kaj41354

Thanks for the welcomes!

By far the most smiles per gallon:
The backstory is: Me and 4 friends wanted to build something for a Gambler 500 event held locally. We have the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally every year, and they put on a Hoopty-X event, which ended up being $500 cars going around a homemade motocross track out at the Buffalo Chip campground.
We got a smoking deal from another buddy on a good running astro van, he was going to sell it for $1500 but found out what our plans were, and his kid loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so sold it to us for $500. One buddy is a fabricator, one owns a sign shop, one is a mechanic, one a photographer, and access to the body shop... mix them all together, and this is what we got lol 

Never expected it to survive the event, but it did with flying colors, and is still around, we break it out to local car shows a couple of times a year and people get a kick out of it
Also there's a facebook page for it: https://www.facebook.com/TMNT-Van-BH-2248554055192882

 

Bob,
 
First, Hello to a fellow Pittsburgher!  I was born and raised there but now live in York PA.  As you can see by the pictures in my signature I have 3 older vehicles that I take care of. The Morris is a clear coat so it doesnt apply here.  The 52 Chevy is the original paint and was (and to some extent still is) very imperfect.  however, after polishing I did use Paint Sealant and H2O G&G and it is much better than I expected.  The MGB was repainted about 25 years ago( I was told) but it is a single stage.  After polishing, I used paint sealant and have used Americana over the top.  I love the shine that gives.  Mind you, all 3 cars are garage kept but, they are driven as much as possible (at least once a week each).  They just dont see a lot of bad weather unless it rains while i am at a show or cruise (which has happened a lot more than I would have liked).  Good luck and post some pics of the Catalina (my first car was a 67 Grand Prix convertible)

Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner is a salt-based formula, so I would not use it on any leather or synthetic leather surfaces myself. If you did, follow it up with some Leather Conditioner or Interior Detailer as soon as you can.

I have worked on multiple 20-50 year old original paint vehicles and have found my preference of Americana or Ceramic Paste Wax.  For vehicles are that got out to shows, I tend to prefer Americana and the expectation is that you'll do regular wax jobs on them.  If it is a high end show car, then it is Patriots without question.
 
From cruisers and vehicles that may sit in the garage for months without being touched, I prefer the Ceramic Paste Wax.  It will last a long time and looks exception when you go it with Graphene Detail Spray before you go out running around.

You may have noticed we launched some new products onto the website yesterday afternoon, as well as Mystery Madness, with all sorts of different mystery boxes, buckets, crates, stools, etc! 
 
First up is product that many have been requesting for quite some time, Adam's Water Spot Remover! This is a very effective cleaner, but keep in mind it does have acid actives in it, so wear gloves and make sure to review the product video before use!

 
Product Video: 
 
 
We also introduced a new formula update to one of our most popular products, CS3. The short answer for what is different about it - we made everything about it better with a few simple tweaks to the formula. The longer answer from our chemist: "We adjusted the ratio of cleaners to protectors to make it slicker, even glossier, less prone to streaking, and more durability." It should reliably last up to 2-3 months now per application. The scent was updated a bit as well, mixing passion fruit into the original pineapple orchid scent, to help distinguish the formula update too. 


A few new detailing accessories were added to the site as well! First up is the Adam's Rolling Wheel Detailing Stand. This high quality powder coated stand will make the process of cleaning and ceramic coating your wheels much easier. It can accommodate 14" to 22" wheels, and the rollers can be tilted to prevent the wheel and tire from tipping over. This one will save you time and effort when coating wheels!


Then we also added a new Handheld Dual LED/UV Flashlight. This rechargeable light has 3 different shades of white on the color spectrum, as well as UV mode for using any of our coatings with our UV Tracer Technology. 

 
You can find these items and more, plus all of our mystery box options under the New Products section of the website. Make sure to use code SAVE for 15% off of your order, excluding mystery items.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP NOW!

Hi Steve,
I have a battery operated variable speed Dremel that allows me to use tiny felt pads to go around the bolts and other tiny parts on the motorcycles.   I buy them in bulk since it is not unusual to shred one or two on a single bolt.  There is no way to go around the bolts by hand, so you have to use some type of machine.   For the larger parts, like side covers, I do them entirely by hand.  
 
Based on the experience with the Demel for the bolts and other hard to reach areas, I don't see any reason why you couldn't use one of the Adam's polishers.  The one thing that I would recommend is to use a soft pad.  This is based from my use of borderless gray or felt pads when I'm using the metal polishes.  My biggest concern is a scratch on the chrome since the only fix is a re-chrome and that gets expensive quickly.
 
I have not looked into ultra soft or felt based pads for the polishers, so hopefully some others will respond with their experiences. 

Hey Al, great question! You can absolutely use our regular Waterless Wash on a ceramic coated car, and I use it fairly often on mine. There isn't protection in our regular Waterless Wash, so you don't have to worry about buildup with it. I would say to use it up and then give CS3 or Ceramic Waterless a try when you need to restock 👍

Yes, you can. Dilute at 16:1 for a Waterless Wash like solution. But in my opinion, it doesn't smell as good. Here's more:
 
 
 

Welcome Zane

Congratulations @shmedley!

Congratulations @shmedley!

