 I was equal part excited and equal part nervous to use the "Devil's Blood & Typhoon" ceramic duo by South Korean company Fireball. I have heard amazing things, and I think this coating system lived up to the hype. Of course, before I got to the coating, I needed to perform a comprehensive wash and prep of this Misano Red RS5. I corrected and polished this paint a few months ago, so it was decided I would perform a chemical decon and forego another lengthy and costly polish process. You will see some minor flaws but just remember, this is a Canadian daily driver. The addition of the channel drain and catch basin enables me to conduct proper washes whenever I feel the need. I felt the need last weekend:  I have spent ten years developing my garage into a car care paradise. With the recent installation of a drainage system, I can now perform proper washes no matter the weather. In this video, I dedicate four hours divided up over a quiet Sunday evening and Monday morning spoiling my 2018 Audi SQ5 winter warwagon. Join me for a relaxing 20+ minutes as I demonstrate the steps I follow to return my trusty daily driver to pristine condition. An Instagram follower reached out to me recently because his parents live close to where I work and he had seen my SQ5. Turns out he's an SQ5 driver as well, so we hooked up briefly the other day so he could play around with some display settings on my dash. The coolest update was to the gear selection display. Previously, my car just said "D" or "S", but now it tells me what gear the car is actually in. We also disabled the auto stop/start (annoying), made it so the parking brake automatically engages when the car is turned off, and I can now lock the car with my remote while it is running. He used the Carista OBD2 Bluetooth Adapter and App.   I have to admit I have been pretty lazy over the last month or so with keeping the interior of my car clean and tidy. Winter is rough where I live and the interiors of cars get filthy quickly. I took a few hours this past weekend to tidy up the interior using a few products I have been meaning to try out. I have had Gyeon Leather Cleaner in my cabinet for a long time, but I think this marks the second occasion I have actually used it. I love it. I also had my first opportunity to give Lithium's "Inner Space" a genuine try. It was equally impressive. Strong cleaning power but also leaves a factory fresh finish on interior surfaces. The SQ5 was in dire need of attention and I will tackle the exterior in short order so stay tuned! 🧽 P R O D U C T L I S T ➤ Lithium Inner Space ➤ 1Z Einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner ➤ Gyeon Q2M Leather Cleaner ➤ Adam's Rubber Mat & Liner Cleaner  My friend parted ways with his cherished 1994 Audi RS2 Avant this past summer. It was a bittersweet decision for Dave, but it was made a bit sweeter by the fact that it was purchased by YouTube sensation car reviewer, Doug DeMuro. Doug has uploaded his reveal video on his very popular YouTube channel. I'm obviously hoping he will see my wash video from this past summer. I posted a comment on the video about being sure to check out my video and I have already seen a slight uptick in traffic. Who knows? Maybe this will be the break I've been looking for! Here's the original video from last summer. As you can see, I have already changed the title of the video!  Performing a comprehensive exterior detail on this gorgeous 2008 Audi RS4 was one of the highlights of my summer. What made the project even more special was the fact that the team from Auto Shield Canada came to help out. I connected with the company a few weeks prior and was impressed to hear about the research and development that has gone into their new Graphene coating. There's a lot of controversy in the detailing world around the topic of graphene, but I have no problem experimenting with the new take on a paint coating. The results on this B7 Avus Silver RS4 say it all. Thanks to Wilson, Josh and Jyles for all their help and support and I look forward to using their coating on my car in the very near future.  The video The graphene I have been buddies with Pan the Organizer for a long time. We regularly chat about detailing, YouTube and life in general and we have wanted to collaborate in some way, shape or form a while now. Pan contacted me about an idea he was cooking up in which I would do some work in my garage and he would feature the footage in a video on his channel while narrating the action for his viewers. I enlisted a gorgeous Misano Red Audi RS5 from my friend Dave and proceeded to give it a complete "wheels off" detail. The fabric wheel arch liners on Audis are notorious for absorbing copious amounts of dirt so the footage I shared with Pan demonstrated the process I follow to return the wheel arches and wheels to factory condition. I am so pleased with the way this project turned out and I have to thank Pan for the invitation and honor of being featured on his channel. I hope we can do more collabs in the future! Here is the final video as featured on Pan's channel: The full project video can be viewed here: Back in September, my car was backed into by someone on the street by my workplace. I have a strong suspicion of who the culprit is, but no way of proving it. Regardless, I filed a "no fault" claim through my insurance company and my SQ5 is back and even sports a new custom grille. Here's two videos that tell the story along with some "before" and "after" shots.
Before The damage wasn't as extensive as I first thought. The insurance adjustor actually made a personal visit to check the damage out, and while at my house, he was able to snap a few of the panels back into place. Thankfully, there was no paint damage. All repairs were done at Cosmos Collision in Calgary and they were just awesome. I gave them a full 5-star review on Google. After Cosmos and my insurance company were extremely accommodating and worked with me on the installation of a custom RS-style grille versus the OEM version. I purchased this Carbnlab grille through Nemesis Autosport in the States. I love how it looks on my SQ5. Huge thanks to staff at all these companies for helping me return my SQ5 to brand new condition. The team at TD Meloche Monnex (Astride & Navi), the team at Cosmos (Jaclyn, Ken & Loc) and Nima at Nemesis. I appreciate you all! You can hear the full story of what happened to my pride and joy SQ5 by watching the video below. Let's just say the school year isn't off to the greatest start! Towards the end of August, I had occasion to detail two amazing Audis. The first one is a very rare and special RS6 Avant and the other is a beautiful RS5 Coupe. Both are owned by guys I have come to know through my detailing escapades. The RS6 received a comprehensive maintenance wash while the RS5 got the full meal deal including a full paint correction and Ethos graphene coating. Both cars came out great and I am very proud of the videos I produced for each of them.
