THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 (edited) Good Morning! I had the pleasure at the end of last week to start on this Ocean Blue Metallic RX-8. The objective here was to not only polish the car out the right way, but also to test many products in the process. This write up will be pretty picture heavy so I will break it up into parts as best I can. I would like to thank Dylan for helping me out during some of the polish process and also with his killer Camera work at the end. Let's Get Started! The Wash. It was really difficult to gauge just what I had ahead of me, as the car was left with us at the Detail Clinic we had to kick the season off a couple weeks back. I could see through all the dirt, that there were areas of the car I would be spending a little more time on than I wanted to. The Exhaust Tips were scary, the last "detailer" to touch the car left more wax on the trim than he did on the paint, the Engine Bay hadn't been cleaned since it was swapped in well over a year ago, and I hadn't even touched the paint yet! Dirty Car As with anything I detail, I started with cleaning the engine bay and wheels and tires. Products Used for Engine Bay, Wheels & Tires Cleaning: Adam's All Purpose Cleaner with Foaming Sprayer Adam's Boulder Blonde Boar's Hair Wheel Brush Adam's Deep Clean Tire Scrub Brush Adam's 20" Fender Brush Adam's Wheel Woolies Wheel Cleaning Tools I started the Engine Bay by covering the air filter with a trash bag I had handy. I never realized this little rotary motor needed such a big filter! Looked like E.T.'s Head. The next step was to grab the 36oz. Adam's All Purpose Cleaner with Foaming Sprayer, and get a little trigger happy all over the Engine Bay. Grabbing the Adam's Boulder Blonde Boar's Hair Wheel Brush, I began to scrub, scrub, and scrub some more. I rinsed and then started over. This time I grabbed the smaller head and medium head Adam's Wheel Woolies, and began to knock out the tiny areas I couldn't reach with the big brush. Satisfied with the level of clean I am pretty sure the Engine Bay had never seen before, I closed the hood and proceeded to the Wheels and Tires portion of my day. Upon closer examination of the wheels, I could see clear coat failure on all 4, and at least two of the tires had been curbed at least once. My first real opportunity to use the Adam's Deep Clean Tire Scrub Brush, as I don't let my stuff get that filthy to ever need more than the Adam's 20" Fender Brush to clean my own tires, I was still more than impressed with it's ability to remove dirt from the surface with minimal effort. Adam's All Purpose Cleaner with Foaming Sprayer was used on all surfaces in the Wheel and Tire portion as the Cleaner. Once I hit the four corners, it was time to have a little bit of fun with the Pressure Washer, the Foam Cannon, and a Mixture of Adam's Car Shampoo and Adam's Waterless Wash in the canister, for supreme foaming lather. Adam's Merino Wool Mit and Adam's Jumbo Wash Pad were used in conjunction with the Two Bucket Wash with Grit Guards, post-cannon-izing of the car. Edited February 18, 2013 by Mook@Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 (edited) The Wash Continued Products Used for this Portion: Adam's Car Shampoo Adam's Waterless Car Wash Adams Ultimate Merino Wool Car Wash Mit Adam's Professional Car Wash Pad Adam's Complete Two Bucket Car Wash Kit Adam's Air Force Master Blaster by MetroVac Onto the fun! The mixture of the Car Shampoo and Waterless Car Wash inside the Foam canister really helped the Shampoo stick to the surface to allow a nice layer of lubrication to the paint before I went ahead and removed the dirt with the wash pads. For it being February in Colorado, I figured I would make it snow a little too... Executing a Two Bucket Wash properly means washing the car from top to bottom, utilizing two wash pads (one for the upper 2/3, the other for the lower 1/3) and continual trips to the bucket system with grit guards to maintain clean washing tools. I finished soaping the car down, rinsed it off, and pulled it into the garage to dry it off with Adam's Air Force Master Blaster by MetroVac. I used this opportunity to lift the hood, dry off the Engine Bay, and touch up anything that needed touching up, prior to dressing it. I dressed the Engine Bay with Adam's In and Out Spray. It's perfect for all the hard to reach areas, but also makes the hoses and plastics inside look brand new. I regret not getting a cleaner shot of the Engine, post detail. ...More coming... Edited February 18, 2013 by Mook@Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 After getting the car dried off, and since I already had the In and Out Spray out from dressing the Engine Bay, I took the opportunity to hit all the plastics this car has. I then pulled the car into the detailing bay to start on the Interior. Products Used for Interior Detail: Adam's Leather and Interior Conditioner Adam's New Detail Spray Adam's Microfiber Waterless Towels (both for the door jambs with DS and also to clean the interior with the Prototype Interior Quick Detailer) Adam's Glass Cleaner Adam's Microfiber Glass Cleaning Towels Adam's