So the weekend finally came where i could sit down and correct the Mini from the original free dealer detail. There were some scratches by the door they had put in and i hadnt noticed until the day after delivery You will notice in one of the last pics i got it 99.2% out. The paint had been swirled and hazed pretty bad by them too and i couldnt look at it in the daytime without going

All products that were used were Adam's except for the tire cleaner and tire wet..OOPS! forgot to put that on. and the plastic trim conditioner. I popped each weel off to give them a good cleaning and the chance to wash/wax my calibers. A total of 14.5 hours spread over two days into her and she came out spectacular. I did a test area and just one good pass of Fine Machine Polish would do the trick.

I appologize for the crappy pictures, They truely dont do this justice. i plan on getting my DSLR out next week and doing a photo shoot of her in Philly

Products Used
Adams APC
Adams Shampoo
Adams FMP
Adams BG
Adams Revive Polish
Adams Americana Paste Wax
Adams Clay Kit
Adams Detail Spray
Adams 4in Focus Pad Kit
Adams 6in porter cable pads
Adams SHR (for scratch)
Adams 2 Bucket w. Grit Guard
Foam Gun
Craftsman 2500psi Pressure washer
Mothers Black to Black
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner


W.O. Further ado, here she is from start to finish. you will see alot of me in the pics, just couldnt get the right angle not to show me on second thought that is probably why my pics look so bad











After Wax




I used a foaming sprayer with adams shampoo to aniliate the bugs, did two 5 minute soaking and hit them with the pressure washer. Didnt have to scrub one bit and they came of perfectly!

Foam Cannon! one ouce Adams shampoo to 15 ounces water is the dilution for this pic




After a 15 minute soak.





I tried to capture the swirls/haze the best i could with this shot but didnt really work out

The scratches the dealer put in.







Dont think a 4 month old car with 3300 miles needs claying, this pic is of just one half of the Boot (barn doors/trunk ) the rest of the Mini was in about the same shape.




I still continued to work on it after this pic and got most of it out






And the after pics!











The Metalic paint, i dont like it as it takes away from the depth of the black but adams really makes it Pop!

The scratch Removed

The Dylan Pose

Is this just a large mirror in my garage



I want to thank Adam, The Adams Team and the AF Forum for making this possible

Happy Memorial Day

 

Very nice!!

Two questions:

1. How long did all that take?
2. How much do you charge?

 

must have taken a real long time, he started on Jan 1, 2005 Looks great, well worth the effort.

 

Where did you buy the "foaming sprayer" for the part where you removed the dead bugs on the front? Is it just a regular spray jug thingy from a dollar store?

 

I noticed that too and then I saw a pic with the reflection of the at least 5 year old Sony digi-cam.

Excellent work. Car looks great and I like that you tied in the lime green mirror caps with the calipers and tow hook.. SWEET!!

 

Thanks all for the compliments, its a lot of work but pays off! especially when the sun hits the paint

around 14.5 hours spread over two days.I work for beer and good company

No, no dollar store stuff. some reuse bottles laying around the house like scrubbing bubbles etc and clean them out real good. i ran across this site when looking for them. They are identical to the ones meguirs sells at 1/5 the price. scroll down and find the foaming sprayer and then add the larger bottle. The smaller bottle is to small. that place is so cheap just get regular sprayers too for around the house. The quality is awesome and they dont feel like they are going to fall apart every time you squeeze the handle
http://www.parish-supply.com/trigger...nd_bottles.htm

 

I believe I saw one at www.groits.com

 

What was your ratio of soap/water in the foamer bottle? This is going to be my cheap alternative to a foam gun!

 

Check that thread out if you dont want to spend the 119.00 on a foam gun, Beleive me though they are well worth the money http://www.adamsforums.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=11721

i used 1 ounce of soap to aprox 23 ounces of water. I used ADAM's shampoo which is awesome and very concentrated so it would be different for every shampoo manufacturer. Ya just have to play around a bit to find what works, too much soap = waste/to much suds | to little soap = useless

Good Luck

 

Thanks I'll check them out. I can't use the hose/power washer foamers as my apartment building has a car wash bay/coin operated power washer, but I can't figure out the brand.

 

Good job but didnt do anything inside? Seems like everyone does exterior write ups and just glances over interior. Still researching best technique for the leatherette/leather and best products that dont smell like banana or chemicals

You need to drop that car though. The wheel gap is horrendous.

 

Looks stupendous, Brendon, nice work!
Did you paint the tow hook yourself? What did you use to paint and what is the color if you don't mind me asking?

Annette

 

Now i gotta do my detail write up!




Good work!

 

Alright, I ordered the sprayhead and a large bottle...going to try it out with Prima Mystique and see how it goes! Our condo does not have a water spigot so I get by with a Nomad system to wash. I've wanted to try out foaming though so this should be fun!

 

Mystique isn't a good foamer even if you use a lot. What I like to do when I want foam plus the benefits of Mystique's polymer soap is to mix a bit of high foaming soap. Meguiar's Hyper Wash is perfect. Normal concentration is 1oz to 5 gallons of water. For my foam cannon, I'll mix in a 32oz bottle of water, 2 oz of Mystique and 1 oz of Hyper Wash..otherwise I just do 2 oz of Hyper Wash.

 

I use a foam sprayer made for washing horses. I mixed Mystique with some Zaino car wash I had and get pretty good results.

Annette

 

I know, i need to get this on coil overs asap....giving my self a bonus soon and guess what im spending it on

Annette,

I did paint the tow hook my self. Purchased my hook on fleabay and sanded it down, it was aluminum so was very easy to get the red color off. I then used self etching primer 3x coats. As for the sprayer i used the prevel's but when i was back at the paint shop for another mini project they put my black paint in a aerosol can so if you plan on doing this make sure you ask them as you wont have to mix the paint.

I then cleared it and let it sit for a couple days. I made a paint booth by using a larger box (adams) and used 14ga wire to make a hook and poked it through the box so i could turn it as i sprayed it (hope that makes sense)

you will need to go to an automotive paint supply store to get the base/clear. The paint company is "Akzo Noble Wanda Base". I have the sheet with the exact mix codes and will PM it when i get back home.