About to take the step forward...need some pointers

[Coderedpl]

Hi all,

 

I could use some pointers as I'm planning to get something in the next day. Read about the differences between the flex and pc and I do own a black car which does have some pretty harsh swirl marks. I used to be a big fan of Meguiars products but I have decided it's time to get into something more serious / professional with proven positive results. I'm planning to take a big leap face first and hopefully the products I have from Meguiars will sell, if not I'll just have to used them up somewhere, somehow lol.

 

Since that thought came through I decided to get some stuff from Detailers Domain. So I ended up getting their Full Wheel Kit and I have some other random crap from other companies which I have too much of to just get rid of it.

 

So I'm planning to get the following items from Adams as a start:

Adam's In & Out Spray Dressing

Adam's VRT

Adam's Perfect Interior Kit

 

& The biggest of them all:

Adam's Complete Flex XC3401VRG Polisher Kit

 

This one also seems like a good "touch-up"

Adam's Waterless Car Wash

 

Do you guys think these are good choices?

 

 

& also a question:

If I'm understanding correctly the proper steps after the obvious washing and claying would be: Either Severe swirl remover, or swirl & haze remover depending on how bad areas are, then fine machine polish, and then the wax?

 

I do have the Meguiars g110v2 which I believe I will keep, is it ok to apply the buttery wax with that?

 

Any other comments? Suggestions?

Edited June 18, 2011 by Coderedpl

[LDM]

I bought the Complete Flex kit myself, and think that it's great. The Perfect Interior Kit will cover all of your inside needs, and the SVRT and In & Out Spray are simply amazing. So to answer your question, yes, those are good choices. I like the Waterless Wash too, and just finished off my first gallon. Second to All Purpose Cleaner, that's the product I go through the most.

 

It seems you understand the polishing steps properly: Severe Swirl Remover (if needed), then Swirl & Haze Remover, and finally Fine Machine Polish before wax. While I suppose you could apply Buttery with the G110v2 as you could with a PC, there is absolutely no need to. Buttery Wax is so fast and easy to apply by hand, that bringing a machine in for that step just over complicates things. If you eventually buy Adam's Machine SuperWax you could use your G110v2 to apply that.

 

Since you said you have a black car, you may want to check out Adam's Premium Shine Kit. The Brilliant Glaze/Americana Wax combo seems to create the ultimate shine on black. It's not cheap, especially since you're already spending a bunch on the other things, but maybe something to consider for your next order. Or buy now and get 15% off...

[Coderedpl]

I bought the Complete Flex kit myself, and think that it's great. The Perfect Interior Kit will cover all of your inside needs, and the SVRT and In & Out Spray are simply amazing. So to answer your question, yes, those are good choices. I like the Waterless Wash too, and just finished off my first gallon. Second to All Purpose Cleaner, that's the product I go through the most.

 

It seems you understand the polishing steps properly: Severe Swirl Remover (if needed), then Swirl & Haze Remover, and finally Fine Machine Polish before wax. While I suppose you could apply Buttery with the G110v2 as you could with a PC, there is absolutely no need to. Buttery Wax is so fast and easy to apply by hand, that bringing a machine in for that step just over complicates things. If you eventually buy Adam's Machine SuperWax you could use your G110v2 to apply that.

 

Since you said you have a black car, you may want to check out Adam's Premium Shine Kit. The Brilliant Glaze/Americana Wax combo seems to create the ultimate shine on black. It's not cheap, especially since you're already spending a bunch on the other things, but maybe something to consider for your next order. Or buy now and get 15% off...

 

Thank you for the reply and suggestion. I think I'll skip out on it this time around, but I'll think about it for a bit, planning to order today. When I do my refills I will order it if i dont do it this time around.

[Team Adam's]

Hey Peter,

 

I edited your post, while we understand that there are a number of products on the market, this is ADAMSforums.com... if you want to discuss all the other products you purchased from Phil he has an excellent forum over at http://www.detailingbliss.com where you can find plenty of info on those items. Since Megs, Sonax, Uber and the like don't help pay my paycheck or keep the server active here we encourage the discussion of them to be places where those items are sold.

 

Thanks for understanding!

[Coderedpl]

Hey Peter,

 

I edited your post, while we understand that there are a number of products on the market, this is ADAMSforums.com... if you want to discuss all the other products you purchased from Phil he has an excellent forum over at www.detailingbliss.com where you can find plenty of info on those items. Since Megs, Sonax, Uber and the like don't help pay my paycheck or keep the server active here we encourage the discussion of them to be places where those items are sold.

 

Thanks for understanding!

Oh, sorry about that!

Just wanted to list out what I have in inventory and what I can possibly add. Didn't mean to start a discussion about those products as I know discussion of other companies products is not encouraged.

[Team Adam's]

No harm, no foul...

