gdwenger

That's the benefit of the boom. Swing it down and and its gets lower then the rocker panels. Also very handy for extending over the hood and pointing straight down

Lift saves a lot of bending doing the lower body panels.

Anyone know what's going on with the SCG forums? There hasn't been a post since mid November. (He asks sarcastically)

I drive this car 76 miles to work round trip about 3-4 times a week.  The paint is in really good shape except for the orange peel, but I haven't seen one of these that doesn't have that problem.  
 
I started out by removing all four of the wheels and using Deep Wheel Cleaner to get the majority of the brake dust off the inside of the barrels.   I scrubbed the barrels using the wheel woolies, my Adam's NEW Wheel Woolie won't be here until Thursday.  After I scrubbed the barrels I used All Purpose Cleaner to help get the road tar off from all these nice asphalt roads here in MO.  The Trim & Lug Nut Brush came in handy when cleaning the brake dust out of the little crevices on the inside of the wheel.  I then used Green Wheel Cleaner  to help clean up the front of the wheels, since they are normally very clean.  I topped the wheels off by using Quick Sealant to help make maintaining a lot easier.



I finished up the wheels with a spritz of Detail Spray from my awesome Kwazar and some Tire Shine applied with a Super Block Dressing Applicator.
After doing the wheels I pulled the car out of the garage and did a strip wash with Car Wash Shampoo, All Purpose Cleaner, and one ounce of Rinseless Car Wash to help soften the water.  


 
After doing a pool rinse I pulled the car back into the garage to use Adam's Clay Bar to get rid of any contamination.  

 
Cleaned up and dried the car using the Sidekick Dryer and Microfiber Waterless Towels.  
 
I then followed Adam's suggestion and used Brilliant Glaze applied by hand followed by Liquid Paint Sealant applied with my Rupes Duetto.  Those things really make the paint pop and I just love a black car when it is all cleaned up!



 
I will be applying Adam's Americana this week if the rain lets up eventually.  
I couldn't get any great full car pics outside as it has been raining the last two days.  Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated guys.  Thank you to Gdwenger for helping me out with some of the products.
 
Finally able to get some full pics taken of the car.  This is with Brilliant Glaze, Liquid Paint Sealant and Americana Premium Carnauba Paste Car Wax.



 

My mom hasn't purchased a new car in over 15 years.  She made the 7 hour drive up this weekend for our daughter's second birthday and I decided to clean it up before the ride home.  The car was actually in good since the dealer doesn't wash the vehicle when serviced.  
 

 

 

 

 
I started off by cleaning the wheels and tires with Deep Wheel Cleaner, All Purpose Cleaner and the Trim & Lug Nut Brush.  I also used the old wheel woolie combo.  The wheels don't get that dirty since they are equipped with a brake dust barrier, but the tires were filthy.  
 

 
Here is the tire getting worked over with the cleaner.

 
The engine bay was exceptionally dirty as it hasn't been cleaned in over six months.  I sprayed everything with Rinseless Car Wash diluted to waterless wash and used some old microfiber to give it a good scrubbing.  After drying the bay I coated everything I could with Super VRT Tire & Trim Dressing and a milk version since I don't have any In and Out Spray,
 
Before:

After:

 
The bugs were sprayed with diluted Rinseless Car Wash to soften them before the wash.
 
I used a mixture of Car Wash Shampoo, All Purpose Cleaner, and Rinseless Car Wash in my foam gun to strip anything that might be left from the original delivery and to soften the water.

 
After letting it soak for a while and finishing up getting my bucket with Grit Guard Insert and Professional Car Wash Pad.  I gave the car a good scrubbing from top to bottom.  I was able to get the majority of bugs with a light pad pass, but had to break out the Detailing Clay Combo to get the ones that were baked on from sitting in the Texas and Missouri sun.  I clayed the hood, front bumper, windshield and roof.  The rest of the car was still good to go.


As you can see from the clay of the hood wasn't in horrible shape.

After finishing up with the wash and claying I broke out the Blaster Sidekick Dryer by MetroVac and Detail Spray to help avoid water spots and to give it a great finish.
 
