Dan@Adams

A lot of friends call me DT and it's just stuck over the years, and I figure there's going to be a lot of threads popping up about these two new products, so I wanted to make a kinda silly thread title for it to stick out
 
Enough mostly pointless introduction...onto the goodies!
 
It was 43 degrees out today, but the sun was shining and I couldn't wait any longer to get all the crud and filth off of my car from sitting at Pittsburgh Airport for 2 weeks and then the 90 minute drive back home.
 

 
The construction of the foam gun itself simply impressed me.  All parts seem very sturdy and the stainless quick disconnect is very secure, unlike the generic brand foam gun I was using prior to this one.  I used the yellow-green metering tip as recommended, then after attaching the fill tube, I filled up most of the container with water, then added in 2 or 3oz of the new blue goodness and shook it up some.  The wash pad on top of the brand new wash pad is used for the rocker panels and lower rear bumper, hence why it looks a little beat up.  I had a third one, not pictured, that I used as well for the lower half of the doors.
 
I prepped my wash buckets as I normally do, then added another 2oz onto the wash pad in the bucket.  It foamed up very quickly, and made a very pleasant smell to me.  I had no complaints with the scent of the red shampoo, and the blue shampoo has a great berry scent to it.
 

 
It throws A LOT of suds!  The foam gun I used before didn't have any type of metering tip.  It did ok but didn't put out this kind of volume, and didn't seem to last this long, even with a larger container.
 

 

 

 

 
I sprayed my GS down very generously to try to get those pictures, and I still had some mixture left in the container when I was done covering the whole car.
 

 
Then I did my normal cleaning
 

 
Rinsed off very easily, just like the old formula:
 

 
I just really liked how you can see all of the pearl in the paint in this shot below 
 

 

 
Love the side profile of this car...
 

 
The Opel-Buick says thank you for cleaning me in this nasty cold winter weather!
 

 
Water wiped off very easily as usual with the Great White Drying Towel.  Since it was so cold I didn't bother to spray any Detail Spray as a drying agent this time.
 

 
And there were still some suds left in my wash bucket after I was done, and it probably took me 15 or 20 minutes of drying after rinsing it off, since I was letting my hands warm back up after each section
 

 
Thanks for looking.  I'm very pleased with both products, and I expected nothing less.  Keep on rockin' Adam's Team!

A lot of friends call me DT and it's just stuck over the years, and I figure there's going to be a lot of threads popping up about these two new products, so I wanted to make a kinda silly thread title for it to stick out
 
Enough mostly pointless introduction...onto the goodies!
 
It was 43 degrees out today, but the sun was shining and I couldn't wait any longer to get all the crud and filth off of my car from sitting at Pittsburgh Airport for 2 weeks and then the 90 minute drive back home.
 

 
The construction of the foam gun itself simply impressed me.  All parts seem very sturdy and the stainless quick disconnect is very secure, unlike the generic brand foam gun I was using prior to this one.  I used the yellow-green metering tip as recommended, then after attaching the fill tube, I filled up most of the container with water, then added in 2 or 3oz of the new blue goodness and shook it up some.  The wash pad on top of the brand new wash pad is used for the rocker panels and lower rear bumper, hence why it looks a little beat up.  I had a third one, not pictured, that I used as well for the lower half of the doors.
 
I prepped my wash buckets as I normally do, then added another 2oz onto the wash pad in the bucket.  It foamed up very quickly, and made a very pleasant smell to me.  I had no complaints with the scent of the red shampoo, and the blue shampoo has a great berry scent to it.
 

 
It throws A LOT of suds!  The foam gun I used before didn't have any type of metering tip.  It did ok but didn't put out this kind of volume, and didn't seem to last this long, even with a larger container.
 

 

 

 

 
I sprayed my GS down very generously to try to get those pictures, and I still had some mixture left in the container when I was done covering the whole car.
 

 
Then I did my normal cleaning
 

 
Rinsed off very easily, just like the old formula:
 

 
I just really liked how you can see all of the pearl in the paint in this shot below 
 

 

 
Love the side profile of this car...
 

 
The Opel-Buick says thank you for cleaning me in this nasty cold winter weather!
 

 
Water wiped off very easily as usual with the Great White Drying Towel.  Since it was so cold I didn't bother to spray any Detail Spray as a drying agent this time.
 

