K5/TBSS

Why is there a cow in an apartment complex parking lot? lol

congrats man, great job. that looks like its near 2 brothers bbq?

Doubtful... Lol this was in Coffeyville, KS - my hometown. The car show/motorcycle poker run served as a memorial for my best friend's uncle, who just recently passed away.

It was kind of cool though, the guy had a couple old cars that he took to shows, rode a Harley, and was a fire fighter. So at one point; the "memorial" was all the bikes & cars revving their engines and fire truck sirens going off for a full minute. Definitely gave me some chills!

On another note - are you going to be at Andrew's detail clinic this Saturday?

Thanks guys!

Wow your windows are dark. The truck looks great. I'm liking the hood too.

Haha thanks Andrew. Yeah, the rear windows have been tinted over the stock tint. It was like that when I bought it. I'm pretty sure the percentage is in the single digits... It looks good in my opinion, but if I had my choice it'd be gone. It's difficult to see backing up, especially at night.

Glass cleaner is by far my favorite product. Maybe it's the towel that helps, but I've never used a glass cleaner that's so easy to use, and so easy to prevent streaks. Awesome stuff.

Hey guys... Car show was this past Saturday. It was a pretty small turn out, only had 33 cars, and mine was the only one from this century... lol. There were 3 other vehicles in my class though (1990-present, modified class) and I won 1st place!!! First out of 4 is still first place (And yes, the dope Ranger next to mine was one of them..)

Overall it was a very fun experience! It's a little unnerving watching people getting close enough to look in your windows, but I got used to it. Got TONS of compliments on the paint... Especially once the sun came out and showed the actual condition of the paint.

The judges came by and were very complimentary. Like I said, I had the newest vehicle there by far, and was also probably the youngest kid, but they complimented me on entering, and said they wished more young people would get involved around here.

A few pics... This was when vehicles were still pulling in.

GF took a few while I wiped down with WW...

Need... More... Pics... of Mook's TBSS...

Man how were you able to make the lettering on your hex grips so perfect? Mine look horrible!

Nice job. But if my wife's car is ever "dreaded" for being that "dirty", I'll be alright... lol

Looks good Andrew... Can't wait for the clinic in a couple weeks!

Thanks guys! I just placed a small order for some new towels/applicators and my first bottle of Waterless Wash; I didn't have any. I'll post some pics after the show!

Isn't it best not to apply Brilliant glaze on top of Americana? Americana is usually my top coat; so would I have any issues if I apply Glaze once I get to the show?

Hey guys,

I'm registered in my first car show next Saturday, the 13th. It's part of a benefit for my best friend's uncle, who has cancer. I'm not going to win, just for the experience of my first show (as a contestant) and of course the good cause.

My question is - what's the best products, and order of products to use once I get there? I plan on finishing my paint correction this coming saturday, sealant, glaze, americana. What do I need to do before the show starts though? I may wash the SS again before the show itself. But what do most of you do once you pull up and are set? A simple detail spray wipe down, or do you do another coat of glaze? Or Americana?

Thanks for the help! Pics to follow!!!

Will the brush that you use to remove gunk from the polishing pads work?

I only have one wash pad, so I have to use the same pad for the whole car. However I do always wash the entire top half of the car before I move to the lower section. Perhaps I'll start using the Merino on the upper part of the car, and the regular wash pad on the lower part...

Once the car is done I rinse out the wash pad on the grit guard, just as Adam does in his videos. I'll see if I can find some sort of brush to clean and frill it with also, that's the first time I've heard that tip. Thanks guys!

Easy answer...

- If you are using the normal wash pads - that's your problem. After a few washes they become rougher and create swirls. This is probably only noticed on highly maintained dark colored vehicles like yours and mine. I no longer use them and instead use the merino wool mitt. Problem fixed. If you insist on using the normal wash mitts, be prepared to change them often and retire the old pad to wheel or undercarriage duty.

 

Now to the reality of the situation - you will always create light swirls over time no matter how careful or how premium the product is...

