cskipgo

Well its 2020.  I have spent countless hours (and dollars on Adams products) and nothing can stand up to the forces of nature.  Was parked at work and the California winds pushed a dumpster into my car.  Ugh!  (Wish I could polish this out)
 
Dumpster vs Camaro  - YouTube video that shows the traveling dumpster
 

Well its 2020.  I have spent countless hours (and dollars on Adams products) and nothing can stand up to the forces of nature.  Was parked at work and the California winds pushed a dumpster into my car.  Ugh!  (Wish I could polish this out)
 
Dumpster vs Camaro  - YouTube video that shows the traveling dumpster
 

Well its 2020.  I have spent countless hours (and dollars on Adams products) and nothing can stand up to the forces of nature.  Was parked at work and the California winds pushed a dumpster into my car.  Ugh!  (Wish I could polish this out)
 
Dumpster vs Camaro  - YouTube video that shows the traveling dumpster
 

Looks great!  I followed pretty much the same steps and alternate Detail Spray and CS3 as a drying aid.
 
Excellent color choice!!

Looks great!  I followed pretty much the same steps and alternate Detail Spray and CS3 as a drying aid.
 
Excellent color choice!!

Wash, clay, revive hand polish, surface prep, paint sealant,...couple days later, wash and h2o GG !!!  Ready for the Fall, or what we call it in Michigan, Winter.

1) Like galaxy said, I would still keep Brilliant Glaze around to help with any high spots during application of the coating, and then it can be used on your exterior and interior glass to cut through film on the windshield too. You DO NOT want to put Brilliant Glaze down before the Graphene Ceramic Coating (if you are used to applying Brilliant Glaze before Paint Sealant in your current regiment). Graphene Ceramic Coating must be applied to the bare, polished clear coat surface to bond correctly.

2) Graphene Detail Spray and CS3 would be my preferred maintenance products now for a Graphene Coated vehicle. You can also use Ceramic Boost, Slick & Slide, and the current version of H2O Guard, since it does contain a small amount of SiO2 in it now (designated by the red oval "With Hybrid Technology" on the front of the bottle label).

3) Yep, if the wheel coating has been on your wheels for a while, Graphene Spray Coating can be applied onto them to extend the protection, but it is not necessary. I would recommend doing a very thorough cleaning with blue Car Shampoo or Eco Wheel Cleaner, then wiping them down with Surface Prep before applying the spray coating.

4) For plastic trim, VERY thoroughly clean the trim first. Any previous dressings - VRT, In & Out, etc - need to be removed. Clean the plastic trim two or three times with Trim Cleaner or Tire & Rubber Cleaner, then wipe it two or three more times with Surface Prep (using a different towel for Surface Prep). You can then apply the Graphene Ceramic Coating, or the Graphene Ceramic Spray Coating, but you MUST level the plastic trim and wipe away the residue just like you would do with paint, glass, and chrome. We have seen some customers that have had plastic trim pieces discolor and have a white chalky appearance if you do not level and wipe the coating off. For this reason, I've been sticking with our Non-UV Ceramic Spray Coating on plastic trim.
 

I think he meant that, if it is streaking for him now, would diluting it with distilled water help with that. Rather than dilute, I would recommend the "Less is More" approach and use a lighter amount of spray per panel, with two towels for removal. Use the first towel to wipe away the majority of the residue, then take a second dry plush towel to wipe away the remaining residue. Ceramic-type products do require a little more working into the surface and wiping than something like our normal pink Detail Spray. Working in the shade on a cool surface will be easier to work with than a warm surface in the sun as well 👍

My $0.02
 
1) Brilliant Glaze is still a neat, handy tool to keep around.  It will level any high spots or bad spots that you may not like, or if you have any goof-ups from installing the coating.  Plus you may have heard it's amazing on inside glass.  Just an all around handy tool to keep in the inventory.
2) I would.  CS3 is amazing and easy to use.  I've never liked HGG anyways, but I personally see zero need, and would never use it on a coated car.  But that's just me.
3) Can you?  Yes.  Necessary?  Probably not, but I always prefer the appearance of the sprays over the traditional coating, thus I always to a top layer. 
 
