Bscott94

Wow...no one has posted in this thread since October?!?!!??!
 
I just picked up another roommate for the garage.  Ran across an uber clean 2005 GT that I literally couldn't walk away from.  It may end up being a car I flip, but couldn't pass it up.  I don't have the words to describe how clean and solid this car was for 18 years old and 105K miles.  It did need my touch on the paint.  It took a couple steps to get the paint "perfect", but I got it there.  It did need some detaling to the rest of the car and the engine, but detailing was literally all it needed.  Nothing cosmic.  The interior was soo good, almost didn't even need to touch it. I suck at before and after shots (I suck at photography anyways, but that's a separate thread).  
 
This is your normal detailing products and steps finished up with the old orange Correction Polish on a white pad, the new Polish on a white pad, and finally the old white Finishing Polish on a black pad.  Topped with graphine ceramic spray coating (I've had better luck with the spray than the bottle). 
 
 
 

My wife and I made a quick trip to Wisconsin and it gave my brother-in-law an opportunity to show me his new Wash Bay.  Let's just say that it far exceeded anything I was expecting to see and it was not the most impressive thing that I saw that day.  
 
The wash bay has a heated floor, the entire building is insulated, great lighting and the two black items in the ceilling are just 2 of the 4 in the building that are powered vents.   On the back wall, are the two pressure washers, one is connected to the soap dispenser and the other is clean water.   The entire system uses softened water and I am pretty sure that every piece of equipment he has will fit in there, height, width and length wise, just not all at the same time.
 
What I don't understand is why Mary just looked at me told me No.  I didn't even ask her a question...

So today I spent the better part of 5-6 hours going over my black 2023 Silverado 1500 with the graphene spray advanced, the graphene window coating and the tire dressing.  I have had many experiences with all sorts of products over the years including a detailing business in college and I have never ever seen a car or truck or anything for that matter look like my black beauty looks today. It’s a process but the results are simply amazing.   I have the boost and detailing spray to keep things up.  You can truly see a difference.  If anybody has any doubts about the quality of these products DO NOT HESITATE!!  I did one panel at a time.  Let things set up 3-4 minutes until the towel couldn’t move easily and the results are simply off the charts.  Pics included.  Thanks Adams for taking the time to engineer a product that will obviously make my washes much easier.  Next up the ‘69 Z!!

I miss the days when Adam's was focused on what made the company great - outstanding detailing products and exceptional customer service. 
 
Recent emphasis seems to be on endless "flavors of the day," clothing, tchotchke, etc. 😢

Hey everyone, Ramsey here. Greetings from Connecticut!
My wife and I are having a baby in about 3-7 days (maybe even sooner?!) and decided to invest in a solid family car that can grow with us (and our two dogs). I opted for the 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid. Love the car, but was impossible to find and the only color I could get my hands on was black. And as I like to say, the only way to keep a black car scratch free and clean is to not buy a black car. 
 
In any event, I was paranoid about maintaining our investment and so have had PPF installed on the front of the car, including the front driver and passenger side doors, and the rear fenders. Between the vehicle purchase and the PPF, my budget has been maxed out, but I also wanted to ceramic coat my car while it was brand new and unscratched. I was super nervous about doing it myself, but even more nervous about not doing it.  After hours of researching, reading and watching videos (Thank you to the Adams team for all of the content!!) I felt comfortable giving it a try. I bought the Adams Advanced Graphene Ceramic coating and spent 2 days prepping the vehicle and applying. I am blown away with the results! The car looks way better than when I bought even just last week. Im letting it cure in my garage now, but cannot wait to get driving. Even my wife was impressed, and she is a hard lady to impress these days in her current state! 😂

 
 
 

Late last summer/ early fall, I had my car cosmetically improved- paint repair, polish, PPF installed and Adam's Graphene Ceramic Coating applied. I did not dare do this myself on this car. I have a Honda Accord and Odyssey that I can experiment with and screw up without worry. When I picked up the car from my local dealership who did the work- it looked great. It was then parked for the winter. I went for my first drive this year after wiping it down with Graphene Detail Spray and it looked great. Before my second drive, I decided to use some Graphene CS3- the result was insane. The gloss was nuts. During my drive, I saw mouths dropping open, many thumbs up, horns honking and a group of young girls screaming at me to tell me they loved the car. My paint wasn't popping- it was exploding. The pictures in the sunlight don't do justice since the camera was adjusting for the lighting conditions. When I pulled out of the storage unit and looked at the car, I was in awe and had to take pictures. I now have an arsenal of Adam's products to use in my car care routine, but Graphene CS3 is my favorite. Love the scent too.