After getting the drying process finished up I then went over the car with Quick Sealant using the Microfiber Applicator Pads to spread everything around evenly.  
 
Cleaned up all of the windows with Microfiber Glass Cleaning Towels and Adam's Glass Cleaner so that she would have streak free and invisible glass on the car ride home tomorrow.  I treated the windows with Glass Sealant.  
 
I went over the tires with the New Tire Shine which I have started to really like.  I was always a big fan of Super VRT Tire & Trim Dressing, but I may be switching over.  The trim on the car was treated with VRT also to help protect and give it that excellent natural sheen.


 
I hope you like how the car turned out and I plan on giving it a proper correction when I have more time and make a trip home to Dallas with all of my supplies.
 
 
   

Shipped to RedBull
 
3/4 gallon of Undercarriage Spray FREE (you need to cover $17.50 shipping cost)

I would suggest changing to a smaller backing plate than and use a 4" orange microfiber with the SSR. Or even going with the drill option

Shouldn't they be planning for those events and have appropriate coverage in their office?  Sounds like a lot of excuses to me.

I'm new to Adam's but I had the most amazon customer experience of my life today. I wrote a blog article about it which I'll paste here for convienience:
 
Amazing Customer Experience
 
I just had the best customer service experience of my life. Seriously, this was one of those moments that you read about that sounds like someone made it up. I just had to write about this because it is so full of business lessons regardless of your business model.
 
First a little background. I bought a new car last month and proceeded to do a little research on how to best take care of it. Those of you who know me, know I’m a little particular about my car. This started years ago when I was a consultant in Southern California and I spent way too much time driving to clients all over SoCal. When you spend that much time in a space, it might as well be enjoyable, right? So since then I have been pretty particular about the interior of my car. I did some web searches and found that there is a whole tribe of car neat freaks like me and a lot of them were raving about products from Adam’s Polishes. This past weekend I spent way too much time reading forum posts, watching the great instructional video’s they produce, and making a shopping list.
 
Adam’s is right in my backyard here in Colorado. I stopped by there this morning on my way home from a meeting just on a whim. When I walked into the shop, I saw the owner Adam Pitale on the phone in the office  (I recognized him from the videos). While I was picking the products from my shopping list off the shelves, Adam leans over covering the phone and says, “hold on a minute, I want to hang out with you”. I’m thinking, this is really cool, who else could answer my questions better!
 
I told Adam all about my new car and its mixture of leather, faux leather, plastic, etc. and what I thought I needed to take care of it. He’s listened and nodded, and sometimes made alternative suggestions. Finally he says, “wait a minute, I’ll be right back.” He comes back with a bottle of some green potion they have just whipped up. He tells me it is a new formula they are trying out, that is better than the old stuff and that I can replace all the other products I was going to use. Hold the phone… This guy just gave me a prototype product and talked me out of buying two others!
 
Then he said, “have you been here before, have you had the tour?” Now I’m really curious. I say no and he takes me into the shop showing me around talking about the workflow, and introducing me to a few people working there. He tells me seven of the staff are out helping setup a new distribution center in Nevada and they are short handed today. They are short handed and he’s taking the time to show me around and answer my questions. This is different.
 
So at this point I’m thinking, I really like this guy and I’m totally impressed with the customer experience I am having. I ask Adam about how they do all the chemistry. He tells me he’s not a chemist, he’s a detailer who started in his teens, but that they have a lot of chemists they work with. Adam uses the products they make everyday himself (dog fooding). On his own car and as far as I can tell, on any car he can get his hands on, because before I know it, we are standing in front of my car in the parking lot! Adam is describing all the great properties of the new super green stuff he gave me and he is personally showing me how to use the product on my car.
 
He tells me that chemists are typically constrained by price. Their other customers want to hit a certain price point and they do they best they can to create the properties the customer wants at that price point. Adam uses different parameters. He tells the chemist the properties he wants in the product (easier to apply, works well in the sun, UV protection, etc.) and then says he wants the best formula they can make regardless of cost. He and his team use that formula and assess how well it meets the criteria they had for the product, then go back to the chemist with comments and requests to make changes to improve whatever is not up to their standards. It’s like iterative development for car care chemicals. There is even the equivalent of a beta testing phase with customers like me. I’m not the only one getting pre-released product to try and customer feedback is more grist for the mill.
 
