GerryC

If you want to see a cool trick for yourself, take a cheap made in china costco towel and wipe one half of the bottom of a brand new CD. Then take a quality korean towel (like the one you will get in your Adam's kit) and wipe the other half. Hold the CD in the light and you'll see a bunch of micro scratches on the china side, while the korean side will be flawless. What the towels did to the CD they will also do to your paint.
 
Save the bulk towels for dirty jobs and toss them when they are past the point of no return. Korean towels are not only softer and safer for your paint, but they are overall made better. You don't throw these puppies away, you wash them and they're back to new. Besides, your good plush korean towels should never have any visible dirt on them to begin with. Waffle pattern towels for waterless washing will inevitably get dirty, but like I said, they wash out easily and last a long time.

My dealership knows how particular I am with my GTO and was with the TBSS (in fact they told me that the TBSS was the cleanest black vehicle they've ever received on a trade...I told them that was sorta my goal), never letting them wash either.  They said they at least had to wash the GS for me to look it over, so I told them only to wash it the night before - no wax or junky shiny stuff inside, and that I would take care of the car myself since like all of you, I'm obsessed with detailing cars to perfection. They put some tire shine on as well that flung all over, but I'll remedy that with SVRT.
 
I already started to claybar the car, polish it with Paint Finishing Polish with the Cyclo and white pads (didn't need Paint Correcting Polish, as there were only a few very fine swirl marks in the clear in a few spots), seal it with Liquid Paint Sealant, then Brilliant Glaze, and finally Patriot Wax. The hood and entire driver side are done so far. I've detailed dozens of vehicles now, and it always amazes me how much dirt and rail dust gets pulled out with the claybar, even with a brand new car.
 
This was from just claying the hood.
 

 

 
Lookin pretty all alone as I like it, at the Arby's parking lot at lunch yesterday
 

 
And finished the hood off with the good stuff last night.
 

 
Tonight I got the trunk clayed, polished, and sealed.  I'll move onto the passenger side, roof, and bumpers on Sunday, as tomorrow I'm detailing a friend's BMW and his wife's Acura!  I'll get better pictures once the whole car is complete.
 
Oh, and I'm already looking into the Trifecta tune, Weathertech floormats, and some winter wheels and tires, lol. As always, thanks for looking!

Well, they don't make Oldsmobiles or Pontiacs any more.  You're screwed!      
I know GM's explanation on why they ditched Pontiac and kept Buick, but I'd still rather have a Pontiac.

I use QS on wheels and exhaust, specifically due to its high heat resistance. I also use it on door jambs, under the hood...basically any painted surface that isn't the exterior of the car. Makes cleaning those areas exponentially easier.

Thanks for the confirmation!
 
Here are a couple of pictures
!

Moderator that doesn't clean his tires?!
 
Impeach!!
 
Every wash for me is a two bucket, though not as often as the car sits in garage most of the time. So every wash they get a scrub with some APC and the fender/tire brush.

Polish doesn't leave a layer of anything behind when you wipe off the residue, whereas wax and sealant will. When people say "bare paint" they mean that no other wax or sealant is on the paint before you go applying your sealant. The exception here is if you want to add a second layer of the same product when you already have one existing layer.
 
You would not seal and then polish because the polish would remove the sealant.

I finally got my behind off the couch and tried what I was suggested in this post: Only worked on 1 panel today and used alcohol/water to strip it.
 
2 bucket washed the car this afternoon (Adam's shampoo, foam gun, grit guard buckets, adam's great white towel, caterpillar type wash mitt) p.s. waiting for an adam's wash mitt to become available...
 
Relaxed for a few hours than used the following on the driver side rear door only: Adam's Waterless wash (remove dust for a 100% clean area), alcohol/water mix to strip, Adam's Clay bar, Adam's detail spray.
 
Roughly 3-4 passes of orange Swirl and Haze remover (older version) on top half of the door.
Using 5" Hex pads with PC7424XP
1 pass of Fine machine polish (older version as well)
Repeat on the bottom half of the door another 3 passes or so.
I kept looking after a pass but it wasn't enough so I kept going until I was satisfied.
 
I'd like to thank the scratch that I named Bertha, she made me swear like a sailor and made me a better polisher in the process.
 
Pictures are not bad, gives a good idea. You may have to crank the brightness of your device and use full screen to have a better look. As much as I love that paint, it is an absolute pain to take good swirls pic given there is so much metallic in it.