I had the same problem for a while and found that if I always ensured that the sprayers were set to the Off position it eliminated 90% of the problem.  There were also some sprayers sent out during the supply problems that were below the normal Adam's quality level and I have since eliminated them.  If you have of the ones that easily swivel and just feel unstable, then if you get large changes in barometric pressure. 
 
In addition, I've found a couple bottles need to be kept in a climate controlled area to completely eliminate the dripping, Tire Shine is at the top of the list, followed by Spray Wax.

I finally have the workbench fully installed, including the metal pegboard, TV and various other accessories. 
 
The mild winter helped me keep progressing with staying warm enough in the garage to do the straining the coating on the cabinets and top only needing 2 or 3 days between coats.  The ceilings fans also helped by circulating the air and pushing the warmer air down from the ceiling.  They have timers built in so I could turn them on to run for multiple hours, so the temp pretty much always stayed above 50, even on the coldest nights.
 
 Now it is matter of getting the pegboard arranged the way I want it and then slowly move the tools out of Mary's garage.   I'm still working on the little things and some are getting closer to being ready to be worked on.  I'll put in a cable management system for the wires around the workbench, getting the fire extinguishers mounted and getting many more old license plates so I can finish the upper part of the side wall.   I have all the wood for the sound enclosure for the air compressor, I just need to get the sound tiles to build that.
 
I'm ready for detailing season to get started and ten the rest of the Adam's items will move in, excluding the gallons which I'll leave the climate controlled room in Mary's garage. 

My brother had a first gen Cummins that he sold right before I got my license. I was not happy about it. That was one of the first vehicles I remember "detailing" I remember standing in the bed and claying the roof and helping his wax it. It was a beautiful truck. I'll see if I can find a picture of it somewhere
Edit: I found a couple pictures on his Facebook page. These are from 2009. 

Been using Adams for years, love all products. 



 

The correct rails for the garage door finally came in and were installed.  Now the garage door follows the roof line so it will not interfere with the lift once we get that installed.   We continue to make steady, yet slow progress.
 
I did end up with something in my driveway that wouldn't fit in the 9'x16 door, but it didn't stop me from making it look better. 

So, I just received my bottle (2 actually, one to use and one to save) and I guess its come full circle. Pictured is my 12 year old unused original bottle of Adams cherry car shampoo !
Same scent although not as strong being old. Kinda cool having both or I'm just getting old. LOL
 
 

The insulation that had been going up north, which actually made sense, starting arriving in the south and mine was delivered on Saturday.   I've been spending some time in the garage getting it installed, I even took a half day today since it was about 80 outside and worked in the garage.   The forklift operator was rather surprised to find a residential garage that he could drive in.  His forklift was 8 foot 6 inches and he cleared the door by 6 inches - at least I didn't have to move two pallets inside by myself.
 
Once I get all the insulation installed, gaps filled and seams taped, then the furring strips will go up and I can cry when I go to purchase the plywood.  I keep hoping that the price will go down some more, but that seems unlikely at this point.
 
There is still no word on when the correct door rails are going to arrive.  The door was supposed to follow the roof line and what arrived with the door were standard rails.  At least the company was able to install the door and they know they are not getting paid until the correct rails are installed.  I guess that is the one benefit of purchasing the door from the company the also manufactures it.    I absolutely love the door opener, it is so quiet and being mounted on the wall by the door is is completely out of the way.   The upper left corner of the garage door is the opener, the black box.
 
I think I finally have my ceiling designed with a way that will allow for direct or indirect lighting based on what we are doing with vehicles or just hanging out having a glass of wine. Here are a couple of pictures with the recent progress 

Take a read of this from the chemist. 
 

This morning I woke up to a bit of a surprise.  This was the first snow that stuck to the ground since 2014 in our area. It was rather cold last night and we were under a winter storm warning for freezing rain.  We were fortune that it turned to snow instead of freezing rain.  It was pretty much all gone this afternoon except in the areas where it stays in the shade and being back in the 50's on Sunday, that will take care of the rest of it.
 
It was cold enough last night and will be again tonight that we'll let the pool filter run all night to ensure we don't end up with the pump freezing. 
 

I've only used it with the Foam Cannon, and it works really well. But to use it with the Premium Foam Gun, I think it would work by pouring the contents into the canister vs. attaching the bottles. The foam won't be as dense, needless to say, as using it with the Foam Cannon. 
 
I recommend you get a Pressure Washer, it really changes the game. The 2.0 is great, the Pro incredible. And with the 12 days of daily deals right now you might find a good one on the site 

I spent the day detailing my 2021 Red Mist C8.  Started with Adams Strip Wash, Adam’s clay mitt, then Adam’s Polish, and finally Graphene coating.  I’m very happy with the results, the pics don’t do it justice.  It was late in the day and lighting was so-so.  The UV light is a game changer!  Made it very easy for me to see what areas I needed to fix.  

