Dylan06SS

Always preferred the look of a truck with no tips, thus the reason my SSS was dumped under the bed. I think it helps the look a little if you can find a way to integrate the tips into the design of the rollpan or bumper, like how the TBSS tip is situated... perhaps someone needs to take on modding a BSER pan to mimic that look.

Clay is clay is clay is clay... literally... there is only one source for clay in the US currently due to an air tight patent held by the clay magic company (which expires in 2011 - so be prepared for the market to be instantly flooded with some primo clay) The only difference in the clays currently available is their grade. Generally the yellow clay you get at the local store is the most mild variety, what I don't like about it is the fact its too sticky and doesn't sheer/pickup bonded contamination as well as other bars. Next step up would be the medium variety, for the mostpart blue and purple in color, these are much better at sheering/pulling up bonded contamination than the yellow OTC bars and are still safe for use on even the most delicate paint as they'll cause only marginal marring that can easily be polished out. Most aggressive level of clay is something you'd never want for use on your car... its actually gritty... on the level of a sandpaper and is intended for some pretty gnarly uses. No one with a factory paintjob should even need this type of bar. All that being said the main reason I'd say Adam's bar is a good deal is they give you a LARGE chunk of clay (200grams) and include an air tight jar for storage. This means you can tear the bar in half, keep one half in the jar for later, and use the other half on the car. The jar is nice compared to the cheap snap case most bars come with too b/c it keeps the bar from drying out. I've got some crazy (illegal) import clays right now that are heads above whats here in the states currently, and if it weren't for that damn patent everyone could get their hands on this stuff. The clays available outside the US are nice and soft, don't drag or leave trace behind on the paint and are extremely effective. Can't wait till 2011.

The primary difference between the 2 machines is the rotation of the head, while they both oscillate the flex has a forced/driven rotation where the PC does not. This does give the flex more 'bite' and you could very easily go right thru thin paint on an edge with it. As with anything understanding the process and how to properly use the tool is the most important part. A saying I have always stuck by is: It is the inferior craftsman that blames his tools Or in other words its the person doing the work and how they use the tools, not the tools. I have contemplated adding the flex to my stable of tools, but to be honest I have yet to find the paint problem on my cars that can't be corrected with the PC and the right technique. The flex is a great tool, but another thing to keep in mind is they are not without their service issues. My friend has 2 flex machines now... hes had to send one in so many times for service that he caved and bought another so he would't be down. Purely anecdotal but its just my experience. Both my PC 7424 and PC 7424xp with literally hundreds of hours of polish on each have never given me a single problem in all the years I've had them.

It is a helmet... I'm looking for the better pics, but can't find them. If you notice the seats are all setup with 5pt harness's and the matching helmets are just part of the "look".

I think we discussed this a long ways back b/c the original SS concept had racing seats front and rear, but the cab was also substantially longer with the unibody construction I believe. To put a full sized bucket seat in the back you're gonna basically lose all the leg room or the seats are going to be so upright that it would be uncomfortable for passengers. Good luck figuring something out either way, hope you can find a way to make it work.

Worth all the work... AFTER: Little curb rash still, but other than that, better than they've ever looked: Super happy owner driving away with his 4oz bottle of Adams Detail Spray!

Continued.... EXTERIOR BEFORE: (the swastika) DURING: (the swastika GREATLY reduced)

Tag teamed this beauty all day today along side my neighbor and good friend, Anthony. Since the car belongs to a friend of his we figured we'd give it the royal treatment and restore this baby to her full beauty. It was purchased used just a few days ago and it showed ever bit of its 66k mile odometer reading (including a history of VERY bad wash techniques) When we were done, outside of a few minor flaws that would require much more extensive work/repair, it came out stunning. From about 10ft it didn't look too bad, farther down you'll see the swirly horror that awaited us up close!! Started with the interior: The carpets were pulled and scrubbed down with Adam's Carpet & Upholstery cleaner + a stiff carpet brush. They were then extracted using the LGM pro heat. We then sat them out in the sun for the rest of the day as they had become awkwardly shaped sitting in the car (the mats are not specific to the car, but are just filling the need for now) The seats and interior panels were treated using a combination of woolite/water and leather & interior cleaner/water 1:1. The reason we chose the diluted mixture and milder cleaner was due to the heavy sun fading and discoloration on some areas that was allowing color to come up from the surface. Rather than push the limits of what was left on the seats we chose to clean mildly and then condition very liberally. All interior panels were conditioned with Adam's Leather & Interior Conditioner, a few scuff spots along the center console and door sills were cleaned using Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Radio controls, vents, gauges, etc were cleaned using MF + detail spray and assorted interior detail brushes. The vents were dressed with a 1:1 VRT mixture, all glass was cleaned with Adam's Glass Cleaner and Glass towel. Moved to the wheels: The wheels were cleaned with Adam's Green Wheel Cleaner and a boars hair brush. The inner wheel hoop was cleaned using the Powerstick and full strength APC. Tires were cleaned with full strength APC and a fender brush. Some road paint transfer on the passenger side was broken down using full strength APC and a little scrubbing. At this time the exhaust tips were sprayed down with full strength APC and allowed to soak due to extremely heavy carbon buildup. The were later scrubbed with a boars hair brush and then polished with Adams metal Polish. Let the decontamination BEGIN!!: My boy Anthony went to work with the foam gun and an undiluted canister of Adam's Car Soap. The car was hosed off, foamed, and the mix was allowed to dwell and run down all the panels. The car was then blasted again and refoamed. We washed using the NEW & Improved Adams wash pad (separate thread coming soon) then pulled into the garage. Claybar... claybar... more claybar... this thing was rough. Spent some extra time working on the lower rocker panels where there was still some heavy road paint and tar contamination. All glass was clayed as well. The car was then pulled back out and treated to yet another heavy foaming and wash, pulled in and dried using Great White Drying Towels and Detail Spray. Dressing: The trim was disturbingly dry, so before beginning any other steps a liberal helping of VRT was applied to all rubber and plastic trim. While we were at it the trunk and engine bay were wiped down using detail spray and microfiber and also treated with VRT. Invisible Undercarrige Spray was then applied to all the wheel wells. The wheels were treated to a coat of Machine Superwax to keep them protected and the tires were dressed with full strength VRT. Correction: A few choice areas were marked off and spot buffed using the 4" pads and the drill attachment. One area in particular was really bad, someone had actually keyed a swastika into the door!! I spent a good amount of time on this, but it was too deep for buffing and will require wet sanding to correct. I blew the exposure out to capture it and after working it with the yellow pad + Swirl & Haze Remover it was reduced to barely noticeable. Each panel took approximately 2 passes with the orange pad + swirl & haze remover (some areas required as many as 4 passes) at 5000opm. This was followed by 1-2 passes per panel of the white pad + Fine Machine Polish at 5000opm. Smaller areas around door handles were hand polished using the orange flip pad + swirl and haze remover. Lastly we did a pass of Revive by hand with the blue flip applicator to add a little more clarity to the finish. After Revive was removed we chose to do a wipe down with waterless wash, partially to remove the trace amounts of dusting left behind by the polish, but also to cut the static charge on the paint. Lastly the glass was sealed by Anthony using the new Glass Sealant while I applied a coat of Americana over the entire car. It was buffed off using the new double soft microfiber and delivered to a very happy customer Total time (minus a couple of food and beer breaks) was 8 hours. Enjoy the pics! INTERIOR BEFORE: DURING: AFTER:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Videos_DVD5_15.aspx

