gen
Silver Ice Metallic
32,280 miles
 
I had a new client drop off his daily driven Camaro.  He purchased this car new and was one of the first 5th generation Camaro’s in town.  He loves this car and is going to keep it and give it to his granddaughter when she is old enough to drive!  How cool is that!
The paint was in very good condition although quite dirty.  It had a few small swirls; scuffs, a couple minor scratches, and the biggest thing were some hard water spots. 
 
Process/tools/equipment/products/etc:
3BW-Adam’s car shampoo
Micro-chenille wash mitts
 wheels brushes
 tire brush
Adam’s wheel cleaner
APC for wheel wells
Adam's tire & rubber cleaner
 sealed the wheels
Hyde’s syrum-rotors
 tire dressing
 wash/clay mitt
Vehicle was dried 
Glass cleaner and sealant
interior detailer
Vacuumed via Metro
trim/tire
Rupes MkII 21
White finishing pads
Misc MF towels
LSP-Adam’s ceramic paint coating
 
This nice 5th Gen really turned out well!  Client is super happy to have multiple years of protection on the surfaces and will be encouraged to continue with his outstanding wash routines that have been going on for the past 5 years! (the car was really in good shape- thanks to his good wash/dry technique!)
 
Upon pickup, I mentioned his good wash technique to him and told him I was glad he knew what he was doing!  He stated that he doesn’t know what he is doing; he just watched Adam’s videos and learned that way!  We both had a good laugh over that!
 
 
Thank you, enjoy the pictures and as always, comments are welcomed!
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am a nerd... but it fits perfectly in the back seat arm rest area in my F-150...!!!

Wheel Polishing and Coating
 
The wheels on the Explorer needed to be protected from the winter weather with Ceramic Wheel Coating, but it is hard to get any quality time with this vehicle, since my wife takes it to work on weekends, and also keeps a busy schedule with all the kids’ activities.  But since I had the week off work between Christmas and New Year’s, I was able to convince her to be without a vehicle for a few days.
 
Since preparation is the most important step, I gave the wheels and tires a thorough cleaning.  After pressure washing to remove most of the crud, I cleaned barrels of the wheels with All Purpose Cleaner, and used Tire & Rubber Cleaner on the backs of the tires.
 
Switching to the fronts, I cleaned them with Strip Wash in the bucket, and All Purpose Cleaner with the Wheel Brush.  I then did the tires with Tire & Rubber Cleaner.
 

 
 
And yes, that is ice on the driving, and it was dark, since I did not get to the wheels until later in the day after washing and applying H2O Guard & Gloss to the vehicle.
 
After drying with the Master Blaster Revolution, I brought them into the garage for inspection.  Even though the wheels were only 8-months old, there were some minor scratches and swirls, and one of the barrels had some product residue compliments of the dealer prep.
 
To remove any bonded contaminates that did not get washed off (like brake dust), I clayed the faces of the wheels, and then clayed the backs/barrels, and then removed the residue with Waterless Wash.
 
Placing the wheels face down on the work tables, I did a one-step polish on the barrels using the Correcting Polish and Orange Foam pad on the Rupes Mini.
 

 
 
I then flipped them face up to polish the faces.  I added some plastic to the front of the car to protect from slinging product.
 

 
 
The first step of machine polishing with the Rupes Nano was done using Heavy Correcting Polish and the Blue Coarse Foam Pads to address the few areas that had actual scratches.
 
Next, the entire face of the wheel was polished using Correcting Polish and the Green Medium Foam Pads.  The final step used the Finishing Polish and Yellow Fine Foam Pads.
 

 
 
While the faces were polished with the 1.5” pads, in order to get into the spokes of the wheel, I had to use the larger 2.75” pads to reach the deeper portions.
 

 
 
For the majority of the polishing, I used the rotary attachment on the tool.  On most of the areas, the orbital attachment would just stall.  But I did make a pass using the orbital attachment and 1.5” pad across the face of the spokes and on the center caps.  While Rupes does not recommend using the larger pads for rotary polishing, I really did not have any other option, so decided that any pad damage was justified, and just figured these pads would get tossed.
 
You can also see that I added some vinyl electrical tape to the head of the neck, to keep it from banging against the spoke as I polished.  It would be nice if version 2.0 of this tool had a rubberized head and neck.
 
For the application of the wheel coating, I removed the center caps.
 

