BRZN

Here you go: http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/32078-mercedes-tackled-with-the-swirl-killer/

Hmm... I do see on the Rupes site it rated at 2,000-5,000 OPM, but also see it on a companies site the sells the machine rated at what I'd shown it at 1,700-4,200 OPM. So, let's say I was incorrect with my original speed, and the LHR ES15 is 500 OPM on it's highest speed compared to Adam's Swirl Killer. Not that big a difference for the price difference to me. I do own both machines and am totally comfortable with the Swirl Killer, but also enjoy the Rupes. Here's what I'd found online that wasn't from Rupes: Rupes Polisher Comparison Chart Product/Features LHR15ES LHR21ES LHR75E MINI LHR12E Weight 2.6 KG / 5.73 LBS 2.6 KG / 5.73 LBS 2.3 KG / 5.07 LBS 2.6 KG / 5.73 LBS RPM 1700 - 4200 2000 - 4200 4000 - 5500 4000 - 5500 POWER 500W 500W 400W 400W Throw 15mm 21mm 12mm 12mm Pad Size 5.5" 6.5" 3" or 4" 5.5" or 6" Ideal Use For all polishing and vehicle's surface. 15mm throw gives it a great area coverage and saves 40% more time than traditional DA polishers. For bigger surfaces and areas. Wider throw at 21mm for even faster and bigger area coverage. For small areas such as mudguards, front panels or pillars and hard to reach places with big pads. Has the same feature as the BigFoot but neatly packaged in a compact and more maneuverable body, small diameter throw.

There's really no need for any more power. The 15mm LT Swirl Killer works just fine and stands up well to it's competition. I was able to correct the super hard paint on this Mercedes with no problem. http://www.adamsforums.com/topic/32078-mercedes-tackled-with-the-swirl-killer/ This machine is top notch! Power of the Swirl Killer: 500watts 2,000-4,500 OPM Rupes LHR15ES 500watts 1,700-4,200 OPM Rupes Mark II 500watts 2,500-5,300 OPM The power of the Swirl Killer falls right in between the two 15mm LT Rupes machines. If running the Rupes Mark II on high speed you'll be taking the chance of wearing out a polishing pad prematurely.

Nice turn around in that engine bay!

Here's a shot of Adam's new microfiber pads perfectly centered on the backing plates on my Cyclo. I have the backing plates positioned so the pads are as close to each other as the'll get being centered. Do they touch? No. Do they need to touch to polish? No. The Cyclo, as with any other machine, you'll want to make overlapping passes as you progress across a panel. By making overlapping passes the area not touched on the first pass gets taken care of on the subsequent pass. These pads are perfectly fine on the Cyclo.

They'll work perfectly fine on the Cyclo, equipped with Adam's 4" Machine Backing Plates.

The blue foam metal polish pads shown above are different than the new blue foam pads for paint, different foam density and cell structure. They do have the same wavy face design with the same face and back measurement, however there is no centering ring on the rear of the new 4" blue foam pad for paint. The new blue foam pad for paint is taller than the blue foam pad for metal polishing.

They're two different pads with different foam density's and cell structure. Both have the same wavy face design, the new 4" blue foam pad for paint is taller than the metal polish foam pad. Both have the same face diameter.

I use my Porter Cable 7424XP for spreading Sealant and Glaze My Flex 3401 is used for more heavy correction due to its forced rotation The 15mm throw Swirl Killer is my go to, all around polisher now The Swirl Killer Mini is used to get into places the standard sized Swirl Killer can't Each machine has its place

Meguiar's 105 would be way too aggressive for me on B-pillars, Adam's new Heavy Correcting Compound is very similar in it's aggressiveness to the 105, and again would be too aggressive for me to use on what is usually very thin, soft paint on these panels. The new Swirl Killer Mini with 4" pads or the Porter Cable 7424XP equipped with a 4" Machine Backing Plate and the appropriate pads should do the job. As Dan stated, hit them quickly with the Paint Correcting Polish then spend your time using the Paint Finishing Polish. Deeper scratches I'll either just leave alone to not go through the paint, or use my Rupes Nano. Pad selection is a tough call when using the Paint Correcting Polish. I tend to most often grab a 4" Orange Pad since I can see the black single stage paint I'm pulling off to help me keep from removing too much. I'm sure I'll be trying the new Blue Foam Pad with Paint Correcting Polish at some point, but haven't yet. I too tape off the rubber trim, as touching the black rubber with a pad turns it black rather quickly. I then don't know if I'm pulling paint of just seeing rubber transfer. If in fact these B-pillars are plastic, I tend to go to a dedicated plastic polish, something Adam doesn't carry. Novus Plastic Polish #'s 1 & 2. They work very well on plastic and can usually be found at Wal Mart. Polish specifically designed for paint may be too aggressive for plastic and could damage the parts.