I have mom's 2017 Corolla for the week while the SS is being made whole, don’t ask.
 
Despite winds gusting to near 50 mph yesterday I started with a foam bath with Strip Wash followed by a rinse then another Strip Wash foam bath. After the second rinse I foamed it with Wash n Wax (grabbed wrong bottle) then got to cleaning the finish.  I rinsed the car and refoamed  using the foam as a clay lubricant. Mom parks outside 24/7 and it shows. That paint, to quote Adam, “was rougher than a night in jail.” The glass was just as bad. Dried the Corolla then pulled it in the garage.
 
My garage has about a zillion lumens of LED goodness. This made all the swirls, scratches and bird dookie etchings quite visible. My PC with 3” inch orange and white pads plus the jumbo SK with 6” MF pads paired with the orange and white Adam’s chemicals made quick work of the undesirables. I used a competitor’s panel wipe then commenced to coating it with Graphene Spray Coating. That stuff went on headlights, paint, wheels and all glass except the windshield. That got a competitor’s glass coating that I’ve nearly finished off. After a dinner of chicken street tacos I headed back out to the garage to cover the vehicle with Ceramic Boost. I also wiped the interior down with Adam’s Interior Detailer with MicroBan, sweet almond scent.  I took the pic below then had Tiramisu with my lovely wife.
 
Tomorrow I’ll coat the tires with Graphene Tire Dressing before I go to the office. Tomorrow night I’ll pull the mats and give them a good scrubbing plus vacuum the floors. I’ll finish with Leather Conditioner on the seats.  Hopefully Mother Nature will leave it alone so when I return it to mom on Friday it’ll still look great.
 

While I use the SC3 all the time and love it, I decided to apply the ceramic boost to the car seeing I have not done it in over 4 months.  I also was a little concerned with it streaking, which can be an issue with it.  However I used a totally new method for applying and removing it and it worked like a charm.  No streaking and smooth slick finish.
What I did is I applied it to a microfiber applicator pad.  applied it to a small area and applied it as I do the ceramic spray.   Back and fort overlapping and then across with the over lap also.  Then with a double soft Microfiber polish towel I removed it and buffed it before it could dry.  
I sounds like a lot of work, but is most detailing jobs.  However I was able to do the complete car in about 4 hours tops and that was stopping for lunch and a few breaks.  I am after all 75 so I am not as fast as I once was.  Took more time when I was sitting on the ground and having to get up and move.
As I said I love the CS3, but I am sure there is more pop and depth with the boost, but I would not do this all the time. 
Here are some pictures.  Not the best as they were taken with by phone and in the garage.
 

^ Nice looking blue “Malibu” next to you…😁 ^

Hi Ashley and welcome to the forum.
As for the Golf Car windshield, I use Hand Polish.  If it is has many swirl marks and light scratches, start go with a Orange Hex where needed, otherwise the Blue Hex will take care of it.  Once it has been polished and cleaned you can use Adam's Glass Sealant on it.  
 
The picture shows how the Golf Cart can come out with Adan's Hand Polish, Adam's Leather Conditioner and Ceramic Spray Coating.  The windshield is in the cart and up in the picture.

Plastic razor and detail spray took it off of a Mercedes that I did a few months ago. And it had been on the car for 3-4 months. 

It is very easy to heat up these fiber pads (vs. foam pads).  When working with fiber (wool or MF) I use 2 pads and rotate them after each section.  I use the pad, clean it, swap to the other pad, and polish the section, repeat...  I have melted a backing plate on a long throw polisher using MF pads without letting them cool...it was a little scary when the pad detached and went flying across the garage, but thankfully no damage was done to the '67 GTO convertible clone I was working on!

If you don't find anyone near you then I am willing to help you out.  I am not pro detailer in the sense that I don't detail for a living but I will on occasion do a side job.  I am in the Lawndale/Torrance area which is about an hour or so away from you.  I happen to have a bottle of the graphene coating.  

I usually see pad failure occur with:
Overused pads Hot polishing surfaces - which cause rapid product retreat/evaporation Excessive pad pressure Wet pads (too soon after cleaning or too much product) Accelerates heat wicking from polishing surface to hook and loop) Leeches through the hook-and-loop/foam bond and lubricates the hook-and-loop causing motion and friction There are some other isolated instances where pad damage can occur. But these are the big ones. Avoid them. And always clean your pads in warm soapy water and air dry them thoroughly. I put them in front of a fan for a full 24 hours. 
 
I honestly don't fret when a pad lets loose. They aren't meant to last more than a couple vehicles. Though, like Ray, I routinely get 7-10 vehicles out of mine. Just continue to develop good habits and you will naturally extend the life of your pads.