rb11701

Just wanted to chime in on the service from Adam's. I received my order the other day and it turned out I have a broken sprayer. Shot out and email and literally within minutes I had a reply that a new one was out the door and heading my way. Plus a nice thank you from Steve. Just awesome. I know this sort of story is often repetitive, but for someone new to the site (and product line, like myself) sometimes older threads get pushed behind newer ones. So for someone who is just browsing around, a newer thread might get noticed and the word will be spread. Great work guys!

If you mean the backing plate for the Gen2, it came with the kit. The XP kit I got is just the PC + white foam pad + extra 6" weight. That's it. The Gen2 pad sytem I received came with the backing plate as well as a 6" weight. The 4" kit came with a adapter for the drill as well as a screw for the PC and a hook and loop backing pad. This backing pad is what I am wondering which weight to use.

Correct. I have the 5" that was in the PC. I also have a 6" that was a bonus inthe XP box AND a 6" that came w/ the gen2 pad system. Now, I am new to this,but I think this is a new backing plate. The Gen1 system had the clicky-type-thing (from what I see in the vid's). Perhaps the Gen1 need the 5" and the Gen2 needs the 6".

So, we have the washer thing cleared up BUT... You say to use the counter-weight that came on the PC. I have the new XP model and it came with the 5" counter-weight. However, I just received my Gen2 pads and it came with a 6" counter-weight. So which is which? 6" for Gen2 seeing the backing plate 5-7/8 (IIRC). Also, what counter-weight is needed for the 4" pads? 5" weight? Thanks for clearing this up.

Now I am confused. I have 1 washer that came with the PC. I also have a washer that came on the backing plate with the Gen2 system. So do I only use the one that came w/ the PC? As of right now I have both on but as I just got the pads, have yet to use them so I am not sure if it will effect the operation. Thanks

The looks great. My Acura has a scratch similar to that. (or so it would appear on my LCD heh heh). Gives me great hope on getting them out. I just switched over to Adams products and still await shipment. Monday is the day. The PC showed up this past Tues. Outside of my black tool chest, there is nothing to polish w/ that crappy white pad that came with it. Although, it made the tool chest look cherry with just some paint cleaner and a pure polish. Man I hate looking at power tools and not being able to use them.

Agreed. Blade for the 1st pass only, MAYBE go over a section 2x. TOPS. Also making sure of cleaning the blade. Then I always used a MF towel. I have an Adam's drying towel en route, so I can't wait to give it a whirl. I don't if could put the blade down altogether. Been with me for 11 years lol. Although, I have done everything by hand for 11+ years and now I own a PC, so I am always up for something that makes my job easier. Methinks a Water Blade/WHite towel combo might be a killer setup.

Could be a contender against the blade. Getting mine soon so I will give it a run. Quick is for me on the drying process.

I hear what your saying and agree that a small sparticle could do a number but I have yet to run into that. I hose down the blade before using it and run my fingers down it, rinse it again. If the car is just washed, I can't see how something like that could get introduced as long as the blade is clean and there is water on the paint. Actually glides right over it and i bet has close to the same if not less friction as the WWMF. Now, this is just my opnion on it. I had it on a black vehicle and never saw any issue. I must have used that thing 100+ times. Never saw any defect. But if something did get lodged in there. Forget it. Same as with a MF I would think.

I like them. I have one of the original California Water Blades. I agree, it does a great job of getting a large amount of water off. I have used on the current rides and my old black '97 Tacoma. I would imagine that the silicone could mar the surface perhaps much like clay would w/o lube. I currently still use it because it is the best for removing heavy water. I follow that up with a MF, which soon will be an Adams white towel. Never tried the leaf blower or compressed air until getting here, but I like that as well to get all the last of the PITA water out of the cracks.

Just wanted to add that the black piece that came with it is a deflector. Kinda sprays the product out in a wider direction and with not as much force as regular water. We use these types of guns at work for degreasing and sanitizing. We use the foam attachment to 'lather' everything up. Once rinsed and cleaned, we use a seperate one to sanitize. That gets the deflector because we want a throughly santized piece of equipment where coverage is key and the product is allowed to dry by air. Not sure if the deflector would help in the detailing business, perhaps on the engine or undercarraige with some APC or GWC where the faoming action might not be wanted.

I'm sure the thread just got lost. With some new action, hopefully we can get clarification.

I think a professional could do something to minimize the scrtach. I have 2 super small chips in the windshield so I might be able to get a deal to do both the drivers window and the windshield. Have yet to price anything out, but I am thinking it might be cheaper than replacing the door glass. Just wasn't sure if anybody here had any experience with that. Figured a paint polish woudn't do it seeing how hard the glass is. Thanks!

Can a scratch in glass be removed? Over the winter, I must have picked something up and when I lowered my driver's side windows it left me with a 2" or so light scrtach. I think the middle of the scratch might be a little deeper. Not sure what my options really are. Can it be fixed DIY? Or is this something that should be left to glass people? I have no problem either way, but replacement isn't really an option so minimizing it would be great.

Everybody is watching thier pennies these days. The shop near me, those people proabally are not bother too much by it these days as the rest of the common folk. He gets some nice rides over there. My son's daycare is down the street and I love to see what he has in the lot when I pick him up lol. Few exotics, but some real nice cars none the less.