Nice work!

Below freezing, I leave the vehicles alone. 1.) The local pay and spray coin op car wash shuts the water off. 2.) The metal, glass, etc of the vehicle is below freezing, so if it does get wet the water sticks, and as stated in the post just above the vehicle turns to a giant icicle. The doors will stand a good chance of freezing shut leaving a good chance of breaking the door handle or pulling door seals/weather striping off trying to get in later. 3.) Done at home the driveway turns to an ice skating rink, too dangerous. Between 33 and 40 couple degrees I'll use my own pressure washer on the driveway to spry most all the salt off. Foam the car down with Adam's Foam Cannon and his Car Shampoo, and let that dwell for five minutes or so. I'll rinse all the suds off with the pressure washer again. I have a Reverse Osmosis water filter system and will use that filtered water for a final, spot free rinse and call it all good. Above 40 couple degrees I'll perform a normal two bucket wash.

LOL! Yes, I do some product testing for Adam's, but that's not why I have a PH meter. My day job is in the Dairy Industry and part of my responsibilities are to work through quality issues on dairy farms. The PH meter is used to test the strength of cleaners, acids, and sanitizers, as well as the PH of the water they're starting off with to clean their milking equipment. Added bonus is it can help me better mix water into Adam's chemicals to know what strength I'm using. Mixing Leather & Interior Cleaner 50/50 with water is fine, but what's the PH of the water you're mixing it with: 7 neutral? 6 or lower, acidic? 8 or higher more alkaline? Without being able to test, consistency can be gained by using a known water source; Distilled Water.

Love me my new Triple Soft Microfiber towels from Adam's! and the Double Soft's and the Single Soft's... 110% money back guarantee if not satisfied through customer service. (866) 965-0400

The below pictured sunscreen was noticed two weeks after returning from a week on Hilton Head Island in June. It was baked on and attached to the leather where Interior Detailer made no difference to its appearance. Leather & Interior Cleaner mixed to a PH of 8 took it off easily using only an Edgeless Utility Towel. Sunscreen: No Sunscreen: Sunscreen: No Sunscreen:

I really hope the "less is more" approach holds true. This will be awesome if not much more than a stream of water is needed to keep the wheels clean! Quite a bit of time was spent on just this process of coating the wheels and calipers over two days. I couldn't help but take care of cleaning the wheel wells while the wheels were off, as well as thoroughly scrubbing the tires front and back with full access. Me too! Info I've read states up to a year, we'll see...

The owner's in India until mid January, I hope her son doesn't run it through any automatic car washes before she gets to see it!. I agree, this machine is perfect for the weekend warrior who's going to detail just a couple cars per year. I do work for Adam at several shows and I know how hard it is to get a first time polisher buyer, or someone ready to move up from an entry level machine to shell out $400. With this Swirl Killer at $229.99 for just the machine, yet alone the awesome prices for kits this machine is perfect! You can't go wrong! Do it! Do it! 3 days is about the usual amount of time for me to complete a full interior/exterior detail Travis, with polishing and an LSP applied. I work at my own pace and don't cut any corners.