APC/brush every time. Whatever is all over your wheels and lower third of your car is also all over your tires - you just can't see it because they're black. And just like with trim, if you put dressing on a dirty surface you're gonna have a bad time.

My Dads wagon, he's nice enough to let me borrow it sometimes!
 

 

I agree with Adam above, unless they are making tons of serious chemicals that are harmful, for the most part I'm not too worried about what is in Rinseless Wash, Detail Spray, VRT, the Car Shampoo, or Undercarriage Spray.
 
He has a point that consumers obtaining MSDS in the open on the forums could easily be picked up by groups trying to reverse engineer their chemicals.  If you are worried about a product, why not just prove you are a repeat customer and ask for it on the QT via email or a phone call to the shop?  I'm sure they would provide it.
 
MSDS is supposed to be posted by law for lines of products that are geared towards professionals, Adam's caters toward weekend warrior consumers so I don't expect it to be posted on the website.
 
The only products out of Adam's line I would be questioning if there are any dangerous substances are the All Purpose Cleaner, or maybe the Green Wheel Cleaner or Deep Wheel Cleaner.  Undercarriage spray is flammable because of the petroleum base but I can't think of many others in the line I'd be worried about.
 
However the active ingredient in Deep Wheel Cleaner is not a known carcinogen, but it is recommended to wear gloves when using it.  As far as APC goes, I thought it was pretty Eco-friendly, some professional Meg's products have a real high acidity and I think the Adam's stuff is gentler.  For example, Meg's D108 which is on my shelf can literally eat through plastic bottles if its not HDPE, and stain trim and paint if left on too long.  Adam's APC is one of few I know of that is safe to wipe down plastic trim with, so I'm not terribly concerned, although don't get me wrong, it would be nice to know.
 
I will give it to Adam though it seems for the most part in his line many of the products are advertised as health and eco-friendly, compared to other brands.
 
 
For what its worth, anyone ever try to get MSDS from places like Chemical Guys?  They basically need an order on company letterhead for the info before they give it to someone willingly.

You hit it right on the head my friend (in bold), a true dedicated customer service person knows this is the way to keeping business and forging a good reputation.  Too often nowadays in our sales-focused career society the corporate model would have you doing the opposite (over promising) which more often than not equates to bigger customer service issues and loss of profits and customers in the long haul.
 
I always give my customers the honest truth, even if it may not be what they want to hear, if I can honestly get it done in a week I will say that, and yet I will be sure to let them know to be pleasantly surprised when I get it done sooner!  Customers do appreciate honesty and I must say Adam's is some of the most honest I've ever seen, great service culture Adam to your team keep up the good work!

I would say the foam block sizes being different might be a quality issue. All of mine are slightly different sizes, but its never really bothered me. The other two are simple changes to the process. It happens

I haven't purchased the foam blocks in quite some time , so I really can't say. But as far as the gallons and clay bars , you may not like these changes or may have preferred the previous ways better, but there really is no drop in quality of these products. At least not IMO.

Looks like it could be mold.  Especially around the gas filler door.  Some APC and agitate it with a soft brush, wash, clay, polish and then your choice of LSP!
 
Keep us posted!

You probably used too much.  VRT doesn't soak in to hard plastic as well as it does soft rubber or vinyl.  After applying to plastic I usually let it sit for a few minutes and the wipe it off with a dry towel.

Not making excuses, just merely stating what I know based on experience that these factors contribute to delays. They are working to rectify these issues as explained by Adam, but it seems they are still shorthanded. I am a volunteer here and not an employee, so the most I can do is offer my opinion on the situation.

Everyone who is ordering but saying the order isn't processed: are you basing this only on the lack of confirmation emails? My last few orders I never received emails about certain things - shipping, processing, etc., but if you go to the website and click on your account -> order history, you should see the actual status and, if it's been shipped, the tracking number. Or email/call like Nick said.
 
The website is kinda buggy, sometimes stuff happens. Not sure what's going on with that software update, but in the mean time please double-check your order status in one of the suggested manners.

Everyone who is ordering but saying the order isn't processed: are you basing this only on the lack of confirmation emails? My last few orders I never received emails about certain things - shipping, processing, etc., but if you go to the website and click on your account -> order history, you should see the actual status and, if it's been shipped, the tracking number. Or email/call like Nick said.
 
