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Adam's Flex System: '98 Tahoe


The Ryan

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Sooo I got this new toy, some of you may have heard of it - the Flex 3401 VRG. :mail: I needed a vehicle to go to town on, I called my mother in law and asked if I could use their Tahoe for a write up.

 

Products used:

 

Wash-

Adam's Shampoo

Adam's Foam Gun

Adam's Fender Brush

Adam's Boars Hair Brush

Adam's Lugnut Brush

Adam's Jumbo Wash Pad

Adam's All Purpose Cleaner

Adam's Green Wheel Cleaner

Adam's Detail Spray

Adam's Great White Drying Towel

 

Polish-

Flex 3401 VRG

Adam's Flat Pad Kit

Adam's Severe Swirl Remover

Adam's Swirl and Haze Remover

Adam's Fine Machine Polish

 

Trim / Tires-

Adam's In & Out Spray

Adam's Super VRT

Adam's Invisible Undercarriage Spray

 

Finish-

Adam's Brilliant Glaze

Adam's Americana

 

Here's a shot of my new Adam's goodies! Sorry the SSR didn't make the shot:

 

THEMACHINE.jpg

 

And now - on to our test subject - Midnight Blue '98 Tahoe, here's the before's:

 

Rough1.jpg

rough2.jpg

rough3.jpg

rough4.jpg

 

I started in the usual fashion, All purpose cleaner to clean the tires and fender wells; green wheel cleaner to clean the wheels:

 

GWC.jpg

 

Followed with a thorough foam down:

 

foamed.jpg

 

Post wash you it was easy to tell this Tahoe has been washed with dawn for the last 12 years by the complete lack of beading during the rinse:

 

nowax.jpg

 

:willy:After the rinse I clayed the truck (and threw away the clay bar post use):

 

claybar.jpg

 

Now lets inspect the damage:help::

 

damage.jpg

damageetching.jpg

damagepost.jpg

damage1.jpg

 

Prep for a video shoot:

 

prepforpolish.jpg

prepforpolish2.jpg

 

I shot a video during this detail with Dylan on Flex Vs. PC.. (video is experiencing technical difficulties, may be lost forever :willy:) The same process was followed with each machine, SSR+Green, SHR+Orange, FMP+White, the flex knocked out the damage in no time, while the PC achieved great results, It would have taken another pass to achieve the same results the flex had already accomplished. Here is a 50/50 of the Flex vs PC, Flex on the left, PC on the right - control in the middle:

 

FLEXLEFTPCRIGHT.jpg

noswirls.jpg

 

Moving on to the very thirsty trim, SVRT and I&O made quick work of it:

 

IO.jpg

SVRT.jpg

SVRT1.jpg

plasticbeforeSVRT.jpg

dressed.jpg

UCS.jpg

 

After a coat of Brilliant Glaze, it was topped with a coat of Americana:

 

Finished.jpg

 

Dad and Claire helped with the finishing touches:

 

FinishedDadClaire.jpg

FinsihedDC1.jpg

 

Can't finish a detail without a Dylan shot - Family Style:

 

DylanShot.jpg

 

Conclusion:

 

The new SSR is a superior compound to other compounds on the market, its has a nice long working time, and finishes really well. Next go around I'm going to attempt SSR to FMP and skip the SHR to see how that combo works.

 

The Flex 3401 VRG will definitely achieve fantastic results in almost 1/2 the time as the PC especially with the addition of this fantastic SSR to the Adam's line. The Flex is more difficult to operate than a PC and requires more muscle to keep the machine steady due to its forced rotation. Pro's and Con's to everything on the market, but I'm requesting to be buried with my Flex when I die. :banana:

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Can you guys educate me on what "working time" means and why having a long working time is a good thing?

 

Thanks!

Working time means how long you can work product before it breaks down. Long working time means you can buff longer without re applying product.:2thumbs:

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Working time means how long you can work product before it breaks down. Long working time means you can buff longer without re applying product.:2thumbs:

 

ah!

 

but if I'm understanding the whole Flex thing right. we need to be careful with the flex because of how much more it cuts than the PC.

 

So just because the polish has a longer work time, doens't mean you can go to sleep with the flex?

 

yes?

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Awesome job Ryan and great write-up!

 

I have always used PowerGloss in the past, the biggest complaint I have is SHORT working time. I am excited to try the SSR because of the long working time and great results.

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Great turn around. And by the way it is a 99. I know i am a :loser:

 

You love to nail me on vehicle years don't you Jesse!

 

Great job! What's the technical difficulty with the all star video?? HD crash?

 

SNAFU in the memory stick... Working to resolve.. :xfingers:

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Ryan,

 

This looks great. One question for you. The damage to the paint looked pretty bad from the pictures best I can tell, did you get all of it out with the flex system?

 

I understand that you and AJ are alot more experienced and just wanted to know if you had to do other things like sand some areas or did you just use the flex system. The reason I ask is on the passenger side rear near the tail light and wheel well it looked like a pretty scratched up from the pictures. The results look amazing.

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Good job. I hope to one day afford the flex. Right now the Pc and ssr will do.

 

PC + SSR is a great combo with the green pad, I was really impressed with the results I got from it.

 

Ryan,

 

This looks great. One question for you. The damage to the paint looked pretty bad from the pictures best I can tell, did you get all of it out with the flex system?

 

I understand that you and AJ are alot more experienced and just wanted to know if you had to do other things like sand some areas or did you just use the flex system. The reason I ask is on the passenger side rear near the tail light and wheel well it looked like a pretty scratched up from the pictures. The results look amazing.

 

I didn't do any wet sanding at all.. The results you saw are pure flex. There were a couple scratches down into the basecoat that wont come out just due to the nature of the scratches. All of the other scuffs and scratches were easily buffed out by the flex.

 

Great job on the Tahoe but what the hell is up with the neighbors Christmas lights? Year round I take it?

 

Year round indeed, only in their backyard though - they use them as party lights..

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