repoman82

U at Disney???

An old friend/neighbor is helping me with my new to me car and guided me here for insights.  I have a black sapphire metallic paint so from what I've read so far, I have my hands full.  I thank all of you in advance! 😁

Originally from Corning NY with a lot of family in the Lawrenceville, Tioga, Mansfield area.

Then you should know about the Tioga Game Preserve (Tioga Boar Hunting) and Double EE Ranch - that's family...

I was just in Williamsport Thursday and Friday for work.  They do have some great sub shops!!!  Are you from that area?

Are you referring to Pan’s video or is this your actual experience?  Pan’s video tested the chemical resistance of the two products but the results do not necessarily correlate to longevity and durability.  He also failed to properly prep the surface for a ceramic application.
 
I love Beadmaker as a drying aid and a LSP topper but it has very poor real world durability in terms of longevity.  Couple of washes or rains and it’s done.  It does have unmatched shine and slickness which makes it more of a glorified detail spray than a stand alone sealant IMO.
 
I haven’t used Adam’s Ceramic Spray but I think your conclusions are premature unless those are your actual experiences.

Hadn't thought to do that, honestly. But was also referring to other towels like the Double Soft, maybe Waterless Wash ones. Ones with a border. Admittedly didn't entirely think this suggestion through, but thought some might like it. Maybe not.

Check my setup out. I’m at the 4:11 mark. This video was submitted last year and my setup has already changed so much since then, but it’s still neat to see 😁
 
 
 

After destroying my snowblower yesterday by hitting something buried in the snow(apparently previous owner thought shear pins were optional and used regular bolts).I had to run out and get a new snowblower as we have a snowstorm coming today.  My wife laughed when I got home and immediately got my polisher out as it had factory swirls in it.  After that I used ceramic spray coating on everything and then used ceramic boost.  I shouldn’t have to use silicon spray in the shoot now.

Count me in, thank you.

Would be cool.  I use a few Adams products on the interior of my boat but gelcoat is a different animal than clear coat.  

No need to order them, from what I can tell they are detail spray, waterless wash, and ceramic boost with a different label on them.  I don't think they changed the formula at all.

That sounds crazy Tony!  Not how we roll, typically....but...it sounds like we gave you some poor customer service.  I apologize, and we typically offer a higher level of customer care.  I've sent you an email.  We can certainly make this right.  Looks like your Flex backing plate disintegrated.  In fact, we haven't carried that tool in years, and we don't carry backing plates.  As for the leaky gallon of TID, and broken cap on the Ceramic Boost, certainly, we can make that right.  However, the gallon is likely expired, judging by the label.  I believe it's a 2012-2013 blend date?   If it works for you, order this Flex backing plate from Amazon, and we will get you a $100 store credit to shop as you wish!
 
 https://www.amazon.com/Flex-452-661-FLEX/dp/B01N2IX434/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1546576118&sr=8-5&keywords=flex+xc+3401+vrg+5.5+inch+backing+plate
 
Sending you an email now....thanks Tony, 

Hi Tony,
 
I just followed up to your email, and I have an order placed as I type this, to cover the damaged gallon and sprayer as well. 
 
Again we're terribly sorry for the frustrations. Let us know if you have any other questions.
 
Respectfully,
Dan@Adams

From a few days ago; I finished up a dining table I've been working on for a while as my first piece of real furniture. Pretty basic design, but I wanted a perfectly smooth top after the poly. After a few wipe-on coats, and two, thicker, brushed on coats, I wet sanded with 1000/1500/2000 grit. Hit it with PCP on the 21mm SK. Applied H20 GG and a coat of Americana. If you sit a glass down at the wrong angle, it's going to hit the wall, which is just what I was aiming for. To caveat, I didn't follow-up with PCP because, honestly, I was just ready to have the thing done and it's supposed to look flawed; at least, that's what I keep telling myself.

I picked this car up, Friday afternoon, two weeks ago. Perfect time to work on it, as my garage is currently empty. I knew this was going to be a long job. It's a 37 year old, rust free, Mercedes that spent the first 20 years of its life in the south; North Carolina, then into Florida before residing in Pennsylvania becoming a weekend fun car. The car is all original, single stage, paint except for the center section of the driver's side door, between the pin stripes and door belt line trim, that's base coat/clear coat.

She's a decent 20 footer

 

The main reason I got my hands on her was that the owner's husband had let something he was washing the car with dry on the paint, in the direct sun. Most of the damage was to the flat surfaces, but some was down the sides too, especially under the belt line trim.

These marks ended up being more than water spots, whatever had dried on the paint had actually removed pigment. It left the obvious spots, but also left a haze on the surface. Some of the haze was oxidation of the single stage red paint, and some was from the cleaner. Here's a before and after of some of the paint damage:
Before

After

Got started Saturday morning

Rinsed, foamed, washed, and clayed. Clay mitt to the entire car, then back over the glass and flat surfaces with Visco Clay. Rinsed again and dried with my Master Blaster Revolution.
No change to the paint damage

A thorough inspection showed paint missing on most sharp edges and thin spots on the tops of the front fenders, the top of the passenger's side door, and a spot on the hood
 
 

 

I left the engine bay alone on this one, other than cleaning up the radiator core support and cowl.