 
 
To make prepping the wheels and applying the product easier, I stood the wheels up on the table, and used chocks on the downhill side, and also used packing tape to secure them to the table.  This made it much easier than when I coated the Raptor wheels, since I did not have to keep one hand on the tire to keep it from falling over.
 

 
 
I wanted to have the wheels vertical when prepping and applying the coating to the barrels and backs of the spokes, so that I could make sure to wipe any product that ended up on the front.
 
I then cleaned the backs and fronts of each wheel with Coating Prep, going over them a few times to make sure all the polishing oils were completely removed.  I also switched towels for each wheel, to make sure that I was not leaving any residue behind.
 
Using the applicator, I applied to the backs of half the spokes, then wiped off the backs and also checked and wiped the fronts of any coating.  It is important to quickly wipe any excess coating from the fronts before it dries.  For the barrels, I applied to the whole barrel at once, then wiped off.
 

 
 
To coat the faces, I place the wheels down on the tables, then taped off the tires.  While taping may not be required on some wheels (it was not on the Raptor), these wheels have a rolled lip that goes right to the rubber.  This will prevent the coating from leaving dark areas were it gets on the rubber, and it will also keep the applicator clean.
 

 
 
Also note that I put marks on the tape to divide the wheel in half, so I could keep track of where I started and finished. With the complexity of the spokes, I only applied to half the wheel before going back and wiping the residue.
 
Starting at the center of the wheel, I used a foam detailing swab to apply coating to the lug nut recesses, being careful not to get coating onto the conical nut seat.
 

 
 
I also used this swab to coat the rolled wheel lips.
 

 
 
Then the coating was applied to the rest of the areas with the applicator pad.
 
After the application was complete, they were left to cure overnight in the heated garage.
 

 
 
I also applied coating to the chrome lug nuts.
 
While the wheels were off, I also prepped and coated the brake calipers.  Even though they are just stock, and not much to look at, the coating will make it easier to clean them.
 

 
 
After letting the coating cure for 24 hours, I then sprayed the wheels and brake calipers with Ceramic Boost and wiped down with a clean towel.  Finished by dressing the tires with Tire Shine.
 

 
 
The next day, I cleaned, prepped and applied Trim Coating to the plastic wheel wells and mud flaps, and let it cure overnight
 
On the fourth day, I masked off the entire car, and then applied undercoating using Amsoil HDMP. 
 

 
 
Note that when I washed on the first day, I pressure washed the undercarriage, and scrubbed as much of the undercarriage as I could with a pole brush and Strip Wash.
 

 
 
This product is their Heavy Duty Metal Protector, and sprays on as a fairly thin liquid, and then dries to a waxy finish.  This was applied liberally to the complete underside, including the suspension components.
 

 
 
While it does not look pretty, it does a great job at preventing corrosion.
 
Only downsides are that it is messy to apply and smells terrible.  I wore a hooded Tyvek suit and latex gloves, and use a respirator and goggles.
 

 
 
After letting this undercoating cure out for a day and a half, I reinstalled the wheels.

Finished converting all my sprayers and gallons to the new logo.
 

welcome, clean car you got there.

So I got some pictures of the car up. Had to watch the tutorial since im blind and cant see the "Attach files" button at the bottom haha.
 

Getting my car ready for motorama in Harrisburg PA this coming weekend.
 
Started with a quick polish using finishing polish on a white foam pad. Next I applied a coat of Brilliant glaze, then I finished with the old version of Patriot. Now onto the wheels (metal polish 2).

These are from last year, too hard to take decent pictures inside the garage.

Welcome. Nice rides and looks like you got a good start to your new addiction!!!

Paint correction will absolutely make a wax look and perform better, since you're removing all or most of the flaws from the finish. Putting wax on a swirled black surface is still going to be a swirled black surface afterward - but some of those swirls might be a little less noticeable since some waxes have fillers in them. 
 
Swirl marks and scratches, especially on a dark color like black, reflect light in all sorts of directions and cause the paint to look cloudy and dull, with no real depth and reduced shine. 
 
Some people may say black paint can be hard to correct from a bad experience. For example, a lot of body shops still use rotary buffers rather than random orbital polishers like the Rupes or the Swirl Killer, and rotary buffers require a lot of skill to not leave buffer trails and holograms all over the vehicle. These improper polishing techniques will stand out a lot worse on a dark colored vehicle. Some cars can have a very hard clear coat that requires more effort to machine polish than a car with a softer clear coat, for example a C5 Corvette vs. a new C7 Corvette...C7's are much easier to correct for me personally. In other words, color of the vehicle doesn't really matter if you have the right tools for the job.