I had the opportunity earlier this week to work on a 2001 Mercedes Benz E320. This, nearly, 17 year old garage kept Benz has 98,000 miles on her, and appears to be fairly well taken care of. However, I believe the exterior is being washed at drive through car washes, and probably was kept outside by a previous owner due to the condition of some of the exterior rubber trim and some rust I'd discovered. I picked the car up in Lancaster City early Monday morning, to bring home and get started on at my home. White is such a tough color to show before's and after's with results, so I'll describe as much as I picture, if not more. Here it is prior to me doing anything. The paint had very little gloss due to the excessive washing scratches, and was a bit chalky from oxidation. She has heavy rubber mats (visible on the driveway) over top of the OEM carpeted mats in the car, the carpet in the vehicle appears to be in almost new condition, with very little wear and only a few stains! I began by cleaning the wheels with Wheel Cleaner, the tires with Tire & Rubber Cleaner and the Inner Fenders/Wheel Wells with All Purpose Cleaner. The rubber mats were scrubbed with Tire & Rubber Cleaner and hung to dry. I quickly cleaned the engine bay with a pressure washer, started to dry with my Master Blaster (4 horsepower setting), then shut the hood and started the car to let the heat from the engine finish drying. While the car was running, I set the Climate Control to recirculate, and with the fan on high sprayed Odor Neutralizer into the system as well as spraying the exposed carpeted areas of the interior. The car was then foamed down with two ounces of Strip Wash in my Foam Cannon. I let the foam dwell for five minutes or so then proceeded with a two bucket wash, again with another two ounces of Strip Wash. I used the Red Wash Mitt I gotten a couple/few months ago. There was a very light rain/mist falling so I clayed the car's paint and glass out on the driveway while it was still wet. I completely destroyed a new Visco Clay bar. Each 2'x2' section I clayed turned the clay's used surface brown from contaminates. Also, the amount of oxidation on the black rubber was transferring to the clay if I touched it. I rinsed the vehicle again after claying with my Spot Free Reverse Osmosis water system and blew it dry with my Master Blaster. These two pictures are after clay, rinse, drying. Still really dull paint, but at least it was now clean and decontaminated. I pulled the car into the garage, cleaned around the door jams, under the hood and cleaned the trunk. I finished with a thorough vacuuming of the carpeted mats and the interior. That was it for day 1, including the time spent to pick the car up I had just shy of 9 hours in it. Day two began with some more time on the interior. The dash was cleaned, as well as the center stack and console. This all cleaned up nicely with Interior Detailer and an Edgeless Utility Towel. Next was this: Both sets of control buttons on the steering wheel had this stuff on them, the left side pictured was far worse. Gum? Make Up? Hand Lotion? I could pick it off with my finger nail, it came off as a black sticky substance. Leather & Interior Cleaner, an Edgeless Utility Towel and some elbow grease and it all came off! No harm to the white ink on the buttons either, I was worried about removing that while getting the gunk off. A wee bit of the gray dye was removed from the horn pad around the buttons. The leather seats were scrubbed with Leather & Interior Cleaner, they were pretty dirty. A Cockpit Brush did a good job at pulling the dirt out of the leather. There were stains which looked like they'd come from blue jeans on the lower portion of the driver's seat back, Isopropyl Alcohol removed most all of this staining. I had to be careful as the alcohol was also pulling the gray dye from the leather. These interior pictures are after I'd dressed the leather with Leather Conditioner. On to the exterior. All the exterior plastic and rubber was hit with either VRT or In & Out Spray to protect it from polish residue. I taped off the rubber trim around the doors and a hand painted pin stripe down the sides of the car. I was able to remove a couple tiny spots of paint the pin striper got outside of his lines with clay, and was afraid to touch the actual stripe with polish. The tape I had was wider than the stripe. Notice in the above picture the Detailer's Tape is along the upper edge of the stripe. I polished above the tape line