RAD GARAGE - Rick's Residential Detailing Theatre and Dream Garage
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BLOG (RETIRED)

FOLLOW ALONG WITH WHAT I GOT GOING ON

Project: Porsche Macan GTS

8/19/2019

 
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I spent Friday night and a good portion of Saturday working on a Macan GTS belonging to friends. It is such a beautiful SUV. Here's a video that showcases the project. I hope to see this amazing Porsche back in the future. 

Interview Video on Tyson's YouTube

8/19/2019

 
Tyson Hugie put a neat little video together showcasing his recent visit to my garage and a few other aspects of his recent stay in Calgary. The video features some questions he asked me about the garage. If you are interested in watching, I have posted it below. 

Best day of my life as a kid

8/12/2019

 
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In 1987, I was 15 years old and completely obsessed with cars, mostly Porsches. As I explained in an earlier blog post, my parents had purchased an electric typewriter and I spent hours on that thing churning out sophisticated sounding letters to car companies requesting "literature". One day, a delivery guy showed up on the doorstep asking for my father. My dad signed for the big package and then said it was from Porsche. It was three black boxes, each with a die cast of the 1987 model lineup and a fancy brochure. It was sent from Porsche headquarters somewhere out East. I have held on to them all this time, but unfortunately, the 911 model is long gone. That was a great day and it shows how mighty the pen can be (or electric typewriter in this case(!

Cooke Motors folder

8/12/2019

 
As I was rifling through this old brochure collection of mine, I came upon a folder I have had for well over 30 years. It was given to me by Gary Cooke, who owned the original Porsche dealership in Calgary. My dad and Gary had a mutual acquaintance so we always received the royal treatment when we visited the Cooke Motors showroom on Centre Street. In fact, I remember Gary and his wife visiting us and he parked his black 928S4 on our driveway for all the neighborhood kids to admire. I am curious if anyone else remembers Cooke Motors. The building is now a Shoppers/Tim Hortons.

With a quick Internet search, I tracked down Gary Cooke. He is the lease portfolio manager at Hyatt Infiniti. He remembered my dad and said the folder brought back good memories for him as well. Very cool. 

Pure class

8/12/2019

 
In 1984, my parents purchased an electric typewriter. I would spend hours at that thing knocking out letters to every car dealership on the continent. I was quite proud of how sophisticated my letters sounded and I did get a decent amount of responses. What I was after was brochures.

​Recently, I was going through my collection of over 300 brochures and I came across this handwritten note from a sales person named Ken Lust, who worked for a local Mercedes dealer in Calgary. I have been trying to track him down via the Internet with no luck. I called an Audi dealership in Edmonton as well as two Mercedes-Benz dealers, but can't find him. I wanted to personally thank him for taking the time to send me a brochure as well as for the kind note. The fact that he addressed me as "Mr." when it would have been quite obvious from my writing style that I was a kid is pure class in my opinion.  
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Car brochure collection

8/12/2019

 
I have been holding on to a pile of brochures from the 80's, 90's and beyond. I'm not sure what I want to do with them. They are all quite special to me, so today I took some time to take a photo of each cover. I think I'll hold on to the very special ones and let the others go. Either to a collector or maybe even the recycling bin - I'm not sure yet. At any rate, here's a little video along with a photo gallery of the 300+ brochures I have collected over the years. Let me know if any stick out to you.
Here's a gallery of the collection:

RAD Garage welcomes Tyson Hugie

8/12/2019

 
I've followed Tyson for a long time. He has a crazy collection of Acura's and he converted his Arizona double garage into a triple tandem to house six of his cars. I was honored to have him visit me and check out the garage over the weekend. We spent a few hours chatting and asking each other questions, and I captured some of that conversation on camera. Here's a video that gives you a good taste of what our visit was like. I hope to one day make it down to Arizona to visit his garage. It's crazy how many cool people I have met through this garage/car/detailing world. 

Gorgeous Golf R Project

8/10/2019

 
I had a lot of fun putting my touch on this little Golf R finished in Indium Grey. The owner reached out via my website to see if I could perform a detail on this well-maintained hot hatch. I have never detailed a Golf, so I accepted the challenge. A friend from Saskatchewan was in town so he joined me for the exterior wash and assisted me in capturing some great video footage using my new DJI Osmo Mobile gimbal. The final results on the car were highly satisfying as was the video. I hope to see this car back in the RAD environment at some point because I would like to give it a full detail including a polish and coating. 

QuickJack wall hangers

8/5/2019

 
My buddies at QuickJack sent me these cool wall hangers recently. I used to store my QJ frame units horizontally under my Thule roof box, but now I have them hanging vertically on the opposite side of that big wall. I took the opportunity to repaint a large portion of the wall and install some shelves I had in the basement. Things worked out great. Here's a video as well as some photos showing the progress and final result. 
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    RAD GARAGE is my personal detailing theatre. I am a teacher who finds immense pleasure in completing deeply therapeutic, thorough and highly satisfying detailing projects in my residential garage. I have converted my suburban double car garage into a world class detailing environment and I enjoy caring for my own car and select cars belonging to others. The garage and the work I complete in it have allowed me to connect with other detailing enthusiasts from around the world. ​
    Contact me

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    I have teamed up with Teespring to offer viewers an opportunity to grab some RAD gear! Click here to see the current inventory of RAD merchandise available at my Teespring store! 
    Use "RAD10" to save yourself 10% until the end of March, 2021. 
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    Carzilla is a local detailing store that caters to the North American community of professional and enthusiast detailers. I have been a longtime customer and I am fortunate to call the owner a friend. Besides stocking a vast quantity of top quality detailing products, the owner has supported various garage and detailing projects of mine over the years.