 
And there were still some suds left in my wash bucket after I was done, and it probably took me 15 or 20 minutes of drying after rinsing it off, since I was letting my hands warm back up after each section
 

 
Thanks for looking.  I'm very pleased with both products, and I expected nothing less.  Keep on rockin' Adam's Team!

Well, it was Spring Spa Day for the wife's ML after a dreadful winter. First up was a wash with Microfiber Revitalizer. Hey, if it can dissolve all the wax build-up off your MF towels, why not let it dissolve the wax and sealant off the paint? Then it was time for a wash with Deep Wheel Cleaner and a final wash with Adam's Shampoo. The clay.
 
Here is my 'Cruel Master' - an LED Pipe Light.
 

 
Here is what the paint looked like. Ouch.
 

 
Here we are after the first stage of correction.
 

 
And this is after 2 stages of correction.
 

 
And this is with one coat of Adams Glaze and a top-coat of Adam's Sealant
 

 
Could not be more pleased with the results on a Black car that sees year round duty.

Car is fully done!!! I made a thread in the testimonials, I'll put up a couple teasers here
 
 
Starting the process

 
The end result:
 

Sorry Brad, I wasn't trying to push you away or show a biased opinion. I've used many detailing products in the past before trying out Adam's. I simply could not get the results I achieve with half as much effort that I get with Adam's Polishes. Most of the big name brand polishes that I used prior to Adam's, one has a 3 in the name and the other has an M and rhymes with pliers just to name two, were difficult to use, difficult to remove the residue of the polish, and created lots of dusting. I tried Adam's and switched over every detailing product i have back in 2006. I've detailed close to 50 vehicles as a side job and hobby - for friends, family, neighbors, and other customers - and every single one of them have been 100% satisfied at the results.
 
I apologize if I dissuaded you from using this forum or made you want to go to other detailing enthusiast forums. I see that you made a separate thread about swirl marks that has some great inputs and recommendations, so hopefully you stick around to see that we have a truly great community here
 
Respectfully,
Dan Tyger

Wanted to show a few more results that are possible with the two-step polishing system and the Flex polisher. This truck was my dad's daily driver work truck for 11 years before I bought it off of him in late 2013. He only ever washed it with a hose, a sponge, and a bucket of dirty water, which caused severe swirl marks all over the entire truck. He never used soap because he was always taught that soap strips off the wax, and he still won't listen to me that the proper soap will not do that. Anyway, here are some before and after pictures:
 
The whole truck looked like this:
 

 
Front passenger fender before, notice how hazy the reflection of the two 500w halogen spotlights look and all of the scratches around that area:
 

 
Front passenger fender after just one pass of the orange Paint Correcting Polish until it flashed and was ready to wipe off. The finish got even better as I continued on with the Paint Finishing Polish:
 

 
Corrected clear coat on the left side of this picture of the fiberglass bed lid, uncorrected on the right. You can see a very apparent line from the reflection of the sun where I stopped polishing for demonstration purposes for my dad:
 

Mmmmmmmm, dat @ $$!
 

 
Yeah, I'd trade the G8 for that. Seriously.   That is one sharp ride.

Congrats, I'm a hardcore GM guy!  Unfortunately, they don't offer the gm employee discount on the SS since its a limited car but I still think its an awesome deal for the money.  I also love the V Cadis and the new impala and Malibu are pretty slick looking, a nice turn around from the previous body styles.  GM is pumping out some really nice cars.
 
 
Guz, I looked at (what the salesman called it) the first 2015 SS in Deleware last night. Its got the magnetic ride suspension, 6 speed manual, and the color was "Perfect Blue Metallic" and it was truly perfect.  An amazing looking car.  Makes me wish I wasn't poor haha

Congrats on the new gig!  That's awesome.  I had an uncle that worked for Ford in Ohio for 49 years, yes, 49 years, and I've always wanted to work in the automotive industry in some way too.
 
