Dylan06SS

Factory clear is VERY thin and inconsistent over the different areas of the truck... I would highly advise against wet sanding unless you have access to a paint gauge and know what you're doing.

Congrats on the purchase... and it is a fairly easy process, just take patience and practice. Like in the PM I sent to you I'd start with these videos to get an overview of how to go thru the process: http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-videos.aspx As far as starting detailing on the side or starting a business I'll just suggest that you focus on actually learning the process first and getting good before you worry about taking other peoples money for it. The world is full of hack detailers who picked up a machine last weekend and instantly decided they were pro's. Work on getting good on your own cars before you start worrying about making it a job. I've been doing this for over 13 years and I'm still learning every day.

Naw... this is still gonna be a daily driver/family ride... need to keep it semi-practical. Somehow I always manage to balance the 'fun' and 'family' aspects with my choice of mods. Bagging this thing (the way I would want to do it) would require a lot of cutting up and modifying that I'm not really into trying to do with a family ride. But I have to admit it looks sexy

You got it man... if I decide to sell them you'll be the first to know about it. The 4" pads are awesome... kit comes with the PC adapter and the drill adapter. You can run it on the cordless drill like a rotary to buff out some seriously nasty deep scratches or restore headlights. Put em on the PC and you can polish small areas like your mirror caps or the A, B, C pilars of the truck a easily since there's no way the large pads would fit there.

Naw. Problem one is I want an all black wheel and I'd like to avoid paying a shop to paint a set of new wheels to eliminate the polished lip on the 330... also I hate the way the 330 gets its lip, that reverse inverted spoke design just makes the wheels look smaller... from dead on they're OK, but from any other angle they look smaller than they actually are b/c the way the spokes bend out.

If I could find a wheel identical to the TBSS wheel in a 24 I'd do it... there is a company doing 22" reproductions, but those will look to small on this big of a truck IMO.

24" KMC Slides in black... unless I find something else... I like to buck the trend of fat lip wheels and go with something that has no lip. Someone on GMFS actually found a pic for me too...

Its hit or miss IMO. This paint just seems to respond funny to the PC and polishes, but thats mostly (IMO) due to the fact its still only about a week out of the booth and fairly soft. As it finishes curing over the next 30+ days I'm sure it'll be more in line with the rest of the truck. DAY 2 - Started off with some easier stuff... my back was stiff from the long day polishing on Saturday. Played with varying ratios of VRT/water to get exactly what I wanted. Ended up settling on a mixture thats roughly 60%VRT:40% Water... has a nice gloss to it, but not too shiny and its still spray-able at that ratio. With this truck I'll be using A LOT of VRT Once it warmed up a bit and I had my coffee I jumped back into the polishing. Started with a waterless wash wipe down to knock off any dust that had settled overnight and then continued to work one panel at a time and document the progress Started on the rear drivers door and did a side by side to monitor progress. Untouched section: Reworked section: Side by side: Continued around the truck in the same manner... lost a little time to passers by and people coming over to ask questions. When you spend 2 days at a time polishing a truck it gets attention, and everyone wants to learn, I'm always more than happy to oblige, but it does slow me down if I have to teach and work at the same time. Wrapped up around 4:30 after applying buttery wax to the back half of the truck, I had promised to take the wife and boy out to dinner. I opted not to bother sealing it yet as in 30 days I'm gonna need to strip and spot correct any problem areas when the paint is done curing, buttery will do a good enough job of protecting the unrepaired panels in the meantime. Final shots: I'm loving the blacked out front!! Hood reflection:

Fairly certain its a 1500hd thats been converted and the OP is unclear on the AWD, the frame sitting low below the body gives it away.

I've been meaning to call you dude... just bc the TBSS is gone doesn't mean you're off the hook LOL... we've got a 4/6 to install on this badboy before I get the 24's. You down?