They also do competitive analysis as well. If a customer says they really like product ABC, then Adam buys some ABC and uses it just like a customer would. He makes his own assessment of the properties he thinks are important and if he finds that the equivalent Adam’s product is in second place, then his product is going to be redeveloped. Adam tells me that second place is not acceptable and that the famous 110% guarantee would quickly financially kill them if they had a second place product that customers wanted their money back on. So the man puts his money where his mouth is.
 
I can tell from the forums that Adam’s is constantly replacing and upgrading products. People seem to be wondering why they keep changing stuff that is already amazing and I now know the answer.They are always looking for ways to make things easier, faster, and better regardless of whether anyone else thinks they are great as is.They have a relentless passion for excellence at Adam’s.
 
Adam listens to me talk about my plan for the exterior paint and convinces me that a combination of two of their products will be totally sufficient for what I am trying to accomplish versus the 5 products I thought I was going to need to use. Again, he’s listening to customer requirements and using his considerable experience to save me time and money. I really like this guy, can you tell?
 
Want to kick it up another level? Adam always does. They are out-of-stock for a particular applicator I want, so Adam gives me his card and says, “call me next week, and when they are in I’ll bring one by your house!” I’m never going to take him up on that offer both because it is way too generous, and because I really want to come back!
 
When I asked who the typical customers are, Adam told me they have 83,000 customers in their database and most of them are people like me who want to take care of their cars but don’t have a lot of time on their hands. I was expecting a bunch of professional detailers and exotic car collectors but apparently they make up only about 1%. So he knows his customer, and builds products for their needs.
 
So you have to wonder why Adam does it. I can only speculate, but he seems to genuinely love talking to customers and he obviously understands the incredible value this kind of customer service creates. This is clearly cultural at Adam’s, not some infrequent event. It was remarkable enough for me to take the time to write about it and share it with my readers and friends.
 
I will no doubt use the story over and over again in my work.Imagine the marketing leverage created by word-of-mouth referrals through that kind of amazing customer service. I’m not saying that every one of those 83,000 customers got the same royal treatment by the man himself, but he didn’t know me from Adam (sorry, I couldn’t resist that pun) and yet he dropped everything on a busy day and did everything he could to create an incredible customer experience. People on the Adam’s Forums rave about hundreds of other ways the crew at Adam’s went way beyond just making great products. Can you imagine what the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is for Adam’s customers? I’m guessing it’s a pretty big number.
 
I’m thrilled to be customer 83,001 and I doubt if any other company making car care chemicals could ever win my business away.
 
Thanks Adam, you made my day.

As a detail enthusiast I'm finding that the Cyclo offers the same correction capabilities as a Flex it just takes a little longer. And for me it's a more enjoyable tool to use. Another added benefit is you can quickly swap the pad from your Cyclo to a PC or drill to handle a tighter or problem area.
 

I agree with Jason.  Sometimes its not the product, but the person trying to use it.  When used properly, Adams products work almost flawlessly.

With a writable area for what product is in it

+1

Gary Wenger USN USS FDR CVA42 & USS Simon Lake AS33 (1966-1970)

Gary Wenger USN USS FDR CVA42 & USS Simon Lake AS33 (1966-1970)

Coal delivery for home heating
Carbon paper for making copies

Do you have a detailing related question?  Are you looking for technical advice?  Do you have a question about an Adam's Premium Car Care Product, or how to use it?   Looking for a Recommended Detailer in your area if you aren't in Colorado?  Looking to get an Estimate to have Your Vehicle Detailed at The Adam's Detailing Studio?
 
THAT'S GREAT!  You are in the right place!  I will do my best to respond in a very timely manner!
 
 
Thank You,
Mook@Adams

This will drive OCD people nuts when they have these new jugs sitting next to the old ones on a shelf.

Lift saves a lot of bending doing the lower body panels.

Good idea Jae, I just might have to try that out. Thanks for posting this.
 
Maybe Adam's could come up with there own inventory app so it could tell us when we are getting low on product and maybe have the web site built in to re-order product.