This is still one of the most drastic before and afters I've done on a black vehicle (or any vehicle really), using a Rupes 15 Mk I, which the Swirl Killer is equivalent to in terms of results that can be achieved, in my opinion. The Mk II would have corrected it faster no doubt with its increased power, but this was after a 2 stage polish with our old Orange Microfiber Cutting Pad and our orange Correcting Polish, then our White Foam Pad with Finishing Polish. No wax applied yet at this point.
 
Before:
 

After:
 

 
Once a surface is paint-corrected, I can definitely tell some level of difference with various waxes and sealants. Again to my eye some waxes will make metallic paints sparkle more, some sealants seem to give more reflection and shine, and some waxes seem to have a deeper wet look to the finish.
 
My point in all of this rambling is that there are many factors involved when comparing one wax to another - how it makes the paint look is just one of those factors Longevity per use, ease of application and removal, level of water beading, smoothness of the surface, cost per use, etc all factor in for me when I'm explaining to someone and helping them choose the right product for their vehicle.  

My car fully detailed topped with older version of Patriot. Have the new one now, can't wait to try.
Has such depth to it and easy to work with. 
 

My car fully detailed topped with older version of Patriot. Have the new one now, can't wait to try.
Has such depth to it and easy to work with. 
 

My car fully detailed topped with older version of Patriot. Have the new one now, can't wait to try.
Has such depth to it and easy to work with. 
 

My box of goodies arrived last week.

On Saturday I took care of the glass on my wife's car. Glass Sealant had been applied to the windshield a while ago, it was time for a reapply anyways, so... I cleaned the exterior glass with Adam's new aerosol Glass Cleaner. I noticed it foamed up real well when it first came from the can, then turned a bit runny. I'm assuming this was just due to the low to mid 40 degree temperatures out. I used a Green two sided Microfiber Glass Towel to do the exterior glass. I cleaned the interior glass with his spray Glass Cleaner using the new Blue Glass Towels (love these towels for glass). Her side and back glass has aftermarket tint so, I'm not taking any chances. The tint on this car is 10 years old and starting to fail.
 
Once the windshield was clean, I applied a nice coat of Glass Sealant and buffed the residue off after allowing it to cure for a few minutes.
 
The windshield was sprayed, one half at a time with Glass Boost, and then was worked to the center with a Blue Glass towel and buffed off. I came back again and buffed off any remaining Glass Boost residue with a Single Soft Microfiber towel. The glass had a noticeably silky smooth feel to it.
 
Here's a shot of the windshield first thing Sunday morning after sitting in the rain all night:

 
And here it is in action heading west on the PA Turnpike at 76mph:

​I would do full prep, then use Liquid Paint Sealant as a base, and then top that with Patriot.
 
​Protection and shine...............  

Americana and Patriot are two of the best waxes on the market. I left the company you had mentioned due to the fact that the product (wax or sealant) was done in less then a month. The majority of shine comes from cleaning (wash, clay, polish, etc) Wax/sealant/coating is like the icing. However, 3 months down the road your vehicle will still clean up easy and have a great shine with Adams. Also try Adams Detail Spray when you clay! You will see a big difference compared to the brand you used.
 
Here is a comparison of Patriot and Americana. The Yellow Jacket has Patriot and the Hellcat has Americana. Another important point is that they both go on and off super easy.
 

More than likely, those swirls came from the dealership. You would have to have crazy high pressure water to swirl the paint.

dangit Adams, now I gotta make sure I order enough stuff to get one or more of those! lol 

I think you did a great job! 
 
Although I am being selfish.  The patriot wax will only be used on my rides and maybe my family.  Friends or friends of friends (if this happens) will be Americana. :)

I am with you on the shine, but lately I've found that once its somewhat dry to the touch, you can go back with a clean dry towel and buff it down to a nice satin sheen.  Which seems to look best on these newer interiors.  If you haven't give that a shot.  It also helps to get all panels to match better because it seems the different materials soak the conditioner up differently.  

Yes it does.  I rarely use the cleaner.  And the conditioner has good sun protection as well so it's really good for dashes. 

I ordered 4 of Adams mystery boxes and they just got here I'm excited to try them out!

I think my eyeballs might implode if this thread doesn't get updated soon....*ahem* *cough cough*...

welcome!!!