Bull

I wish I knew that guys on here were looking for USA-made hand tools. On another forum I am on, for tools and garages, there are quite a few of us who puruse and promote USA-made tools. Harry J. Epstein is a great online vendor for USA tools. They are a family-run hardware store in Kansas City that has an online store and are GREAT to deal with. They even do custom box art by request on your packages, so you can appease your wife or SO when yet another box shows up for you. maybe I'll start a thread about them in this scetion. With respect to pliers, Wilde makes some excellent products and are committed to USA manufacturing and jobs. HJE has great prices on their stuff. We just had a group buy for their products, as a matter of fact. Here are some box art images: Here is a link to Epstein's: Wholesale Industrial American Hand Tool Distributor - Harry J. Epstein Co. I think they are revamping their site soon.

I spend nearly 100% of my time on a garage and tool forum that also has sections for other things. I really enjoy the results of detailing cars, but the fact that it takes me SO LONG to do one and the fact that there seem to be detailing ninjas out there makes me feel sort of like I will never become really good at it. Otherwise, I'd spend more time here learning. I probably should, anyway. Thank you. Yes, kids really take a heck of a lot of time. They are what life is about in my mind, but I do have to sacrifice the kinds of projects that I once could undertake when single or childless. It probbaly takes me more than a dozen hours to wash, clay bar, polish, wax, vacuum, condition, and dress a car. That kind of time does not exist for me anymore! lol Thank you. The Impala is my dad's so I'm a bit jealous, too. I just picked up the wagon in the fall; I had wanted one for a very long time. I really like the combo of the wood, dark cherry metallic paint, and the burgundy leather interior. Thank you. I'm about thirty-five minutes north of Springfield.

Oh, wow. I never realized that I didn't post a single update pic for this project. Shameful. Here is what the car looked like before. And here is what it looked like after I went after it with all my amateur ability. And you know what, I haven't detailed a car since. A baby born, a baby on the way, and all kinds of projects to get my old house into shape left my family's cars neglected. But, this spring I want to detail this: I thought about this site and these products as I plan the prettification of that wagon. I also was reminded of Adam's because I am a moderator on a large garage and tool forum. We have put together a few different events on our forum to support family-owned companies that pride themselves on American products and labor. Someone recently mentioned Adam's. So, I want to spend some time reading the product reviews and corresponding with folks to see about the USA philosophy and offerings. I hope to be able to generate enthusiasm on our site for an April purchasing event because, heck, April seems like a good month to detail a car.

This is all very helpful info which is helping me to plan this out. How long do you guys spend on a tired old car to get it back into shape? It seems kind of overwhelming in terms of the time commitment. I like that detail trial pack. How far does 4oz of product go?

Hey, there you are! I brought the Impala to my house tonight. I have my work cut out from me, and am trying to calculate how many hours this is going to take. The last time I clayed a car by hand, it seemed to take a LONG time! Here's a question: what should I use for a neglected interior? I am grabbing the salt-based carpet cleaner from here, and I have some leather cleaner for the seats. But what about the door panels and dash, where years of dirt and grime have been ground into all the crevices? And, for the engine, is it a simple matter of Simple Green soak, scrub, and rinse?

Hi Folks, Someone on here who is also a member of garagejournal.com directed me to the site very enthusiastically a few weeks ago. I have been planning on getting my father's '96 Impala SS looking better for him, but between a baby and a bunch of house and yard projects, it hasn't happened yet. But, my summer vacation is winding down, so I need to get moving. My dad mentioned that he was going to wash and wax his car this weekend, so now I have to intervene and make sure that doesn't happen. He does a pretty poor job. I don't have pictures yet, but when I take the car from my dad I will snap some. He loves the car, which he bought new, but he is not so good (ok, he's terrible) about taking care of it. Therefore, despite having only 50k miles, it is looking pretty worn out. I need to watch money a little bit, but am looking at grabbing the orange and white pads from here for my Porter Cable, a bottle of the swirl and haze remover as well as the fine polish, and maybe a bottle of the salt-based carpet cleaner. I don't expect nor do I have the time or skill to work a miracle on the car, but I know I can get it looking pretty nice for my pops. One thing I'm not sure about are the wheels. They are sad. The clear is damaged in places, from neglect I assume. I want to get them as clean as possible and shine them up a bit so they are least don't look so bad. Enough rambling for now. I will be back with some pics as soon as I get the car in my possession. Dave