Vac'n'Blo Compact by Metrovac Adam's In and Out Spray Adam's Prototype Interior Quick Detailer I wiped the door jambs out with the Adam's New Detail Spray and a Waterless Towel. Once that was complete, I grabbed the Adam's Leather & Interior Conditioner and a Block Sponge, and treated all the weatherstripping inside the doors and around where the doors close to the body. Adam's In and Out Spray was used inside the door hinges, to tidy up the hinge boots as well. This would be my first chance to try out the latest Vacuum offering from Adam's Premium Car Care. The Adam's Vac'n'Blo Compact Wall Mount IS A BEAST! I haven't used a detailing vacuum with such efficiency and attachments....LOVE THIS THING! I needed to get all the debris off the seats and carpet, before I could actually clean the door panels, dash, gauge cluster, and console. The assortment of tools this bad boy comes with made EASY work of all the tight areas this interior was loaded with. Finally done vacuuming that thing out like Alice from the Brady Bunch, it was time to play with some new juice we are testing for the Interior! Without getting too specific, let's just say it's somewhat of an All-in-One, Interior Quick Detailer with some nice features and great scent. The door panels weren't too terribly dirty from looking at them, so I grabbed the new stuff and another Waterless Towel, and began to clean. Before The Towel was pretty loaded with funk. After--The New IQS leaves the surface clean, smelling good, and has a nice finish to it. Not too glossy and not too matte--just enough to know you did something. With the Interior complete, time to focus a little closer on the Exhaust Tips and Trim pieces... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 The next stage of this detail was to rehab the Exhaust Tips, decontaminate trim, and then properly dress it. The Tips weren't the worst I've seen but they were pretty gross. Products Used for Exhaust Tip Rehab: Adam's New Detail Spray Adam's Detailing Claybar Adam's Metal Polish #1 Adam's Blue Hex Grip Applicator .0000 Steel Wool Adam's Metal Polish #2 Adam's Microfiber Applicator Pad Adam's Double Soft Towel (that I accidentally turned Grey) My process was to take the .0000 Steel Wool and Adam's Metal Polish #1, rub out the inner 2" of the tips. I clayed the outside of the tips with Adam's Detailing Claybar and Adam's New Detail Spray.....YUCK! Then take the Adam's Blue Hex Grip Applicator and more Adam's Metal Polish #1 and "clean" the tips. After that, Adam's Metal Polish #2 on an Adam's Microfiber Applicator Pad to "shine" the tips. Then knock it all down with an Adam's Double Soft Towel and be happy with the results I just got! There were some really horrible spots on the trim pieces of this car...what with all the wax and polish residue, and contamination along the door pillars...which *were* the body color stock, but were painted at some point I think. You'll see what I mean... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Adam's Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Awesome stuff Mook, this will be a great write-up to share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marylander Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 I knew it... you're Batman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 (edited) Now, onto some time in the Trim Triage. Holy wrecked pillars! I think these weren't stock painted black, as up close, you can see some blue coming through. The black paint was contaminated with oxidation among other things so the first plan of attack was to grab the Adam's All Purpose Cleaner with Foaming Sprayer, and an Adam's Edgeless Utility Towel. Before Weapons of Decon Destruction Look at That Funk! With the trim being "bare", it was apparent I needed to get out the Adam's Revive Hand Polish and a Blue Hex Grip Applicator and try to level that out before dressing it with Adam's SVRT. I know this was going to work as I had great success with this method on an old Porsche 911 last summer. Ready to Dress. POW! I spent more time getting old wax and polish off other trim pieces with the above method, then dressed them with Adam's In and Out Spray. (Some trim responds better to InO than SVRT, so that's why in this case.) Anyone ready to see actual polish pictures yet? ME TOO. But first... Edited February 18, 2013 by Mook@Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 To this point in the detail I hadn't addressed dressing the Tires or Wheel Wells. I grabbed some paper towels to throw down where the typical run off for Adam's Invisible Undercarriage Spray drops, laid them down, and grabbed the bottle of said dressing. I then shot Adam's Invisible Undercarriage Spray into the wheel wells and let the magic happen. The clear coat failure on the wheels themselves was a bit of a bummer. All I could really do to get them to look better was to take some Adam's In and Out Spray on a block sponge and make them a little sassier. Those tires were looking awful bare so I grabbed the Adam's SV...no I didn't. But wait, what did I grab? That's right...we ARE testing something new for the tires...I'll let you deduce what it is in the pics. Let