first, then re-positioned the tape to the bottom line and polished from there down. This worked out well, and this tape was able to be reused, bonus! Polishing... I own the Flex 3401 VRG, the Rupes Bigfoot15 LHRES and the Rupes Bigfoot15 MarkII. Any one of these machines would have been a good choice on this extremely hard Mercedes paint. However, I also own Adam's new Swirl Killer. I figured why not give this machine a work out and see what it could do. No, it's not going to have the bite of the direct drive Flex, it's not quite as powerful as the MarkII Rupes, it is a bit more powerful than the LHRES and it's Adam's new offering. Why not let you all know what it's capable of on this hard German paint? Well, it took me quite a while to dial in my procedure. I started on the driver's side with a section of the hood using the Orange Foam Pad and the Paint Correcting Polish. Seemed to do the job. I finished half the hood, half the roof and began on the rear deck lid when I realized this was not giving me the results I wanted. I went back over the same areas again believing I had it right with the Blue Foam Pad and Heavy Correcting Compound on the Swirl Killer, followed up with the Orange Foam Pad and Paint Correcting Polish. Nope, by the time I started on the rear deck lid I again realized I didn't have it dialed in to where I wanted. Since I'd spent so much time on the driver's side I moved over to the passenger's side where I'd finally figured out what I needed. The new White/Blue Microfiber Pad and Heavy Correcting Compound, followed up with the Orange Foam Pad and Paint Correcting Polish. Perfect? No, but for a daily driver in white with the condition the paint had been in, it was really nice. The deeper scratches were still there, but much less noticeable, and the washing marks and lighter scratches and swirls were gone. Before: After: Again, white is so hard to get good pictures of. The spots around the reflection of the Swirl Finder Light in the After picture are reflections off the camera. The entire car was polished except for the rear bumper that was parked up against my garage door (that was saved for day three). Tight areas of the front bumper, roof beside the sunroof, the areas between the roof drip rail and door glass, B-Pillars, door handles, door handle pockets and areas needing extra attention were taken care of using either my Rupes Mini or Nano. By the time I finished polishing I found three more spots of paint left by the pin striper. These wouldn't come off with the polisher. Who knows, perhaps I could have polished over the pin striping? Better safe than sorry, glad I took the time to tape them off. Paint Sealant was applied using my Porter Cable and a Gray Foam Pad to most of the paint. I applied Quick Sealant to the leading edge of the front bumper, the B-Pillars, the door jams, the wheels, and under the hood and trunk lid. I turned the car around in the garage and called it for day two; just over nine hours today. Day three began by polishing out the rear of the car I couldn't get to on day two and applying Paint Sealant to this area. I also wiped down the entire car with Detail Spray to make sure all the Paint Sealant residue was off. The glass was cleaned inside and out and Glass Sealant was applied to the windshield. The tires were dressed with Tire Shine and Invisible Undercarriage Dressing was sprayed into the wheel wells. All the door panels were cleaned and wiped down with Interior Cleaner and Leather Conditioner was applied to the leather inserts. I vacuumed the interior one more time, reinstalled all the mats and delivered the car back to the owner. Just shy of 5 hours on Day 3. Total time spent including pick up and delivery 23 hours. The Swirl Killer pulled it off! The car looks phenomenal. The oxidation's off, and the gloss is back. Most all of the scratches and scuffs were removed as well as the swirls, and marring to the paint. Impressions of the Swirl Killer? It did a great job. As a Long Throw machine to step up from the Porter Cable, or to start with, I don't believe you can go wrong at its price point. 15mm throw, soft start up, variable speed, trigger lock, smooth, vibration free operation, it didn't get hot with continued use, a long 20' soft cord. My only complaint, and it wasn't a big deal, is that it's louder than either of my Rupes Bigfoot15's. Well, I'm not 100% sure if it's actually louder, or if it has a higher pitch, but my ears began to ring. After about an hour I put ear plugs in.