Been awhile since I've posted anything here, but before I do I have to explain why theres an Avalanche in my garage now. Back on December 11th I traded in the TBSS on a 2009 Avalanche... it wasn't that I didn't like the TBSS, but it just didn't have enough room for the family and I was ready to move on. Anyways... I had originally played with the idea of a Sierra Denali and a Tahoe, but I eventually settled on the Avalanche. I realize that this might not be a popular choice, but I have plans for this truck. More often than not if you see a modded Avy on the road (at least around here) its lifted. I'm gonna head the other direction with this and do an aggressive drop on 24's black this thing out and have something unique. Anyhoo, pick up my new truck Friday night (12/11/09), the next morning I am helping out at another Detail Instructional clinic at Stillen Performance in Costa Mesa so I hit the road around 7:30am... if anyone in SoCal remembers the 12th, it was DUMPING rain that morning. A guy in a POS 97 F150 spun across all 4 lanes of the 5 freeway and wiped me out, even better he had no drivers license, no proof of insurance, and didn't own the truck. He was in the fast lane doing 80mph in the rain, the police report later indicated that his tires were bald... perfect storm of sh*t. Good news is I walked away from the accident, spent a week off of work on Robaxin and Vicodin and still doing PT rehab for stiffness and range of motion in my neck and back. I was soooooo pissed... only had 30 miles on the odo when I got hit... that has to be some kind of record. Thursday this week (ALMOST A MONTH LATER) I finally got my truck back, $9000 in damages and my first payment later I have my "new" truck back. The shop I used was great and went above and beyond to make sure it was as close to factory new as they could make it, and IMO pulled it off. You'd never know this thing was hit. Trying to stay positive I got them to colormatch the front end while it was in there, something I was planning on doing all along anyways. So that brings us to today... and the start of a HUGE detail. After sitting on a dealer lot and then at the body shop for almost a month this thing was rough... I'll update this as I get the pics uploaded, enjoy! Day 1: Started by documenting the condition of the paint, wanted a good basis for before and after shots. With a little help from my neighbor/friend and my new Brinkman Dual Xenon light I was able to capture the horror that is the paint on this truck.... dealer installed swirls anyone? After documenting I spent the bulk of the day debadging and getting the dried coffee out of all the cracks of the center console. I had just picked up coffee a few minutes before the accident and knew that it would be everywhere. Also had to remove the silicone slime junk they dressed my interior with at the body shop. Gross. Sidenote - if you're looking for a cheap and effective alternative to a "professional" paint inspection light take a look at the brinkman, as you can tell this thing is killer at helping you see the real story of your paint... for better or for worse. Hood: Drivers Side: Tailgate: Passenger Side Fender: Front Bumper: (remember this is fresh paint, I laughed when the bodyshop told me their guy was a pro and the truck would be better than new when I picked it up) The Arsenal for Todays work: Test panel inspection after SHR & FMP: Debadge Done: Day 1 complete, packed it in for the night and gonna be up early to resume. Bulk of the panels are done, still have a few to finish. The repaired/repainted panels didn't need anything more than 2-3 passes with the white pad and FMP @ 5000opm. There were a ton of swirls, but all of them were fairly light. The original panels are another story... looks like the dealer was washing this thing with a push broom and playground sand. Some panels are taking yellow pad + SHR @ 6000opm to make headway, but they are coming up. I've also found a few deeper scratches that will be attacked with the 4" spot pads and the cordless tomorrow. Here it is, no wax yet. Gonna wait 30 days to seal the repainted panels, the rest of the truck will get MSW tomorrow after the correction is done. More pictures tomorrow.

LOL... what? You mean to tell me that this stuff can't defy the laws of chemistry and physics??

this thread is just one big lie isn't it

WAY cheap for an entire truck... I'd be leery of anyone willing to do the whole job for $3k b/c that would be on par with something you'd get at maaco. Most of the guys I know who do paint won't touch a truck for less than $5-6000... to do it right the amount of hours involve more than justify a price tag like that if you want it done right.

http://www.katzkin2.com/SeatSelector/SCSTOOL_09.html

Detailing supplies IMO... get him some quality wax, or some nice microfibers and stuff like that.... won't be super expensive and its something you don't have to worry about matching his preferences in mods. Also gives him a way to spend time on his truck.