Now it's time to talk up my '14 Regal GS AWD hahaha...prepare for one big sales pitch because I simply love this car   It's an outstanding platform. While it's heavier than the ATS, it still has incredible grip with the adjustable electronic suspension and the 20" wheels and the 14" Brembos will almost make your eyes pop out.  It just felt like it had a little more room inside to me than the ATS (they were my two vehicle choices when shopping). The GS also has a much, much bigger trunk than the ATS, more rear legroom, and I prefer the configurable 8" digital gauge cluster and center stack over the Caddy too. I even think the seats are better in the Opel/Buick - both front seats are 8 way power adjustable, with nice side bolsters, and a 4-way power adjustable lumbar support - up/down/in/out. The Caddy looks gorgeous, but I think the GS is one of the best looking sedans out there right now too with it's somewhat subtle and somewhat over-the-top styling (the giant fang intercooler inlets up front).
 
GS mode is silly fun on smooth roads.  It 'ups' the shock valving to a very firm setting, even more from the Sport mode, which is more aggressive than the normal touring mode, i.e. body roll is nearly non-existant, nothing at all like your old grandpas floaty landbarge Buicks of the past.  It also adds more resistance to the electric steering giving it a much heavier, precise feeling, and modifies the shift points and fuel mapping.  While it's not incredibly quick in stock form, the 295ft-lbs from the little 2.0 does get it moving...but once I put the Trifecta tune on it, it's a different animal...277hp and 313ft-lbs at all four wheels on the dyno!  It builds max boost almost instantly, and I've spun all four tires for a few feet launching it, lol.  The adaptive cruise with radar and automatic braking, collision detection, lane departure, heated steering wheel, sunroof, and a bunch of other options just made it the better, more affordable choice for me over the ATS.
 
The White Diamond Tricoat on mine is $1,000 extra, just like on the Caddy's, but it is a stunning color in person. The amount of pearl in the paint is crazy. It has been very easy to maintain, and has very minimal swirls so far during this harsh winter. The clear does seem to be fairly hard like Captain Slow says, but it didn't take much to correct it at all when I bought it - I only needed the orange pads and Paint Correcting Polish in a few spots, the majority of the car came out perfect with PFP and a white foam pad. Most of these pics are from the summer though 
 

 

 

 

 
I told you it wasn't your grandpas buick...lol
 

 
And it's very capable in the snow with all wheel drive and an aggressive all season tire, but you probably won't have to worry about that.  There's a fwd model with a 6speed manual too.
 

 
Edit: My only gripe is that the side mirrors are pretty small, but they have nice blind-zone light up indicators to overcome that.  If you can overcome the old stigma that Buick = retired people, it's a great all around car.  I'm 32 by the way...trying to change that stigma, heh.

There's usually a dinner the evening before that some forum members go to but I'm not sure about any hotel tailgating, haha.  It's just a fun, informative clinic and car show with good friends and good rides.  Ray and everyone else at Grabiak alway go above and beyond for this event, with a super clean shop, showroom, friendly staff, free food, and awesome section of their performance shop dedicated to Adam's products (with a show discount and a goodie bag for the first 75 cars as Dylan mentioned).  There have been some very nice raffle prizes in previous years too!

Thanks... I did clay bar the Tundra... Yes it is a Rotary buffer... and @ 1000 RPM's I did not damage the finish...

Welcome Brad!  Great questions!
 
The DeWalt machine that you got, I'm assuming it is a rotary buffer if it's running at that speed? If so, you will want to be very careful with that if you are new to polishing, as the heat it can generate can go straight through the clear down to the base coat of paint. Not all DA machines are "junk" as he said. The Cyclo Polisher offered here is an excellent dual head oscillating polisher that gives outstanding results. The Flex also offered here is another great option with slightly more correcting power than the Cyclo, but not as much versatility and more vibration. I personally own and use both. The Cyclo is perfectly balanced and does not fatigue my fingers or forearms like other DA polishers. There are a few other less costly options out there that can give results almost as good as these too.
 
As for polish, Adam's offers a very simple and effective two stage polish system. Orange Paint Correcting Polish with orange microfiber or orange foam pads will serve as the swirl and scratch remover. Then the white Paint Finishing Polish with white microfiber or white foam pads serves as the final stage polish to make the finish perfect and remove any tiny micro marring that the orange Paint Correcting Polish may leave on some clear coats with certain machines/pads. On some vehicles, you may not even need to go to the second step with the white PFP, or alternatively, if the finish isn't badly damaged in the first place, the white PFP may be enough to make it perfect and not need to use the more powerful Paint Correcting Polish. I hope that all makes sense.
 