How are you getting streaking from distilled water? 

I'm sure some of you may have watched the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on TV yesterday, and saw the big Adam's Polishes "A-logo" displayed on Alex Bowman's #88 Chevy Camaro from Hendrick Motorsports! It amazes me how much this company has grown to see something like this, and I am very proud to be part of it! Unfortunately he had a DNF due to being involved in a multi-car pile up, but all drivers involved are ok! We can't wait to see Alex back out on the track again.

We also launched a new collaboration kit yesterday, available exclusively on ChevyGoods.com



You can find the kit at the following link: Number 88 Camaro Car Care Kit by Adam's Polishes

This kit must be picked up at your local participating Chevrolet dealership, as they do not offer shipping at this time. Discount codes also appear to be deactivated for this kit, but it's a very nice price at $58.00, as it is over $80 in retail value!

Thanks for looking and keep on shining!

Give it 24 hours, as well. The longer the better so it fully cures first.

Hey everyone! I've been working on a Corvette this past week in the evenings. It's for a friend's uncle. I think it is safe to say that in 20 years of detailing, this is the most difficult vehicle I have ever worked on. It's GM gloss black on a C5 Corvette - most will agree that this combo requires a lot of work to get right, as the clear coat is very hard and can be tough to get it to finish down just right.
 
It looks like this particular vehicle spent most of its life under a car cover, that was pulled on and off the vehicle, creating a lot of deep scratches in the process. Below are a few Before/After shots and explanations so far. Compounding is now complete, so I will move onto Polish and then our UV Ceramic Paint Coating Kit this weekend.

These first 2 pictures were how the car showed up to me, almost as if soap and water had been left to bake into the surface at some point. These pictures are AFTER washing and drying with Waterless Wash and clean waterless wash towels - it was far too cold and rainy outside to do a bucket wash, and there actually wasn't much dirt...this was all "baked in" to a degree. In other words, all of this spotting was so dried/etched into the surface that Waterless Wash did not remove it:





This was after claying the passenger-side hood, roof, front fender, door, and rear quarter with our Fine Grade Clay:


 
 
Claying did remove the majority of the streaking, spotting, and staining on the surface. In this photo, the passenger side was after clay, driver side untouched yet:


 

Here are some before/afters of Compounding different areas of the Corvette. I initially started with the Blue Microfiber Cutting Pad and blue Compound, but that combination was not strong enough to accomplish what I wanted in a time-efficient manner, so I moved up to the One Step Pad with blue Compound. For those that have not used it, the One Step Pad is a hybrid design microfiber and wool pad that has strong cutting capability:




 

The rear panel had spots of clear coat over spray in several areas, as did the lower portion of the passenger front fender. It appears these two areas and a few more appear to have been repainted at some point and not fully sanded and buffed out.
  



 

Deep vertical scratches in the passenger door from another door hitting into it. There was paint transfer too, but the clay bar took care of that:
 

 

It looks nice in this picture, but there is still significant haze in the paint when looked at under the Color Match LED Light. The White Foam Pad and Polish will take care of that though:




Stay tuned for more. I will try to update this thread throughout the weekend 

I did it a year ago, so I'm going to redo it once it gets warm and stops raining around here.  And I'll do the whole process from clay to CSC.  I use the CS3 every time I wash the car, as a drying agent and then as a detail spray between washes for dust, etc. 
I chose the spray over the coating because I'm not comfortable enough with my skills (I'm almost 74 years old) to do a full Ceramic Coating. Plus, it's my daily driver, only one car, and I don't want to be without it for several days.  Just personal choice.  But I don't see that I'd be much, if any, happier if I had gone the full ceramic route.

If yer gonna do the wet method, you don’t have to dry the car. A pooling rinse will suffice. If you dry the car first, just spray on a wet microfiber applicator or towel and apply one panel at a time. 