    5 %   d i s c o u n t   c o d e
    "RADGARAGE"

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    I am able to offer all Canadian detailing pros and enthusiasts a 5% Carzilla discount code. Check out the awesome Carzilla online store here.

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    The team at Annovi Reverberi North America reached out to me and commended my work. They generously offered to supply me with one of their pressure washer systems. I can't express how satisfied I am with the performance of my AR630TSS pressure washer and highly recommend this machine to all enthusiast and professional detailers. If you are considering upgrading your existing pressure washer system, I highly encourage you to price things out over at the Obsessed Garage website. 

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    I have equipped my garage with a variety of LED lighting systems from this family-owned company out of Saskatchewan. They have a variety of garage lighting solutions to fit every need. Be sure to visit their website and use "RAD10" at checkout to receive a 10% discount on your order.

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    I am proud to rep Obsessed Garage. Click on the banner below to explore the complete OG inventory. By using my affiliate link, any purchases you make will help me equip and enhance my garage. 

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    25¢ per sq ft discount
    "RADGARAGE"

    Swisstrax manufactures the highest quality modular flooring system you can get for your garage. I am able to offer a 25¢ per square foot discount to Canadian friends wanting to install a Swisstrax floor in their garage. Simply reference "RAD GARAGE" in your email or phone call correspondence with the Swisstrax Canada sales staff. 

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    The  expert team at Glove Box curates boxes of high quality products that work together towards a common goal. I highly recommend you check out their website to see the various boxes and purchase options they offer. You can make a one-time purchase of any past or present boxes, or opt for a 3, 6, or 12-month subscription. Whatever option you decide to go with, use "RAD20" to receive 20% off your introductory order. 

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    Adam's is one of my all-time favorite brands of car detailing products. I have made friends with a number of team members and I appreciate the support I have received from them over the years. I have also been fortunate to meet many other Adam's fans from all over the world. Check out the Adam's website here. 

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    If you are in the Calgary or surrounding area and you are looking to have some concrete work completed, I highly recommend reaching out to the team at Concrete Innovations. They did a tremendous job on my garage drainage system. You can save $300 on your own double garage drainage solution by contacting them and telling them I referred you.

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    Tim and his team at Ethos have been hard at work bringing innovation to the detailing industry. I have been fortunate to have received a number of high quality Ethos products and I have found all of them to be highly satisfying. I am a huge fan of this company and their "Defy" ceramic protectant spray is one of my all time favourite products. 

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    Tunerworks is a performance-minded automotive service centre located in Calgary. It is my go-to source for wheels and tires and all other things automotive. If you are interested in connecting with the team at Tunerworks to see how you can improve your car's appearance and/or performance, give the team a call at 403.398.9833 and tell them Rick sent you. 

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    A few years ago, a Quickjack representative reached out to me because I had mentioned on this blog that I was looking for some sort of lift system. We corresponded back and forth and I ended up receiving a sweetheart deal on a QuickJack BL-5000 SLX lift system. I immediately fell in love with it. I sent the team at Ranger Products a variety of photos of the lift in action in my garage and they have featured them in various online ads, including the US and Canada Costco websites.
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    TRITON DOOR SERVICES
    Triton is owned and operated by Mike Awada and he is a highly skilled and experienced garage door technician. I highly recommend reaching out to Mike if you have any garage door concerns or if you are interested in upgrading your home's garage door and/or door opener system. 
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    The team at Auto Shield Canada has been extremely supportive of me and my detailing pursuits. They have provided me with samples of their graphene coating and even gone to the lengths of helping me apply it on a friend's 2008 RS4. I look forward to watching this company make deeper inroads into the market with their high quality coatings. 

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    The team at Lithium Auto Care has been highly supportive of me and my detailing hobby by sending me a number of samples in exchange for my feedback. I have been very impressed with the products I have tried and I have been even more impressed by the quality of service they have provided me. 

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    Extra Tough is a highly effective and versatile all-purpose cleaner. The team at Extra Tough sent me two complimentary gallons of this cleaner and I have used it in a variety of jobs around the garage. Most famously, I used it to deeply clean the carpeted wheel arches of a pristine Misano Red RS5. It is available through their website. 

    CROWN RALLY 8
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    I was fortunate to have been invited to participate in the 8th edition of the Crown Rally. This is a high octane car rally that explores some of the most amazing drives in the Untied States. Click the image above to learn more about this amazing adventure. 

    OTHER RAD FRIENDS

    ​Custom Decals YYC
    Geoff Wilkings Photography
    Glenmore Audi
    ​Kaizen Foam
    Space-Ray Heaters
    ​Tire Rack
    Trek Bicycles
    ​TSW Wheels

    OTHER RAD GARAGES

    In addition to showcasing my own garage, I enjoy sharing other amazing garages. Here are some spaces that I have featured on my blog: 
    Tavin Garage
    Tyson's Acura Museum
    Larry's Charlotte Showroom
    dubber's double
    Chad's "Next" Makeover
    Gully's Dream Garage
    Orland Park Audi Oasis
    Cory's Industrial Arts Studio
    Brynjar's Icelandic Garage
    Pat's Controlled Chaos
    ​Greg & Nancy's Place
    ​Brandon Burrell's Toy House

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  • Home
  • Affiliates
  • Audi
    • 2018 SQ5 Technik (Current)
    • 2014 SQ5 Technik (Previous)
    • 2009 Q7 S-Line (Previous)
  • Blog
  • Build
  • Contact
  • Design
  • Detailing
  • Door
  • Drainage
  • Gallery
  • Heat
  • History
  • Lighting
  • Livestreams
  • Merchandise
  • Music
  • Organization
  • Pressure Washer
  • QuickJack
  • Swisstrax Floor
  • Videography
  • YouTube