Special waxes for black paint are mainly gimmicky marketing. Polishing with the correct type of polish and pad is what is going to remove scratches, swirl marks, and oxidation, and help bring back the deep, dark, black color of the paint, since you are smoothing out imperfections in the clear coat to bring back the true color.  
 
The wax part of the equation will offer protection and more depth to the finish after it has been polished...polishing does not offer any type of protection to the paint. Synthetic sealants and waxes like Adam's Liquid Paint Sealant and Buttery Wax can also be used in place of your typical carnuba-based wax, like the Americana and Patriot Wax offered by Adam's. Patriot Wax is more for your 'show car' finish on something that is garaged and maybe not driven every day.  It still lasts a while, but it won't have the longevity of something like Americana or Liquid Paint Sealant. LPS is going to offer the longest and most durable amount of protection that Adam's offers right now. Some people are seeing upwards of 6 months of water beading with it depending on the conditions you drive in. For the $100 vs. $70 between Patriot and Americana, the main difference is that the Patriot Wax is the finest wax Adam's has ever offered.  It's a concourse level wax, that goes on and off incredibly easy, even more so than Americana. It smells amazing, and offers incredible color and depth to the paint finish in my personal opinion. There's also a flash sale going on right now where the Patriot is only $74.99 plus another 15% off of that with the "15YEARS" discount coupon, but there's only 11 left on this deal as I'm typing this!
 
http://adamspolishes.com/shop/specials/flash-sale.html
 
Myself and many others on here like to do a full paint correction with this general process: Wash the vehicle with a good ph-neutral car shampoo and two-bucket wash method with grit guards in the buckets (all also offered here) to help prevent swirls while washing. The vehicle will most likely need claying with a clay bar and detail spray as a lubricant for the clay if it has not been properly polished in a while.  I believe Adam says the rule of thumb is to clay the vehicle twice a year. This will pull the layer of wax off, along with all of the little imperfections like tar, rail dust, bug guts, bird droppings, etc out of the clear coat, to have a perfectly clean, smooth surface to begin the polishing process. Some people like to wipe the vehicle down with isopropyl alcohol after claying, but it's not 100% necessary.
 
Then you would begin the polishing process, starting in a small test area with the white Paint Finishing Polish. If it gives the desired results you are looking for, then you can continue doing the rest of the vehicle in 2'x2' sections. If it does not give the desired results, then you re-do the area with the stronger orange Paint Correcting Polish, and then again with the white PFP. Since all 3 of your vehicles are black, and it's very difficult to keep black vehicles swirl-free, you might find that you need to go straight to the orange PCP. After the paint is corrected, that is when you want to put on the protective coat. Some will just throw on a coat of Liquid Paint Sealant and be done. Others that want the ultimate shine will do a layer of Liquid Paint Sealant, followed by a layer of Brilliant Glaze (the glaze just helps to slightly fill in any imperfections that may not come out with the machine polishing and is only a temporary product), and then finally a layer of Americana or Patriot Wax to help seal in the Brilliant Glaze and give the finish that eye-scorching POP!
 
I know I typed a lot, and it is a lot to take in, but hopefully that helps answer some or all of your questions.  If I've made anything too confusing, just let me know, but I'm sure Dylan and others will chime in with expert advice too!
 
Edit: Adam also offers a full series of videos covering nearly every aspect of detailing a vehicle.  Very informative and thorough video series!  http://adamspolishes.com/video

No, I read it... When I replied and talked about dawn, I didn't feel I need to quote everyone about it. I already washed it last night with adam's blue shampoo. I couldn't stand driving it around slightly dirty since I have instructions not to have the car cleaned.
 
I thought about the wait, but my research showed the panels are actually made before (so maybe a week?). Also apparently they are baked on, and there is a slightly diff process for cars that are brand new

Gotcha, that makes sense. Disregard then

Welcome to the funhouse!  I'm waiting for this weather to warm up too

Cool.....I think that I have helped Adam with that show at least 6 out of 7 yrs.
Grabiak has the nicest Adam's showroom & store!

You can count on me being there, bringing either the supercharged blue goat or the silly lsx racetruck of doom. 
 
