Luken10

Where did you find a "Texas Silverado" branded mirror? Looks fantastic!

I have done some research on them before. Seems to me like the cleaning process goes much faster with a tool like that. The only thing I would be worried about is getting the liquid cleaner into cracks and crevices it really shouldn't be in. Especially all the electronics in cars today.

I am sure it depends on your exact conditions, but for me it is an absolute worst case scenario. Black paint in the direct sun becomes too hot to even touch. My polishes will just cake up and dust leaving me in fits of rage! I have never been able to successfully do it, but that is just me. I also have only done black cars, so that is another factor. I am a bit bitter about it because to this day there are some spots I see where I can't tell if it is a chip in the paint or just dried on polish. That stuff is impossible to remove!

I decided to test the Opti-Coat product on my car a couple weekends ago. Wetsanded and then buffed my trunk lid to perfection. Applied the Opti-Coat on one side, and brilliant glaze / Americana on the other. I asked a few people which side looked better, and it was always (almost instantaneously) the Adamized side. I personally didn't want to believe it since I really wanted to utilize the extra hardness for those fine swirls on a daily driver. But, at the same time, if I know my paint can look even better I do not want to settle for less. To me the the waxed side just looked deeper and wetter. Not to say the Opti-Coated side didn't look amazing, I did damn fine job at polishing. It was just lacking what the other side had.

I will have to try putting brilliant glaze and Americana on the Opti-Coat to see how that looks. However, even if it does end up looking the same, I know I will probably have to reapply every week because of the properties of Opt-Coat. I'm not sure if that is worth my time and money.

Also, as for water beading. I could not tell a difference at all. Misting, sheet rinse, dew on the car in the morning, it all looked and performed exactly the same on each side. I know the Opti-Coat is going to last a whole lot longer, but for some reason I was expecting more "magic" to happen. Oh well!

I made the mistake of unknowingly using the edge lock tape on some rubber trim and plastic that was over 15 years old. Finished polishing, started peeling off the tape, and the rubber/plastic just peeled right up! Obviously just a very thin layer, but still did the whole splotchy number on it. Hopefully I will never make that mistake again.

I always forget to wax of seal them.

Heck, sometimes I forget to wash them!

I have read that IPA has little to no lubrication, hence the 50/50 water mix. However, sometimes i feel like when the polish is being too stubborn, wiping down with the IPA solution can still cause the lightest of micro-marring. Has anyone tried adding waterless wash to their IPA solution? I know there are other products that have a wipe down IPA formula with extra lubrication. But, who needs that if I can make my own with Adams!

Also I have read that IPA can dull the finish after polishing. Does anyone know if there is any truth to that claim?

The guys at my local detailing store told me to use distilled water instead of detail spray. I had a problem with the polish caking up with detail spray. I definitely could just be using too much, but that was their suggestion. Haven't tried it yet though.

Is 1800 psi too much pressure for a car? I think that most car washes are 1400 psi.

Just a thought.......

I have an 1800 psi Greenworks electric pressure washer from Lowes. I think you will be fine. It won't do anything to the paint on your car, even from a few inches away with the 40 degree nozzle. Just try to not focus on any cracks or rock chips. Even then though it took the 0 degree nozzle to take the paint off a buddies spray painted hub caps.

Just as a tip, try to use as little pressure as possible when removing polish or wax. Sometimes the Adam's towels will give you a feeling of false security. You think they can do no harm because of how amazingly soft they are, but with enough pressure anything is possible. Pressing to hard while removing product will almost positively introduce the "fine scratches" you are talking about, at least from my experience.

If you do have to do it in direct sunlight there are a couple things you can do to help make the most out of it. I am found that a foam gun in absolutely necessary. Keeping the whole car covered in soap while you are washing helps keep the water spots away. You have to keep spraying the suds on it while you are washing, which definitely takes extra time and effort, but I find it to work well. When it comes down to hosing down the soap off the car make sure you keep soaking the spots you have already sprayed. So say you just hosed off the top and are now going on to the side make sure you keep the top wet. It will help keep the panels cooler and stop water spots from forming as quickly. As for drying you can definitely do the "sheeting technique" if you are quick enough at it. If not make sure you have a couple towels ready and be ready to hustle! Get the bulk of it dried, and there will be minimal water spots. A little detail spray wipe will help with those. But then again I have had trouble with the detail spray in direct sunlight.

So will your car be perfect when you are done? No. But it will definitely look better than if you had not washed it. Definitely a whole lot more effort than washing early in the morning or late at night.

Has it been hot 'round there? Heat will degrade carnauba waxes fairly quickly.

That is good to know! You just gave me a reason to bust out the Americana more often.

Yeah, it definitely gets very hot. Especially the non covered metal areas.

1996 Impala SS... keep in mind I turned 16 in 1996 so this would have been brand new at the time too, only year with the floor shifter. I was enthralled with the imp... but sadly being a HS kid and having to save up the money by working after school to buy my first car a brand new V8 powered sedan was not realistic, it took me all summer to scrape together $3500... I was a long ways off from getting my dream car at 16.

Definitely had a love for cars my entire life, but given that I am only 18 I have many more years to come! For all of you who like the Impala B-Bodies the picture below is what I currently drive. Stunning car, and I love it regardless of its age. Well, minus the gas mileage I get from the 383 stroker.

As for my dream car I have always had a thing for Porches. I know this is the latest model, and I am technically not 16, but the new 911 is an absolutely incredible machine. Definitely a great motivator for being financially successful in life!