I had Dressing on the tires prior to the Coating application and then another coat afterwards. I got no Coating on the rubber, the applicator was perfect for staying where I wanted it. The wheels I just did also had a ridged lip where a wheel weight could be hammered on leaving me a nice guide. On a rounded wheel outer lip where you need the stick on type weights to balance it might be a different story. I did get some of the Coating Prep and Ceramic Boost on the rubber when I sprayed the wheel with those two, I wiped those products off immediately with no ill affects to the Dressing already on the rubber.

I'm off now through January 3rd and figured it'd be a good time to try Adam's new Wheel Coating on my wife's 2005 Volvo XC70. The wheels are in pretty decent shape for their miles, over 100k, with only one wheel having the slightest of any curb rash. They're taken care of regularly, and removed twice a year for a thorough cleaning, polishing (when needed), and sealing with Adam's Liquid Paint Sealant. I did things a bit different than Adam shows in his video. I started by getting the car up on jack stands at all four corners around 10:00 Thursday morning, temps were in the low 40's when I started and it made it to 50 by the mid afternoon. I was able to wash the wheels with Adam's Wheel Cleaner, and the tires with his Tire & Rubber Cleaner. By having the wheels off the ground I was able to spin them while washing to clean every part. I then removed all four wheels, placed them one by one on a set of saw horses and cleaned the barrels, and back sides of the spokes. Once the tires were dry I marked each one with a grease pencil as to the corner they'll go back on. With the wheels off I was able to get the inner wheel wells and brake calipers spotless. All Purpose Cleaner in the wheel wells with a Fender Brush, and Wheel Cleaner on the calipers scrubbed with a Trim and Lug Nut Brush. Check out that trim, almost two months since the Ceramic Trim Coating was applied, and still looking great! A few minutes past noon, and two full hours at this point and I had to stop for a while, Dr. appointment for my yearly physical at 1:15. A little past 2:00pm and I was back at it. The wheels were brought into the garage. Again, a bit different process than Adam showed in his video, I worked on the wheels standing over them, with them placed on my saw horses. I used the Coating Prep next. I took care of the Prep on all four wheels at once by wiping the barrels, and rear of the spokes first, then flipping the wheels over to do the face. When I removed the wheels from the saw horses I quickly wiped the barrel again, as some of the Coating Prep sprayed on the face dipped onto the barrel. Adam provides a Borderless Gray microfiber towel to be used with the Coating Prep in the Kit. Each wheel was then placed back onto the saw horses to have the Ceramic Coating applied. Just as with the Prep, I started with the back sides barrels and rear of the spokes before completing the process to the fronts. These wheels are a six split spoke design, and painted silver. I'd never noticed until now, but the faces have a metallic silver, while the barrels are a flat silver, with no metallic. I could not see any rainbowing of the Coating as it set up. The only thing I could do was touch where I'd applied to check for tackiness. I found I could apply to the entire rear or front of the wheel at one time, wait 45 seconds to a minute then wipe them down with the second provided Borderless Gray microfiber towel from the Kit. The garage temp was mid 50's at best while I was doing the application of the Ceramic Coating. The temperature may have affected the set up time a bit. The instructions state 20-30 seconds, it hadn't gotten tacky by then yet for me. Inspection with my Swirl Finder LED light showed no imperfections in the application, so my timing to wipe down seemed okay, it was 5:00 and I was done for the day. Time to let them sit and cure. 10:00 Friday morning the Ceramic Boost was applied to each wheel; barrels, and rears of the spokes first, then the faces. The feel of the wheel with just the Ceramic Coating is unlike a coating of wax or sealant, there's noticeable drag, no slick or slippery fee to it. Once the Ceramic Boost was applied the wheels had the slick feel. After the faces of the wheels had the Boost wiped down I dressed the tires. Not bad, not to bad at all. Lets see how this holds up through the winter, it sure would be nice if it makes it a whole year! With the wheels off I also took care of the brake calipers. Friday, after I'd finished the wheels and tires I tackled them. I made sure they were nice and dry with my Side Kick, then just as with the wheels; wiped them clean with the Coating Prep, coated them with the Ceramic Wheel Coating and wiped them down (about 4 1/2 hours later) with the Ceramic Boost. We'd painted these raw calipers a couple/few years ago with POR-15, stuff holds up remarkably well.

Had my Malibu in Syracuse last week and had to drive home through a nasty winter storm. The roads were covered with salt and my car was white with it by the time I got home. Sunday afternoon I took care of her. It was high 40's, drizzling, and windy (not nice out). 1.)Pressure Washer to remove as much as I could 2.)Foamed her down with 2oz of Car Shampoo in the Foam Cannon 3.) Leave the foam on for 5 minutes or so 4.) Pressure Washer to remove all the foam 5.) Watch the Steelers beat the Bengals This time of year the cars usually get the minimum. Key is to have them prepped well for the winter weather ahead of time with a nice coat of Wax, Sealant, or the new Ceramic Paint Coating. When we get a mid winter thaw, or a nice day at 40 or above (and time permits) I'll do a full two bucket wash and clean the insides. Otherwise, the dailies will be fine until spring.

No, that hose hasn't been offered in years. I own one, nice quality piece. http://goodyearwaterhose.com/

Very nice Travis!

Awesome! A full ceramic line now!

Nice!