[mc2hill]

I bought the Complete Flex kit myself, and think that it's great. The Perfect Interior Kit will cover all of your inside needs, and the SVRT and In & Out Spray are simply amazing. So to answer your question, yes, those are good choices. I like the Waterless Wash too, and just finished off my first gallon. Second to All Purpose Cleaner, that's the product I go through the most.

 

It seems you understand the polishing steps properly: Severe Swirl Remover (if needed), then Swirl & Haze Remover, and finally Fine Machine Polish before wax. While I suppose you could apply Buttery with the G110v2 as you could with a PC, there is absolutely no need to. Buttery Wax is so fast and easy to apply by hand, that bringing a machine in for that step just over complicates things. If you eventually buy Adam's Machine SuperWax you could use your G110v2 to apply that.

 

Since you said you have a black car, you may want to check out Adam's Premium Shine Kit. The Brilliant Glaze/Americana Wax combo seems to create the ultimate shine on black. It's not cheap, especially since you're already spending a bunch on the other things, but maybe something to consider for your next order. Or buy now and get 15% off...

 

^ What he said. Len, thanks for saving me all that typing!

[LDM]

^ What he said. Len, thanks for saving me all that typing!

 

You're welcome.

[Coderedpl]

Order placed:

Adam's Complete Flex XC3401VRG Polisher Kit

Adam's In & Out Spray Dressing

Adam's Perfect Interior Kit

Adam's Super VRT Tire & Trim Combo

Adam's Waterless Car Wash-16oz

Adam's VOLUME 7 Detailing DVD

 

 

Next time I will be probably getting gallon refills and some other items I couldn't get this time around.

[Chris@Adams]

Order placed:

Adam's Complete Flex XC3401VRG Polisher Kit

Adam's In & Out Spray Dressing

Adam's Perfect Interior Kit

Adam's Super VRT Tire & Trim Combo

Adam's Waterless Car Wash-16oz

Adam's VOLUME 7 Detailing DVD

 

 

Next time I will be probably getting gallon refills and some other items I couldn't get this time around.

Congrats Peter you will love your Adam's products!!

[Coderedpl]

I'm sure I will. Been reading some on the forums and now trying to come up with a good solution of drying the car. Don't want to be spending un-necessary monies, but I've been doing some reading on the sidekick blaster.

Is it good enough to go around the whole car with after doing the "pool-rinse" method?

[mbreyer]

Good choice:2thumbs: Lets see some pics and also remember start with the least aggressive polish first especially with the flex. And gallons are the only way to. I go through DS rapidly, it is the most versatile of all the products in Adam's arsenal.

[Coderedpl]

Good choice:2thumbs: Lets see some pics and also remember start with the least aggressive polish first especially with the flex. And gallons are the only way to. I go through DS rapidly, it is the most versatile of all the products in Adam's arsenal.

That would be the Swirl & Haze Remover, right?

[BlueGenCoupe]

Congratz on the hefty order.

 

You should have added a gallon of DS and a Gallon of APC. That one bottle wont last to clay/prime the pads.

[LDM]

That would be the Swirl & Haze Remover, right?

 

The least aggressive polish is the Fine Machine Polish. It's recommended to start with the least aggressive method so that you're removing the minimum amount of clearcoat needed to correct your paint. The confusion arises because while you start with the least aggressive method, you also have to finish with the least aggressive method to clean up the results of the previous step. This is why you should do a small 2'x2' test area first to see what steps you need.

 

Basically, polish your test area (the hood is a good place to start) with the FMP/white pad combo and then check your results. If you get the test area perfect, good. Do the whole car with FMP and forget about the Swirl & Haze Remover and Severe Swirl Remover. If you don't have the results you want on your test area, go over the test area again, but this time with the SHR/orange pad combo. If it's good now, go over the whole car with SHR and then follow that with FMP over the whole car. If the paint is really bad, you may need the SSR/green pad combo. Again, if you end up needing the SSR for the whole car, you need to do the whole car with SHR and then FMP. Sometimes instead of stepping up to a more aggressive polish, you can just do more passes with a less aggressive polish. The whole point of the test area is to figure out exactly what process and how many passes will be needed to correct your paint.

 

Sorry if my first post was confusing, but hopefully this clears some things up.

[Coderedpl]

Congratz on the hefty order.

 

You should have added a gallon of DS and a Gallon of APC. That one bottle wont last to clay/prime the pads.

Down the road yes. I still have some other "carrier" apc. We'll see how the DS goes.

 

The least aggressive polish is the Fine Machine Polish. It's recommended to start with the least aggressive method so that you're removing the minimum amount of clearcoat needed to correct your paint. The confusion arises because while you start with the least aggressive method, you also have to finish with the least aggressive method to clean up the results of the previous step. This is why you should do a small 2'x2' test area first to see what steps you need.