I can kind of see the point that hes trying to make... b/c basically the S/C'r and drivetrain are what make the ZR1 special... take a Z06 and make those mods IMO. Why deconstruct a supercar to rebuild another way when you could've taken the less-super car and build it up to this same point? With all the additional money that was spent to get the ZR1 it seems silly to take down all those upgrades to rebuild it a different way versus buying Z costing almost half the price and building up a TT version. My bet is just to say you have the worlds first TT ZR1. In the end, its someone elses car and money so if they're happy with it more power to them. Looks like fun.

I let my results do the talking

no sense in getting the PC unless your UDM dies on you... the PC is essentially the same type of machine, compatible with the same pads, and doesn't do anything that the UDM can't. I'd say save your money and use that UDM until it dies.

What a heap.... only nice parts on the whole truck are the coilovers and swaybars

No can do... was gonna do 24" Slides, but just bought a new house... gotta save a little money here and there, plus no one makes a 24" TBSS wheel.

maybe eventually, but to be honest I don't mind that its not painted

absolutely.

Photoshop preview

Its hard to say if the SSS will ever be worth much in the future, like muscle cars of the 60/70's are to us now.... different era, different vehicles, different culture. I'd like to think that someday the cars of 'our generation' will be worth something, but with the amount being produced and the general publics lack of concern about performance vehicles I highly doubt they will be.

I hope to be the first Avalanche w/ 22" black TBSS replicas

The level of stupidity in that advice makes me want to strangle puppies

LMAO!! Please post the name and contact information for this supposed career car restorer so that we can ensure NO ONE ever goes to him for work or advice. There are so many things wrong with what he told you that he has no business owning a car let alone restoring them. A proper paint care regiment includes cleaning, prepping, polishing, and waxing/sealing the paint. If you followed his advice your paint would not only look horrible, it would begin to oxidize and fail especially in the harsh conditions you guys see out in arizona. Allow me to define (loosely) what products do so you can better understand the process: Polishes are used to correct the finish. They can vary in grits/abrasive's depending on their intended use but generally all polishes do the same thing, remove swirls, scratches, oxidation, light surface contamination etc. Polishes offer zero protection to the finish and will generally remove waxes or sealants. Some polishes will leave behind trace elements of oils or other byproducts, but for the most-part polishes leave your paint naked. Waxes are used to enhance gloss and protect the paint. People generally don't understand the differences between glazes, waxes, and sealant... but in a nutshell they are all intended as products that will protect and/or add shine to the finish. If you choose not to use some type of protective product on your finish the paint is vulnerable and can be subjected to all manner of damage. His line about "baking" is utter BS... you're paint is gonna get hot no matter what... waxes or sealants will protect it from oxidation, UV damage, etching and all manner of problems. Having wax on your finish when the sun is out is actually something you WANT contrary to what this moron told you. In a nut shell - Polishes are CORRECTIVE, waxes are PROTECTIVE. You need both for your paint. If you see this "expert" again feel free to kick him in the nuts.

Looks good Chase... good thing I already knew you were getting rid of the car otherwise that post would have freaked me out If/when you need this new rig prepped and sealed up you know who to call. BTW - started the new job, I have regular hours now so my time is much more available for working on your projects

You work at a body shop, you have wet sanded before, but you started a thread to ask people if they had done it before??? I'm confused, seems to me that if you have the know how and experience a thread to ask people about it would be superfluous. I know how to detail... I detail all the time... I wouldn't start a thread to ask people if they detail before detailing my truck.

Rattle can is always going to be slightly less glossy than factory paint... spray the clear on extra thick, do multiple coats, then wet sand and buff it out if you want it to shine.