The website is kinda buggy, sometimes stuff happens. Not sure what's going on with that software update, but in the mean time please double-check your order status in one of the suggested manners.

Update: the new clay that was sent to me was nite and day difference. Super sticky yet doesn't fall apart or sticks to my hand. Thanks again to nick for taking care of me!!!!!

Heres my current work in progress...
 
Before:
 

 

 

 

 
This is after with just metal polish and not using the vinegar, salt and flower. Not much shine, still a lot of tarnish the vinegar, salt and flower make a paste and get into the deep parts where you cant get with a rag and what not. It also helps speed up the removal process...

 
After vinegar, salt flower and Metal Polish #1.
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
This is the first brass piece I ever did. Needless to say it needs to be touched up but it was terrible before.
 

Morning All,
                   This is a pretty exciting post for me as this is my first ever paint correction, I used all Adam's products with the exception of my Cyclo polisher. I managed to source a Cyclo 6CE from a local in Perth which is designed to run on our 240v power supplies in Australia, Would be sweet if it had adjustable speed like the Adam's one though!
 
After doing ALOT of reading on this forum I developed a game plan and got to work, I struggled to get good before and after photos but I think you can still see a sizeable difference! Here's how it went down over 3 days, All products used were Adams and I was pretty impressed the whole way through.
 
- Wash wheel wells, Wheels and tyres with Green Wheel Cleaner & All Purpose Cleaner
- Strip wash body with Car Shampoo and a little All Purpose Cleaner (Forgot to add the APC and had to do it again)
- Wash engine compartment down with All Purpose Cleaner
- Dry body off with Waffle Weave towel
- Clay bar entire vehicle
- Mask off any non-accessible panel gaps and badges/brightwork
- Polish by hand with Revive Polish (I don't know why I did that, But I'm sure now it was a total waste of time)
- Polish with Paint Correcting and Paint Finishing Polishes
- Apply Brilliant Glaze
- Apply Liquid Paint Sealant
- Apply Patriot Wax
 
How it started:
 

 

 

 

 
Some pics of the damage, The pictures actually flatter it quite a bit. The whole car was covered in spiderwebs as you can see from the B pillar and trunk pictures. This car was an ex-Holden demonstrator so it had ridiculously low K's, but tonnes of dealer inflicted "love" for 12 months!
 

 

 

 

 
Example of the paint clarity before
 

 
After the Clay-tastrophe
 

 

 
Masked up and ready to go
 

 
 
Post Paint correction and my camera was wigging out over the shine
 

 

 

 

 
Glaze and Liquid Paint Sealant applied, Starting to look pretty special
 

 

 

 

 

 
Remember those hammered B pillars?
 

 

 

 
Patriot is on. I don't know what my obsession was with taking pics of the trunk lol. I really regret taking these shots with such a bad camera, I'm going to have to find someone with a DSLR
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Grrrr, Where did you come from?!?!?
 

 

 

 

 

 
Shortly after we went for a drive and it rained, Beading from this stuff is insane
 

 
As you can tell by the time frame, I did encounter some problems. I was battling inclement weather which kept catching me by surprise, and I did have to repeat some steps due to lack of experience. On top of that it was my first machine polish ever, Which turned out to be an awesome but time and gear consuming learning curve. I'm looking forward to doing more now!
 
A big thanks to Joseph and the team at Adam's Aus for running around for me endlessly shipping products to the other side of the country on short notice because I was constantly changing my mind.
 
Thanks to Adam and the team in the USA for such great products and more importantly the instructional videos and this forum that provided me with the knowledge to complete this task to this level. The community here is truly great, I have never met a group of people so willing to help out and share information with each other. This truly is something special
Cheers All from your Upside Down Cousins!
Aaron
 

Rag Topp cleaner and protectant is what I use. Follow the directions!

All Purpose Cleaner (or blue Dawn), sink, hot water, thumb work-out.

If you are using a machine without forced rotation (Cyclo, PC), put a visible mark on your backing plates so you can see how fast or slow the pads are spinning. Rule of thumb is to apply enough pressure that the spinning motion is slowed to the point where it would take 2-3 seconds for a full rotation. This way you maximize the power of the dual action (rotation and oscillation). Forced rotation machines can get by with just the weight of the machine because the rotation speed is mechanically dictated by the polisher.