LMAO... well... the names original, unfortunately looking at his gallery I know 2 of the rides and neither of them uses the product which is a shame... I hate it when a company blatantly steals images from other sites (note the Show Truck Scene logo and other site logos/watermarks) and tries to pass them off as customer testimonials. If they were actually using the product you'd think they'd have the time to submit original photos, not ones stolen from other sites. EDIT: is it just me or do none of the links work on that site??

Who? Me? Fireman laid out a pretty decent regiment for you. Being that the truck isn't garaged you'll want to keep the protection built up to withstand all that will be attacking the paint. The world is very unfriendly to clearcoat so the more you can do to PREVENT damage the less time you'll have to spend fixing it. That being the case I'd steer you in the direction of a synthetic sealant for your protection... they tend to have better durability/less maintenance. Drawback is that sealants tend to have less depth and gloss than a comparable carnuba wax product... if you want the best of both worlds you can always layer an inexpensive liquid wax like Adams Buttery Wax over the top of a sealant like Adams Machine Superwax. Whatever sealant you're applying to the paint I would apply to the wheels as well... they need to be protected just as much as your paint does. I'd also recommend a waterless washing product for you to do routine wipe downs of the paint between washes. Adams has a killer waterless wash product that came out just recently that has super high lubricity and leaves nothing behind on the finish. Its great for doing 'in between' cleanups when you don't want to drag out the bucket and hose.

I don't know about all that. Truck looks good... I agree with everyone else though... you need some 22's under that bitch and its done!

Figured I'd put this up... I'll be there once again lending a hand and helping people diagnose/repair problem areas on their individual cars... bring your truck by and hang out. Since its a moving sale the discounts if you need anything will be really good. Adam would rather sell it than pay to move it LOL. Hope some of you guys can make it out. Saturday, November 14th from 9AM to 2PM 2020 W. 166th Street, Torrance, CA 90504

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on that one.

Its a shame everything Hennessey does is super shady and the guy is a royal douche canoe b/c they build some real bad ass cars.

Yep, stock paint... just lots of time with the PC and the right products

Its really nice for a synthetic. Its actually going to be renamed "Machine Sealant" according to Adam since thats technically what it is. As with all synthetic sealants it lacks depth, but it does have very shiny properties to it. I typically recommend topping it with a carnuba product to give you a little more depth... I've used the Buttery Wax or Ameriana over the top of MSW with great results. You can wash with dawn to help, but it isn't necessarily required. To properly prep the paint you're going to be doing a full claybar and polish treatment, those will break down and remove the old products anyways so its not that big of a deal to do a strip wash... also dish soap will dry out your trim so its best to avoid it if you can... at most 1x a year is the most you should dish soap wash. You can use whatever product you want on top... polishes don't leave anything behind so theres not going to be 'bonding' issues.... if you want to correct with Adams and top with Zaino thats your call. Theres no rule that says you have to stick with one product line. I've seen many people even top some Zaino products with a natural carnuba with good results b/c they want the depth of a natural product and Zaino, while shiny, doesn't have much depth. If you do decide to place an order with Adams shoot me a PM... I still have a couple of active discount codes that'll save you some money if you want. Actually Machine Superwax is the most durable product... it takes approximately 2-3 coats of Americana to match the durability of MSW.

Its actually a steal when you're looking at "premium" paste waxes... its in the category performance wise with products that cost $150, $300, even $600!! If you're not a big detail geek you usually don't see most of these brands, but there are waxes up in the $10,000 and $30,000 range... so by comparison $70 is a bargain!! Also the amount of applications one tub will get you is insane. I got my tub in the very first run of production so I've had it longer than anyone really, I've applied it to TONS of cars other than mine and its just now starting to look like I've used some of it. I can easily say I will get 100+ applications out of my first tub. Thats actually true of any sealant/wax for the most part. Almost all protective products are sensitive to heat/cold as are a lot of polishes, cleaners for the most part are OK to store in the garage, but all of my waxes, sealants, polishes, and temp sensitive products are kept in the house. I have a bag I use specifically to store them in and transport back and forth... its the one in this picture