My Brother-in-law and I colluded behind my SIL's back to have her 2017 Audi Q3 detailed behind her back. She was under the impression her car was being "detailed" at a local car wash, when in actuality, it was with me for three days. I was able to wash correct, polish and ceramic coat her little commuter and the results were highly satisfying. This video illustrates the extent I went to in order to surprise her.  A YouTube viewer contacted me about putting my touch on his prized Golf R. I love these little rockets so I jumped at the opportunity. I performed a very thorough exterior detail and did my best to rid the paint of some tiny tar deposits. You'll have to watch the video to see how things turned out. It's a bit of a long video so I suggest grabbing a snack first!  Follow Dave's Instagram channel to see more of this RS2 as well as the other Audis in his incredible stable @blau_rs2 I had the opportunity to perform an in/out detail on a truly remarkable piece of Audi history this past week. On Thursday, I spent the entire day pampering a pristine 1994 Audi RS2 Avant. This car was never available in North America. They are finally starting to trickle in from Japan and Europe. Dave was gracious enough to help me with the video on this project. He is a veritable fountain of knowledge when it comes to all things fast and European. This car was a collaborative effort between Audi and Porsche and marks the first of the illustrious RS cars. It is finished in what is now known as "Nogaro" blue, but it was originally called "RS" blue. When they started using the colour on non-RS cars, they changed the name to Nogaro. Dave taught me this. I'm proud of the video so please take a minute to enjoy it. I'll admit I didn't know much about this car until recent years. As a kid, I was hyper focused on Fiero's and Firebirds. These cars are now garnering the global attention they rightfully deserve on this side of the pond. In fact, a "Bring a Trailer" auction for a similar RS2 just went live the other day. Check it out here. There's lots of information available online, but I liked this article that details the history, significance and technical features of the car. We took our puppy down to Riverdale Avenue to walk along the Elbow River to Stanley Park. The weather was dodgy, but we made it out unscathed. I snapped a few pics of my ride along with some of the magnificent homes that line this very prestigious inner city road. We ended the trip off with a stop at our favorite ice cream shop in Britannia. I spent the better portion of three days dialing in my brother-in-law's 2014 Audi S4. Initially, I planned on performing a pretty basic 4-6 hour interior/exterior detail with an "enhancement" polish, but the project just grew and grew until I had invested over 20 hours of my time. It was a chore, but it came out great. Here's the video: I had an amazing Father's Day Weekend hanging out in my garage detailing two amazing supercars. I spent over eight hours on the interior and exterior of this Ara Blue R8. This car is simply breathtaking. The new Vorsteiner carbon wing gives it that "performante" look and I just love it. Once I was finished with the R8, I spent eight hours dialing in a very unique Mercedes AMG GTS in a matte silver colour. The official name of the paint is designo selenite grey magno. I was highly satisfied with the final results of each project and I am equally proud of the videos I made for each of them.
I am excited about the projects that await me this summer. I am starting to make many connections with people in the high end car community so you never know what will be coming by RAD Garage. I'll keep you posted!
I am excited about this project because I used a number of car care products sent to me by Tim, the mastermind behind Ethos Car Care Products. Tim has been someone I have looked up to over the years and to see him gaining such success and recognition within the detailing industry comes as no surprise. I put the Ethos products to the test by performing a complete interior/exterior detail of my buddy's gorgeous Audi Allroad. Watch the video, and I am sure you will agree the results were stunning.  I am so glad the weather has turned Spring-like. Not because I want to tiptoe through the tulips, but because I want to finally give my SQ5 the spring cleaning it so richly deserves. The outside and inside are immaculate, but the undercarriage and wheel wells are still coated with a thick layer of winter muck. I spent the better part of two days giving the neglected regions of my car some attention. With the QuickJack, I was able to pull the wheels off and perform over twelve hours of care to the car with it safely perched in the air. This makes getting to the undercarriage and wheel wells incredibly easy and satisfying. I put a lot of work into capturing the art of this process and I hope you will find the video as satisfying as I do. I will include links to most of the products and tools I used for this project below. Happy spring everyone! A D A M ' S P O L I S H E S P R O D U C T L I S T
Mega Foam Shampoo Strip Wash All Purpose Cleaner Iron Remover Glass Cleaner Rubber Mat and Liner Cleaner Ceramic Boost Ceramic Paint Coating E Q U I P M E N T L I S T Quickjack BL-5000 SLX Portable Lift Ryobi Water Broom MTM PF22 Foam Cannon Gloves CarPro Merino Wool Wash Mitt MetroVac Master Blaster Car Dryer Detail POPO "Ocean" Microfiber Towel Adam's Polishes Detailing Stool IK Continuous Sprayer  With the isolation comes the need to tidy. Here's a look at the tidiest garage in Western Canada. In an effort to mix things up a bit, I preformed a very thorough exterior detail of my SQ5 using some products I haven't used in a very long time. I dug deep into the cabinets and pulled out some great stuff. Here' the video:  I can pretty much guarantee no car in this city received the level of pampering my car enjoyed over the past two weeks. The engine compartment and undercarriage notwithstanding, the rest of the car is absolutely pristine. Here's so pics of her current condition. On the final Saturday of my 2-week Spring Break, I took a few hours to address the interior of my SQ5. It wasn't filthy by any means since it hasn't been seeing much use as of late, but it needed a little refresh. In this video, I use the Interior Scrubbing Mitt from Adam's and it does a fantastic job of refreshing the leather on my seats and steering wheel. Here's the video: I combined footage from over two years of using foam washes in the garage. I think it makes for a therapeutic viewing experience. Enjoy: |
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.
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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.
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