Did you ever get the process down on the pad seasoning? Curiuos myself. Have yet to try, but would like to have a good knowledge before I attempt it. Thanks!

Ok, I'll bite.... What's up with spray bottle in ice cold water? Lemme take a stab. Seeing a hot surface is not easy to work with, whatever is in the bottle would be designed to cool the surface? Now, if this was at a car show then the car must have been 'show ready' sooooo it could not be water. Chilled detail spray? Shaken, not stirred.

This is a great thread. Once I get all my stuff, I plan to do the family rides. However, I would love to pick up a few cars. 2/week would be great for me. There is a high end detailer near me that gets some real heavy hitters. $300-$350 for a inside/outside detail. Engine bay costs $50 more. SUV/Truck $50 more. In theory, he could grab $400 for a whole detail. That is sick. This guys havs 5-6 cars in the parking alot every day plus what he is working on. He has a good system, people who wash, rims etc. And he just does the machine work. And cashes checks lol!

Wow, 60% on the product side? Would not have guessed that. Definately though the pad would grab alittle more of the percentage. Great to know however. Thanks!

You ain't kidding. It is actually one of the reasons I really looked into Adam's stuff. The simplicity seems just great. Waiting on my first order to arrive. West to East coast shipping is a bummer. Won't have everything until next week. Ah well. On a great note however, the PC 7424XP was at the door today. First time having a machine like in my hand. Didn't see bad at all. I had some old Meguiar's stuff kicking around, so I used to white pad it came with buff the top of one my black tool boxes. Went well, and used what I have learned off here. Was just some DC paint cleaner and #7 glaze. But I like the PC, can't believe I never tried it before. Top of the box looks great!

That is where I would go to a second white pad, to do the FMP over again to get the last of the defects correct? After reading more and more these days, it would seem that I could use 1 more white pad and perhaps another black to keep up my DD's. Neither has serious paint defects outside of a couple of scratches, so I cannot forsee heavy use of the orange pads. I feel that one orange for FMP and one for SHR will suffice unless some buisness grows out of this. However, 3 whites and 2 blacks seem more likely to be used in a good rotation for my paints. Or so I am thinking. Should have added that into my orders. save in shipping. Ah well, I am sure there will be another order somewhere lol. Thanks!

Good read there AJ. Exactly what I was thinking. It was actually one of the reasons I bought 2 of the orange and 2 of the white pads. Probally should have gotten another black pad but that can be another order lol. As I think about this, would it be good to label a orange for SHR and a orange for FMP and likewise for the white? I don't have tons of pads and the extras were if I needed an un-saturated pad to finish my detail. Either in white or orange. Or is better to just pick a starting point and adjust from there. Is one pad enough for a normal sized sedan and a light pickup? (not in same day of course) or will I need 2 pads per vehicle? This is what I am afraid of. I start with White/FMP but really needed White/SHR. Once I have used the FMP on the pad, I cannot use SHR on the same one w/o washing and letting it dry correct? If so, I might run into a situation where I need another white pad for the FMP as I reach the end of the correction process and seeing I have used it for the SHR and it is not dry, I am stuck. And it's not like I can run down the street for another Adam's white pad lol. Although that would be nice. Is that a possible scenario or I am just getting too far ahead of myself before all the products reach my doorstep?

Good point about the wash. Is a bath in either Dawn or APC needed if you are going to clay? Or does it fall under the category of never enough of a good thing? I mean being overkill on wax removal can't really hurt as long as the dawn is kept off the plastic and stuff of that nature right?

When you say the finish is mush, what do actually mean by that? How does a soft or hard finish translate into your work? Would it be the ability of the finish to withstand the stress of correction? Soft being that it would be easeir to correct, but easy to mar if too agressive pad/ product combo is used? And hard being the opposite both in workability and difficult to mar? And, if the above is true, then the orange/SHR combo would leave marks on the soft finish? Whereas on a hard surface, you might need to 2 passes to correct something that would come out on the soft finish with a white/SHR combo? Even if I did use too much of an aggressive combo, as I scale down the bite I should be able to correct that I would assume. Just wasted my labor really right?

+1 on the experience. As with anything skill, the more time you log the more you hone your skills. That is something that I think will come in time for me. So, this is my plan for my two vehicles. For the Acura. Paint is in fairly decent shape seeing that is is 6.5 yrs old now. There are some scratches that need some attention. Some minor, so more so. There is a good scuff mark that came when someone hit the car pulling out of a tight parallel parking spot. I am going to attack the scratches and the scuff first. Orange/SHR combo here for sure. I also have the 4" pad set to do the headlights. I might give that a try as I think there is a little more of a cutting pad that comes with the set. Also, being 4" will give me a little more control working on the scrtach. Most likely 2 applications of SHR will be needed. For my test spot, I am thinking either orange/FMP or white/SHR. What takes precedence on the cutting scale? Pad or Product? I feeel I need some bite, but the paint is not really swirled up so not that much bite would be needed. Or so I am thinking at least. As for the Tacoma, being an 09 the paint is in good shape. There are some fine fine scratches on the hood I can see so I am sure they are there on the rest of the panels once I go looking for them. Going to start with white/FMP and see what we get. There are a few minor scratches. Looked like someone brushed up against the side of the truck and left 2 light scrtaches. I am thinking white/SHR to start and go from there. Seem like a good way to go about it?