 

Basically, polish your test area (the hood is a good place to start) with the FMP/white pad combo and then check your results. If you get the test area perfect, good. Do the whole car with FMP and forget about the Swirl & Haze Remover and Severe Swirl Remover. If you don't have the results you want on your test area, go over the test area again, but this time with the SHR/orange pad combo. If it's good now, go over the whole car with SHR and then follow that with FMP over the whole car. If the paint is really bad, you may need the SSR/green pad combo. Again, if you end up needing the SSR for the whole car, you need to do the whole car with SHR and then FMP. Sometimes instead of stepping up to a more aggressive polish, you can just do more passes with a less aggressive polish. The whole point of the test area is to figure out exactly what process and how many passes will be needed to correct your paint.

 

Sorry if my first post was confusing, but hopefully this clears some things up.

Not confusing. I understand it.

 

I might have some other areas that are a bit worse than the hood. So you are saying that if I start with a product, i should use it for the whole car? What if one area is worse than the other? Do i still use the same product all around?

[LDM]

I might have some other areas that are a bit worse than the hood. So you are saying that if I start with a product, i should use it for the whole car? What if one area is worse than the other? Do i still use the same product all around?

 

In my example I was assuming there was a consistent amount of swirls around the whole car. Yes, you can do the just bad areas with SHR and then come back with FMP over everything. Or do just the really bad areas with SSR and then go ever everything with SHR and FMP. Generally though, unless you're fixing specific scratches with the focus pads, it's easier to just correct the entire car, or at least entire panels, instead of spot correcting and worrying if you missed an area. Just do your test area on whatever part of the car is representative of the "worst" condition, it doesn't have to be the hood, and then do the rest of the car this way. The important thing to remember is wherever you use SSR, you have to follow with SHR, and wherever you use SHR, you have to follow with FMP.

[heisnuts]

I'm sure I will. Been reading some on the forums and now trying to come up with a good solution of drying the car. Don't want to be spending un-necessary monies, but I've been doing some reading on the sidekick blaster.

Is it good enough to go around the whole car with after doing the "pool-rinse" method?

 

I have been using an electric leaf blower for about 7 years now and I just added the Sidekick about 2 months ago. Here's how I see it:

 

The leaf blower is faster than the Sidekick, but it leaves more water behind than the Sidekick since the air is not heated like it is with the Sidekick.

 

The Sidekick is a lot easier and lighter to move around the car and get into tight/hard to reach areas, such as the top of an SUV with roof racks.

 

Both will dry the car if you invest the time to do so, since I have just started using the detail spray when done with a two bucket wash, I now use the Sidekick to blow most of the water off and get all the water out of the cracks/lights/moldings. I then use the detail spray with an Adams drying towel to finish off the process.

 

I find that the detail spray is good at putting a little extra shine on the finish so I now don't worry about getting every last drop with the blower since I will be using the detail spray to finish.

[Coderedpl]

In my example I was assuming there was a consistent amount of swirls around the whole car. Yes, you can do the just bad areas with SHR and then come back with FMP over everything. Or do just the really bad areas with SSR and then go ever everything with SHR and FMP. Generally though, unless you're fixing specific scratches with the focus pads, it's easier to just correct the entire car, or at least entire panels, instead of spot correcting and worrying if you missed an area. Just do your test area on whatever part of the car is representative of the "worst" condition, it doesn't have to be the hood, and then do the rest of the car this way. The important thing to remember is wherever you use SSR, you have to follow with SHR, and wherever you use SHR, you have to follow with FMP.

 

So I thought you follow up with FMP whether you use SSR or SHR?

 

If i use SSR then I would have to follow with SHR and then FMP?

 

Not sure i'm understanding that correctly.

[heisnuts]

So I thought you follow up with FMP whether you use SSR or SHR?

 

If i use SSR then I would have to follow with SHR and then FMP?

 

Not sure i'm understanding that correctly.

 

Yes, if you end up using SSR, you would then use SHR then FMP and then finish with either the Super Machine Wax, Buttery Wax, or Americana.

 

Keep in mind though that most times you will not have to go to SSR to get the results you want. You want to first test a small area using the either FMP or SHR then FMP to see if they give you the results you want.

[mbreyer]

You're getting it. Basically its a 3 step process when starting with SSR, 2 step with SHR, and 1 step with FMP. When correcting your paint with a more abrasive polish you actually damage(minor) the clear. So a less abrasive polishes is needed to fine tune the first and then finally FMP to reach perfection. You'll be amazed at how well the polishes and a machine work, so start small and see for yourself. Also while you are waiting for the arsenal check out junkman's corner for great tips on technique:thumbsup:

[Coderedpl]

Thanks a lot guys. I will be watching the videos and thanks for all the tips!

[MAYBEN]

the videos are an awesome learning tool!

[Coderedpl]

Arrived! But before I even take anything out and start using it, I need to figure out how to organize it all.

 

[MAYBEN]

carefully lol