I agree with Brian. H2O Guard & Gloss is primarily used as a wet application method, but the dry application with a damp towel works well too! The current version (which has the red "With Hybrid Technology" on the front of the label) can now be used with a dry towel very similar to how Detail Spray is applied too; however, with your Camaro being a darker color, I would recommend using two towels - one damp and one dry - to avoid any smearing or streaking.

For me, I'll use the Air Cannon first to quickly remove most of the water from "high drip areas" like side mirrors, gas cap, trunk/door jamb/light seams, and grill inserts, but I do not dry off the entire vehicle. Then I'll apply H2O Guard using the wet method, one panel at a time. 

Thanks for the video.  Have not used this yet, but glad to see it in action.

Used it for the first time recently, it works great!  Had used the wheel cleaner before, but surprised how dirty my tires were.

Can you catch your finger nail in any of them? If not I would use MF pad and HCC followed by Orange pad and CP.
Take your time and go slow with slight pressure on your machine on 5 or 6. 

When it comes to the door jams and area around the hatch, you can always do them later.  You want to make sure you have plenty of time to take care of the vehicle and not get rushed because you are tired or it is getting late.   I have even done 1/2 a vehicle one day and the other half the next, but you always make sure you do an entire side if you have to do that.
 
A few things to keep in mind:
1. Always use the least aggressive method possible.
2. Do test spots, including using the baggie test before you clay.
3. Don't try to be achieve perfection, if you can't see it from 3 feet away it is good enough - you'll get better over time.
4. Do small areas at a time, guaranteed that trying to tackle the entire hood in one shot will overwork you, frustrate you and come out less than desirable.
5. Take breaks and admire your work.
6. Keep notes of what you did and how you did it, you'll appreciate it in three or six months when you want to repeat the process.
7. Temperature and humidity changes throughout the day and have a big impact on the cure or drying time.
 
Finally, take lots of picture, before , during and after and share them on the forum.

Hi John,
I am a newbie doing my own cars and went thru the same thing.  I was afraid to touch my new car.  Once finished, I am extremely happy with the results.
 
I ended up:
Strip Wash
Visco Clay w/ Detail Spray
Revive Polish 
Paint Sealant
Brilliant Glaze
Americana Wax
(Will follow up with H2O after this Saturday's California opening)
 
I just did my in-laws car and it was an older car with scratches.  I used a machine polisher and not only are the scratches gone, I think it looks better than my new car.  In about 8-10 months when the paint sealant is gone, I will machine polish my new car.
 
I left my in-laws car out overnight and a day, and I wiped it down with some detail spray before I started polishing.  I didn't have Waterless Wash and am hoping/assuming the polishing removed and detail spray left on.
I used the Correction and then the Finishing Polish.  I can't express how pleased I am.  Both of them seem mild enough that there doesn't seem to be much risk for someone new like myself.
 
To answer your last question, I did NOT do the jams as they don't normally see weather and it seemed like a lot of work with all the small creases and hard to reach areas.  (And I don't see them as much)

NEVER EVER use a duster on your car unless you want to spend the rest of your life polishing out the fine scratches left behind. 

Any 'wax' product will be short lived.  Paint Sealant will last a little longer, and any of the spray coatings should last even longer.

Thanks @falcaineer
 
So @cskipgo, looks like using either of the waxes would work as protection while you wait to acquire the other product. Be aware that it will likely require reapplication more often than normal. Butter Wax may need reapplication weekly while americana may need reapplication monthly or more often.

Thank you!

HGG and CB (Ceramic Boost) are both very quick and effective ways to protect your wheels. I recommend either and/or both.
 
So you already have Americana and Buttery. I don't see any issue with using those as protection on your painted wheels, but since I haven't used either on my wheels, let alone specialty wheels, I would defer this answer to @Chris@Adams @falcaineer @Dan@Adams just in case
 

Americana or Buttery would look great but aren't designed to withstand the heat or beating wheels take, so you likely won't see much longevity. Instead, as recommended above, I'd suggest HGG, Ceramic Boost, Ceramic Spray Coating or the Ceramic Wheel Coating. Post some pics of the finished wheels!