Thanks for the hard work on fixing things here.  May everybody at Adams and all the members of this forum have a very Happy and Shiny 2021!

All screen names were entered into a spreadsheet and then google chose a random number.
 
The winner of this contest is: @shmedley! I'll send you a PM now 👍

Thank you everyone for participating, and Happy New Year!

Wow, I'm humbled. Thanks @Dan@Adamsand the rest of the Adams team for everything you do

Thanks for the hard work on fixing things here.  May everybody at Adams and all the members of this forum have a very Happy and Shiny 2021!

Thanks for the hard work on fixing things here.  May everybody at Adams and all the members of this forum have a very Happy and Shiny 2021!

Welcome Von!

Hi @William A Posada Jr, welcome to the forum! I'm going to move this thread into the appropriate section so that it gets more views and input.

Several of our products can be used safely on vinyl wraps! I'll make all of the products listed below into clickable links, so that it will take you right to the product page with more information for each one.

If you have a matte or satin finish wrap on your vehicle, our blue Car Shampoo, Mega Foam Shampoo, Waterless Wash, Rinseless Wash, and Matte Detailer are all safe for cleaning. 
If you have a gloss finish wrap on your vehicle, the list of safe washing products grows more: Car Shampoo, Mega Foam Shampoo, Wash & Wax, Ultra Foam Shampoo, Wash + Coat, CS3, Waterless Wash, Rinseless Wash, and Ceramic Waterless are all great options.

For protection, I would recommend our Ceramic Spray Coating or Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating. They are both very easy to apply and remove, and will provide several months of protection or more. On gloss vinyl they will add more shine and depth, but on matte vinyl they will not alter the appearance as long as they are wiped away properly. 

I know that is a lot of products listed, so if you are looking for a simplified list, the ones I use most now would be Mega Foam for bucket washes or a Foam Cannon setup with a pressure washer and Waterless Wash if I'm looking to remove a small amount of light dirt or dust. I use a lot of Rinseless Wash too - it's a concentrate that must be diluted down, either into a bucket or a spray bottle - you can make 16 spray bottles (16oz) with one 16oz bottle of Rinseless Wash, so it's a very cost effective option!

Let us know if you have any other questions

http://www.adamspolishes.com/
 
 

Hey everyone! 

We just wrapped up the Barrett-Jackson Fall Auction at WestWorld of Scottsdale, but we'll be back at WestWorld again next month for the Goodguys 23rd Speedway Motors Southwest Nationals presented by Barrett-Jackson!



What:   Goodguys Southwest Nationals
Where: WestWorld of Scottsdale
             16601 N Pima Rd
             Scottsdale, AZ 85260
When:  Friday Nov 20 - 8AM - 5PM
             Saturday Nov 21 - 8AM - 5PM
             Sunday Nov 22 - 8AM - 3PM

For more information, including Health & Safety Guidelines, check out the official event page on Goodguys website here:

Goodguys Southwest Nationals Information

We hope to see you there! 

Welcome Steve.  Those are a coupla sweet rides
 

Nice work on an old sweetie Kurt! 
 
If it is the original paint, you may want to search 'mike phillips antique single stage paint'.  He uses products and techniques that add some oils back into the paint.  It is labor intensive, but the results are amazing.

Yes, any kind of microfiber towel with a tag hanging from it is usually cheaper, usually manufactured in China rather than Korea, and you absolutely want to remove that tag, since it can scratch paint very easily. These types of towels could be used for engine bay, inside door jambs, exhaust tips, etc, but I would not recommend them on paint. On most coating jobs that I do now, I use our Suede Towel for the initial wipe and leveling of the coating, and then I follow up with an Edgeless Utility Towel to remove the remainder of the coating residue. Both of these towels are fairly affordable when purchased in bigger quantities during a sale, and it is peace of mind for me that I am not potentially scratching the surface when wiping away the coating with a lesser quality towel.

With our spray coatings (Ceramic Spray Coating and Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating), in my experience, the towels do not typically crystallize and harden in the same manner as the full Graphene Ceramic Coating, UV Ceramic Paint Coating, and UV Ceramic Wheel Coating, so I have been able to re-use towels that I use with the SPRAY coatings, as long as I soak them shortly after use in some Revitalizer and then machine wash them. I do wash them separate from my other microfiber towels to avoid any possible contamination.

Towels that I use with the full coatings do harden - I did an unplanned test a few years back with a white Single Soft Towel that I used during application of our older Ceramic Paint Coating Kit on my car. Two days later I accidentally grabbed this towel off of my work bench and put a few nice 4" faint scratches in the hood of my car when using it with Ceramic Boost, which I then had to re-polish out. Since then, once I use a towel for a coating, I mark it with a sharpie as @falcaineer mentioned, so that I know not to use it on paint again.

Hood looks better now

This story has a happy ending. I met again with the owner of Adam's Underground today to try to understand where our business relationship broke down. I think we have had a huge misunderstanding and perhaps it started with me by not asking the right questions in the beginning and not making my expectations known and what I wanted to have done. Now that we understand each other much better Adam's Underground will continue to be my detail shop of choice, I am looking forward to bringing my car back in again next week so we can have a better outcome together and also start making plans to schedule my next detail job.
 
Best to you,
Greg Gore