tbarn

UPDATE: I called a professional and he took care of it in less than 10 mins and its literally perfect. I would seek out a local profession PDR guy and just have them do it. It's well worth it.

I've used 303 also. Still have most of a gallon left. VRT 50/50 is my preference.

I'm in.

My brother has its twin.  Looks amazing in the sun when it's clean and shiny.  Nice job Tim!

My addiction is getting the best of me... WE NEED A DEALER IN WISCONSIN.
 
 
 
 
 
Happy detailing! ?

Got the Cinnamon spray today.  Man, that stuff smells awesome!  It's not a hit you in the face cinnamon smell, it's like a cinnamon cookie smell.  
Dang, another edible detail spray!!  

I know we talk a lot about paint correction and things of that nature.  What isn't discussed as frequently is how to know when you're safe to correct and when you're not, or how aggressive you can be in doing so.  For those purposes, a paint thickness gauge is invaluable.  There's a number of gauges out there that range in price from a little over $100 to thousands of dollars.  The one we use is a mid level gauge.  Before we take a polisher to any vehicle, we want to determine how aggressive we can be and if it will stand up to polishing.
The way we commonly do this is to measure the paint in multiple areas.  We then measure an area that won't have as thick of a clear coat on it (door jambs are a good one) and subtract it to get a feel for roughly what thickness of clear coat we are working with.  We can also discover quickly if a vehicle has had any paint work done on it.  Body shops will commonly lay down a much thicker clear coat than the factory.  
 
Here you can see a paint reading of 100 microns on an Infiniti G35 we recently did some work on.  This is a pretty common reading among paint that hasn't been touched.

In taking more readings, we came across a few panels that had much thicker readings.

This let us identity that those panels had been repainted.  While working with this vehicle, we found an isolated deep scratch that we wanted to pull out.

We took a quick reading and found the paint was VERY thick in this area thanks to the repaint.

Yup, 297 microns.  That's some thick paint to work with.  We went to work with some compound (that wasn't Adam's as we wanted a super quick cut and had something more aggressive on the shelf).  We followed it up with some correcting polish and finally a finishing polish.
In that photo, there was plenty more to be done on the vehicle, we were just working that one isolated spot.  A quick final reading shows we actually removed a significant amount of clear coat to remove the defect.

Through the use of a paint thickness gauge, we were able to determine how aggressive we could (or couldn't be) and could work confidently while choosing a product that would offer fast results.  Every vehicle has a story to tell.  And before we write our chapter on it with polishes, correction and general awesomeness in detailing we should take a moment to understand what's really going on.  On a vehicle with a much thinner coat of clear, I don't know as though we would have been quite so aggressive.  
Paint thickness gauges are an invaluable tool for anyone who's doing paint correction on a regular basis or where you're working on vehicles you don't really know the history of.
Just thought I'd share an experience with an area of detailing that is often not talked about much here.  
Enjoy and have a great weekend.

I just hit mine with waterless wash and an old microfiber towel

I think it has been my favorite DS so far.

That sucks. Got mine today and not to rub salt in a wound but mine is flawless

That sucks. Got mine today and not to rub salt in a wound but mine is flawless

Lacquer thinner works on painted pin stripes. I guess it depends on the paint that was used.I used Easy off on my drag car and trailer years ago and it worked fine. My wife crashed my Silverado last fall. It had pin stripes so I took the old door home and experimented with it. Easy off wouldn't touch it so based on our body guys advice I tried lacquer thinner and it took the stripes off easily. Neither harmed the clear coat.

I just hit mine with waterless wash and an old microfiber towel

Oh!  We call those "ghetto hats".  Don't mean to offend anyone, it's just what they're called where I live. 

The swirls did not come from the dealership.

Her: "I can't believe you wasted half a day washing that pickup."
 
Me:  "What did YOU do this morning?"
 
Her:  "Facebook and Twitter."
 
Me: "God Bless America."

Because most competitors in that price range are for a 15ml bottle of ceramic only. Our kit comes with a 50ml bottle plus all of the other accessories - microfiber towels, Coating Prep, Ceramic Boost, Applicators, and rubber gloves.

I'd personally be worried too about a pressure washer with more than about a 2000 psi rating. Gas powered washers are indeed more powerful, and have a greater flow rate, neither of which are particularly necessary for washing a vehicle, and can be bad news if you get too close.
 
The MTM Hydro Foam Lance that's listed in the first post of this thread will work fine with an 1800 psi electric washer, and that is what I use (Karcher K3.740). As has been previously stated, the pressure that the foam comes out at will be fairly low, but that's not a bad thing.
 
I believe that the MTM Hydro Lance has a 1.5mm orifice, that is 'tuned' to work with a 2600 psi washer with a higher flow rate if my memory serves me correctly. What this means is that for lower pressure units, we'll be outputting foam at a lower pressure than the lance could work at, and probably using less wash soap as well!
 
The MTM Hydro Lance, and gas pressure washers in general are both designed for cleaning hard surfaces such as the sides of a house, wooden fences, and concrete / paved surfaces. Higher flow rates and higher pressures make these tasks quicker, and more effective. For a car wash, an electric is probably better suited, and will work fine with the foam lance.

I too am not a fan of the leather smell. Maybe a faint smell but the conditioner is too strong for me. Got a bottle in a mystery box and gave it away.

I want to know if the "Christmas scent" in the Detail Spray is pine scent or cinnamon or peppermint?  What does Christmas smell like?