All you can do is limit the damage and plan to correct it once or twice a year depending on your own desires.

That might be my issue... I actually do have the merino mitt, but actually prefer the regular wash pads in most cases. I've only used the regular pads half a dozen times, but if it does become rough I will switch back to the merino and see if I get a difference in the results...

I do realize you create a small amount of swirls each wash, no matter how much care you take in keeping your mit clean, but I think what I'm getting now is excessive. Thanks for the tip!

Is it possible that you have some dirt/junk in your drying towel(s)?

I don't think so. I can see the swirls I'm creating before I start drying.

Pics would help. Are you claying? Two bucket, with steps as follows?:

 

1) Wash pad in soap bucket

2) Onto car, flipping as needed, not more than one panel at a time

3) Off car into rinse

4) wring oot in rinse bucket

5) back into soap bucket

6) repeat...

That's the exactly procedure I use... Is it possible to wash the mit afterwards in say the washer/dryer? Perhaps there's something in the pad that I don't get out from rinsing against the grit guard, with the water hose?

So this is a newb question - but for the life of me I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong...

Ever since I bought my new wash pad... I've had an issue with creating swirls as I'm washing. They aren't so much "swirls", as in a tightly wrapped circle, as they are longer sweeping swirl marks that exactly replicate how I wash the car...

I have plenty of suds, I always powerwash beforehand to remove most of the dirt, thus the car is also always wet, I USUALLY don't wash in the direct sunlight, and I think I go back to the bucket enough to rinse, and use a 2 bucket system.

So my question is, what am I doing wrong? Is my pad not getting clean enough? I always rinse out the pad after washing, using the grit guard technique Adam uses in his videos. I store them on top of the grit guard in the wash bucket with the lid on (but not sealed) once the pad dries.

Let me know if you have any advice... Thanks!

I usually would agree... It rained that morning though, I went on my lunch break

I had a PDR guy pull one out of my truck last week... The truck was a little dirty and the first thing the guy did when he saw the dent was wipe the road grime away from the dent using his hand!!! I yelled once I realized once he was doing, but the damage had already been done. He couldn't figure out what the big deal was...

I almost asked for him to fix it, but decided I'd rather do it myself. Point of the story is, any type of body man, mechanic, or PDR guy can damage your paint, and it's especially noticable if your paint is perfect.

/end rant

Maybe a newb question - but wouldn't the holes in that bumper completely destroy that pad in no time?

Truck looks awesome!!!

I tried this for the first time Wednesday night. It definitely does add a brightening factor.

Haha... Hopefully tonight I can get some good ones!

When I was still in college and gas hit $4 a gallon... I traded in my gas guzzlin' Yukon for a Maxima that was 2 years newer but more importantly, doubled my gas mileage! Once I got out of school I bought my TBSS, and this thing sees the DD obligations, and doesn't get near the attention that it should. Keep in mind this thing is 16 years old and has 235,000 miles on it... Now that I have my PC I decided to get it freshened up a little bit - especially since the weather is getting nicer. Here's what I started with:

This is some clear chipping off the rear quarter panel. This panel was repainted & cleared about 4 years ago, now the clear is peeling... Ideas here would be welcome... Ha.

Most of you will hate me for letting this bird bomb get so bad...

After Clay bar...

I didn't take any in depth pics of the paint as it was 11:30 on a Wednesday night when I finished... But here's the result...

Thanks for looking!

Take a piece of plywood and cut it to size and put 3" holes in it with a hole saw

I just purchased the PC, and I do kind of wish I got the Flex. However I'm a near beginner with machine polishing so I'm glad I started "small". I just purchased the 4" pads and backing plate for the PC, I can definitely see how those will be useful to get into tight spaces.

Once I "outgrow" the PC, I'll either buy the Flex outright and keep the PC for tight spots, or sell my PC for ~$50 less than I bought it. I think that's a pretty reasonable cost for the knowledge and practice it's given me...