21 hours were spent just polishing. I cut in most panels with my Rupes iBrid Longneck Nano after taping off the edges of the surrounding panels (I went through 2 full rolls, 55'/roll, of low tack Detailing Tape). After cutting in with the Nano I'd move to the Swirl Killer Mini, and follow that with the 15mm Swirl Killer on the larger panels. Most areas were worked with Paint Correction Polish on an Orange Pad, and then followed  up with Paint Finishing Polish on a White Foam Pad. The Trunk lid seemed to have the most paint, and was in the worst shape. There I started with a Blue Foam Pad using Heavy Correction Compound before moving on to the PCP.
The scratches seen in the video were deep. It appeared the car had been parked for some time with the sun baking the passenger side of the trunk lid. The driver's side of the deck lid corrected pretty well, and didn't have the same amount of damage.
I got most of the spots out of the paint:

The above pic was taken from the same location as the other two above showing the spotting.
 

Once done with the hood I realized there was no possibility of perfection, I was going for a decent 5 footer.

 

 

 

 

The single stage paint didn't take long to clog up pads.

I went through three sets

They cleaned up well with Eco All Purpose Cleaner for a while, but eventually were too full of pigment to use again.

 

The interior was fully detailed too

 

 

 

Black Trim Restore was applied to the faded pieces of trim before all the trim was covered with Ceramic Trim Coating.

All chrome and stainless trim was worked with Adam's Metal Polishes #'s 1 & 2 and topped with Brilliant Glaze. The paint received Liquid Paint Sealant,  wiped down with Detail Spray and then a coat of Patriot 24 hours later.

 

 

 

I believe I accomplished the car as a decent 5 footer.

 
 
Follow me on Instagram to see more pics of the progress @ brzndave.

Hey guys and girls! 
 
Earlier this year we hosted a detail clinic at my home/shop. It was well received and I’ve been talking to my guys about having another one. We decided that rather than cramming one in this year when we have a bunch of work lined up, we would do it next spring.
 
We wanted to pick a date early for two reasons. First is so everyone has ample time to plan and manipulate their schedules for a good turnout. Second was so that we could do the planning portion and make it even better than last years. 
 
So right now it looks like April 27, 2019 is the date of the clinic. We may shift gears a little bit and instead of traditional last step products, we may focus on one of our entry level coatings for a lucky attendee. 
 
For the interior portion, we will go through how we handle interiors. Well, Marquis will go over how he handles them. But this year we will add some interior protection as well. 
 
We will also install a full car glass package on an attendees car!
 
As the date gets closer, I’ll reach out to our vendors and see if we can get some sample product for people to go home with. We will have new shirts available and sweatshirts can be ordered before or after. 
 
Just like this year, we will make this a hands on clinic. So our tools become yours for the day. Our products are all available to sample and ask questions about. And most of the work we do will be performed by the attendees. 
 
We welcome and encourage questions and try to make this a very friendly event where everyone leaves with some bit of knowledge. We had members from this forum attend this year so they can share their experiences.
 
The clinic is held in Colchester, CT!  Since I forgot to add that!
 
We are open to suggestions and questions!

I'd argue it's BS either way. But yeah, it's wrong.

I wish I wouldn't have gone in and looked at total orders.  I am at 29 since March 19th (my first order)!

I wish I wouldn't have gone in and looked at total orders.  I am at 29 since March 19th (my first order)!

Oh yeah, didnt think of that....lol. So everyone else doesnt have 80++ degree weather year round? This is news to me...

Using water does work great for you folks in Florida, but I know in the Northeast that would create a problem for at least 3 months a year

Using water does work great for you folks in Florida, but I know in the Northeast that would create a problem for at least 3 months a year

I have wondered this exact same thing! If we can make washer fluid with GC. One thing I can say for sure, if your running sealant and using boost in addition, the windshield cleans very easily with just water in the washer tank so having a washer fluid isnt really needed. Just some good ol water, then you dont have to worry about decreasing the life of the sealant 

Since my business is run out of my home, and with the recent family additions we outgrew our garage which doubled as a family garage and workspace. 
 
The way our land is laid out, we can’t have a poured foundation due to the zoning setbacks. So we had to go with a premanufactured garage. 
 
We ended up settling on a 14’ x 32’ garage style “shed.” We have used the back half for storage for equipment and I’ve started making the front half a film and coating studio. 
 
The front and back half will be separated by a canvas curtain enabling me to easily get in and out of for the storage component.  Up front, I’ve installed eighteen 4,800 lumen LED shop lights on the wall and ceiling. That’s 86,400 lumens of light for coating and film to catch everything. 
 
We started hanging banners and have power partially run. The rest will be done soon. 
 
Eventually I’d like to RaceDeck the flooring. But all in good time. And I’ll insulate it before winter. 
 
In the meantime here’s some progress photos.