Hmm...racetruck could hold a lot more product in the bed

Yep, exactly what Eric said.  The customer support team isn't always on the forum, so they may not see this post.  Give them a call or an email and they will figure out the best way to resolve this issue.
 
http://adamspolishes.com/contact
 
Edit: Are you sure it's mold?  Maybe the adhesive between the hex grip and foam failed and caused the separation. Mold can be nasty, dangerous stuff.  Are you sure there isn't any moisture in your plastic bin or anywhere in that area?  I can't really see any Adam's chemicals causing mold.  I had the foam on one blue pad start to fail and fall apart after 3 or 4 years of use, but it was absolutely caused by me, as I was experimenting and trying to use it and Revive Hand Polish on a very rough surface inside of the bed of my truck.  My yellow hex applicator has been going strong for at least 3 years with proper care.

Z06Seal, just as an FYI, I've heard from several people now as well as posts on here that the new C7's no longer have a hard clearcoat and that they are actually very soft clear, so hopefully you will only need Paint Finishing Polish with the white pads. I haven't had a chance to work on one yet, but hopefully I will get to this summer.

Free international shipping on these!?! Awesome! I will definitely be ordering a handful of these to throw on my 3 rides, one of them being my amazing Holden   Plus, I always like getting stuff from Australia!

Hi All,
 
We have pulled the trigger and made a limited run on premium die cut window stickers. We are shipping free internationally if 2 or more stickers are purchased.
 
Have your ride looking clean and displaying Adam's in spring! They can be purchased right here www.adamspolishes.net.au (made in Australia)
 

 

You can get bumper sticker stock for your home printer then just print out a 4" picture of the bottle from the Adams site then stick on the holder.
 
 
 

To go along with what some others recommended with trying out the orange Paint Correcting Polish, Adam's is designed to be a 2-stage polishing system, with color coded polishing pads.  For the deeper swirls and scratches, you would want to start out with the orange microfiber polishing pads as mentioned, then step down to the orange foam pad.  With a Porter Cable, it may take several passes, or it may simply just not have enough correcting power to get your car back to perfect, where a polisher like the Flex might get it there.  
 
After the Paint Correcting Polish, most like to follow it up with the white Paint Finishing Polish, with the matching white polishing pads.  In some cases and on some types of clearcoats, I have been able to achieve near perfect results with just the orange Paint Correcting Polish, but that might not always be the case.  From what I recall, C6 Corvettes have a very hard clearcoat, so that might be why you are having difficulties in getting out some of those last annoying scratches.  My black TBSS was the same way, it had a very hard clearcoat that was always a challenge.  The most difficult car by far that I've corrected was a Nissan GTR...there's even a warning sticker under the hood that the car has a very hard special clearcoat!
 
For a quick summary:
 
- Adam's Orange polishing pads are cutting pads for use with the Paint Correcting Polish
- Adam's White polishing pads are finishing pads for use with the Paint Finishing Polish
 
I recommended this exact kit to a friend of mine a few weeks back for a truck he just repainted.  He was blown away with the results using his rotary polisher.  There is a good video at this link explaining everything too.
 
http://adamspolishes.com/shop/kits/4-polishing-kits/adam-s-7-pad-polish-kit.html
 
Lastly, this is just my personal opinion, but I would not recommend light wet sanding if you are new to machine polishing with just the Porter Cable like you mentioned in your original post.  You can cause some serious damage real quick with wet sanding, and I would guess that your car still being a relatively new 2008 won't need it.  Last year I bought a 2002 Sonoma off of my dad.  It was his work truck for 11 years and the finish was probably the worst vehicle I've ever worked on as far as heavy swirls since he only ever washed it with just a bucket of water and a sponge.  
 
With the kit above and a Flex polisher, I took the paint from this:
 

    To this, with just two passes of Paint Correcting Polish:     It's still not perfect in that picture, but I kept working the panel until I got the results I wanted.  Some spots of the truck, it was absolutely necessary to wet sand, but those were mostly areas where he blobbed touch-up paint all over and I wanted to smooth it down.   Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope it helps.

I took advantage of the unusually warm winter weather today and washed all the salt, ash, and other gunk off of the GS...gotta keep the daily driver looking clean when I can during the winter!
 

 

 

I'm really diggin those wheels Phil! Such a beautifully menacing car!