I too have had problems with the swirls coming back much too soon. It is a daily driver, black car, and stays outside 100% of the time. Basically the worst combination ever! Unless it's dark outside, then it looks fantastic regardless of the swirls. But I tend to get super fine swirl marks after I wash my car unless I am absolutely perfect with my technique. So basically I try and wash it once a week, and I use a California Car Duster once or twice a day. If I keep up with the dusting I find that there is little to no damage to the clear coat. If I miss a day I won't use it because too much dust builds up for a light dusting.

I have found that Brilliant Glaze and Americana are my best friends in this situation. They do a great job of masking up the super fine swirls that show up after a few washes. I would like to hope with more practice and experience things will become easier to do, but maybe it is just one of those things in life that you really have to put in the extra effort to get the results you want.

As a side question. In my wash routine I find that my water faucet doesn't give as much water pressure as I would like. I don't have an Adams fire hose nozzle, but I was wondering if buying an electric pressure washer is a better move. Given that the nozzle and on/off valve are $70, is it worth it to just spend a little extra money and get even more water pressure? Would the electric power washer be able knock off a considerable amount more dirt than the fire hose nozzle to stop more swirls from forming?

Hey Nick, this exact same thing happened to me about 6 months ago. Took my time and polished the car for 3 days, and my car (also black) was immaculate. All 3 polishes, MSS, Brilliant Glaze and Americana. About a week and a half later I decided to give it a wash. Knowing that just about everything can cause swirls I took every precaution in the book. I used extra shampoo, new wash mits, even bought a foam gun too. As I am washing the car I began to notice extremely fine markings from the right angles in the sun. Needless to say I was becoming irate very quickly! I had noticed the same thing while washing my car after a much quicker and less thorough detail a few months before that. Back then I figured I just hadn't gotten everything out, or it could of possibly been the way I was drying.

One thing that I wonder about is if the wax can be a contributing factor to swirls. Is it possible that wax put on too thick is more susceptible to minor swirls? I say this because even after drying the car, and going around it with a double soft I found that even touching the car with the towel caused minor swirls in the direction I would wipe the towel. Brand new towel at the time, with a perfectly clean car. So I decide to throw another layer of Brilliant Glaze and Americana on. After wiping everything down all of the swirls were gone and the car looked perfect again. Well, until the next wash at least, which brought back the same exact thing.

Honestly I am still not sure exactly how much wax to use. My theory is that the layer of wax is much softer than the clear coat and could possibly leave these extremely minute swirls on the car, but are only present in the layer of wax?

According to the way Nick was describing his problem, I am fairly certain we have the same type of thing going on. For me it is only at certain angles with the sun shining on it. Honestly they are hardly noticeable, but I think all of us here want to have that absolute perfect shine!

When the neighbor's gardeners decide to leaf blow dirt and junk all over my car. They simply do not care!

Anyone ever tried something like this on their Master Blaster or leaf blower?

Seems kind of gimmicky to be honest.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBkAT2APyyM&feature=related]Dry Car After Washing-Powder Dry Auto Air Squeegee - YouTube[/ame]

Is it just me or does it almost look fake when he gets hit by the car? On the moment of impact he is instantaneously flipped upside down. Definitely very scary though, that car was not paying any attention to what was in front of him.

Dylan I noticed you did this during overcast weather. Do you change your technique at all when working in the sun? I am from So Cal too, and it is almost impossible to get a good wash when the sun is beating down on the car. It may not be as nice outside when it's overcast, but it sure makes a world of difference when I am washing my car!

Finally got some rain in SoCal about a week ago. Looks like MSS and Americana are doing their job nicely.

I still see that a minimal amount of damage remains. All of that was definitely not going to come out. The best you can hope for is somewhat of a save. You didn't go through the clear coat on any spots did you? Those edges are very easy to strike through.

From my inspection I didn't notice any areas that were struck through. I was very careful on the edges on because of how easy it is to go through the clear. It also gets the most abuse when working around it. There is definitely minor damage left, but for my buddy it is 100% better. I Kind of wanted to see how much sanding it took to go through the clear since he wouldn't of cared, but I figured I would stay on the careful side and know my limits! Thanks for the compliments everyone!

Hey guys here is the wet sanding trial I did. Started with 2500 and then 3000 grit. It's quite painful to see the car so dull after sanding it. My buddies who were watching though his car was a goner once they saw the sandpaper damage. However SSHR and the green focus pad did an amazing job of making everything look good again. I didn't follow up with SHR and MP because of time, but I think it still came out pretty great!

Thanks for all of the input guys! A.J. I watched your wet sanding videos, they are a great way to clarify everything, thanks for taking the time to do that. A couple questions though. On the one scratch you were saying that your fingernail "barely" caught it. In words (I know it's kind of hard) how would you describe "barely" for that scratch. I probably won't attempt anything that I can physically feel, but it is still good to know. Also how much clear coat do you think you removed with the process you used? I can definitely see how fast it works, and how quickly it could go wrong.

I am going to try it on my buddies car tomorrow so wish me luck! I'll take some pictures and post them when I'm done. If I mess up the story is I was doing it for educational purposes on how NOT to do it.

If you don't have a good paint thickness gauge, I wouldn't even TRY messing with it if I were you OP. You don't learn how to do this on a car you actually CARE about.

I've got a buddies car I am going to try it out on this weekend. It's a decent looking 2003 corolla and now matter how hard I try to have him take care of it he simply just does not care AT ALL. So I always try stuff out on it first, and in return his car gets to look better!

But my plan is to still be super careful on it, but if I make any mistakes I will know for next time. Plus he has original paint vs my aftermarket job. So as long as I don't do any more to my car than I did to his car I should be fine right?