that sink in for a minute, and go ahead and see what's up with the paint portion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 (edited) Finally onto the fun stuff! For this portion of the detail I used the following products: Adam's Detail Spray Adam's Detailing Claybar Adam's Professional Detailer's Masking Tape Adam's Flex 3401VRG Polisher with some Testing Polishes Adam's Porter Cable 7424XP Polisher to apply Adam's Brilliant Glaze Flex Rotary Polisher PE-14-2 with some Testing Compounds Rupes Polisher (large throw) only on the Passenger Front Fender, with Testing Polishes Adam's Swirl and Haze Remover Polishing Pad Adam's FMP Polishing Pad Adam's Brilliant Glaze Machine Pad Adam's Brilliant Glaze A new Wax we are Testing This may be the single worst car I have ever clayed. Ever. I mean it. I threw up in my mouth a little bit claying it. It was that audible. I threw away the BRAND NEW claybar after I was done with this car. All 200 grams of it. Using the windshield of the car to flatten the Adam's Detailing Claybar out and Adam's Detail Spray as a lubricant, I was able to get a complete flat surface for proper paint decontamination. A little portion of the hood told me this was going to be rough. Finally done, Dylan and I could move on to some misc. testing with our pads, some MF pads, some compounds, and polishes...all stuff we are currently playing with. ETA on all this? When we are ready. One last shot to ruin lunch. Edited February 18, 2013 by Mook@Adams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 There weren't a whole lot of polishing action shots taken. We can't let everything out of the bag! Here are a couple in progress...notice the headlamp lens restore...I will touch on that in a few minutes. I figured why not use this too? I mean I had already used three other machines! Glaze on the Glass, Wax on the Paint. Paint was Perfect enough for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Those headlights were a real mess upon post-wash inspection. Lots of water getting inside the lenses made me worry if what I was about to do was going to help. I didn't use any sandpaper here. Products Used for Headlight Lens Restoration: Adam's FOCUS4" Polishing Kit for a Cordless Drill Adam's Swirl and Haze Remover Car Polish Adam's Fine Machine Polish Adam's Flex 3401 VRG Polisher (to clean it all up) Befores: POW Turned AROUND! All that was left to do at this point was to touch up the glass, knock the dust off one more time, and snap some pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 The Results pics will be in two posts. Ones taken with my camera, and ones taken with an Adult Camera. Thanks again Dylan! Thanks to you all for reading! Mook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE Mook Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Adam's Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 BOOM! That just happened... nice writeup brother... you put some serious hours in on this thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBlack151 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Great job man and what a great color to show off your always amazing work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JD_SS Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Looks great Mook. Mine next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckkilo3 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 What they said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Machine Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Mookasaurus Rex holy shmolley that thing came out glistening!!!!!nice job!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.greenroyd Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 A spray tire shine?? that should be interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holder Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Thanks for the write up. Write ups like yours is why i come to this forum. Awesome results. This makes me want to hire a photographer when I do a detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camaro2ssblack Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Atta boy Mook!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryW Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Seems like some top secret G-75 materials are being used.. Hummmmmmmm. Some good stuff I hoping. Classified Wax and Polish. Somebody got some splaing to do Lucy :jester: But honestly got one thing to say to the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egott_91 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 All I gotta say is hurry up w/ the compounds Awesome turnaround! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris@Adams Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Nice job Mook! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z71_Denali Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 all i saw was Snow foam, Interior Quick Detailer, Tire Dressing Spray, and Batman gloves!!! please tell me there's a new foam gun coming out for pressure washers?!?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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