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* S O L D *This is such a great jack, but I just have no occasion to use it since I have the Quickjack. Rather than having it occupy valuable real estate under my stairs, I am looking to sell it. I'm asking $130. It was easily double that brand new. Let me know if you are interested. Local pick-up only. Click here to view the specifications for this awesome jack.
I was feeling pretty good about the state of the garage the other day so I threw some photos on two different car/garage enthusiast Facebook groups I belong to. Obsessed Garage and DetailWise are private pages, but worth joining if you are interested in seeing the car and garage-related craziness other people are up to.
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. By far, the best part of this garage hobby is having the opportunity to connect with people from all over the world. I spend a lot of time responding to comments and questions on YouTube as well as carrying on behind-the-scenes conversations via Instagram and email.
Recently, a viewer from Belgium reached out to me to share some photos of his garage space. Geoffrey admits many design and organizational elements of his Belgian garage were inspired by my garage and the similarities in layout, organization and style are clearly apparent. Even more humbling is the fact that Geoffrey attributes the creation of his detailing business to watching my YouTube detailing videos! Learning what I have done with my standard suburban garage in Calgary has inspired a fellow detailing enthusiast living 7000 kilometers away is just remarkable. You can check out Geoffrey's "Masters of Shine" website here. I am sure you will agree he has created a top notch site. I wish him all the best as he chases his dream and I truly appreciate him taking the time to share his story with me. I have posted a gallery of images showcasing the evolution of Geoffrey's professional detailing theatre. As you pursue the gallery, I am sure you will identify a number of common features of our two garages. 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 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: Shaun, is a friend of mine that I met through the garage/detailing world. For years, I have been encouraging him to share more of his garage and process with the world, because he is an impeccable detailer and master organizer. I was so pleased to see his first ever video go live tonight. I enjoyed watching the man in action, and I trust you will too. Check it out! 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: A viewer of my videos, Ryan reached out to me the other day to let me know that my name came up during a video/podcast hosted by Matt Moreman over at Obsessed Garage. Matt and I have known each other since the early days on the garagejournal.com forums. Since those early days, Matt has gone on to build himself an empire called "Obsessed Garage". He's a heavy hitter in the detailing world so to have him speak so highly of me on his channel was definitely encouraging and inspiring. I've embedded the YouTube video below and timestamped it to the part of the video where Matt offers me some encouragement and advice to "chase it harder". It meant a lot coming from him. I combined footage from over two years of using foam washes in the garage. I think it makes for a therapeutic viewing experience. Enjoy: Due to some dubious "third party match" claims on Youtube, I decided to take down the original version of my Allroad project and rearrange it. The music I originally added was marketed as "copyright free", but the artists have since gone ahead and copyrighted the material leaving me in a bind. The never version is cleaner, crisper and features the sounds of Silencyde who is an amazing copyright-free producer. I hope you will take minute to revisit this reworked version of one of my all-time favorite projects. My two-week spring break is quickly winding down and the weather did everything it possibly could to add to the misery brought about by the Covid-19 crisis. To say I'm not impressed is an understatement. I really should be used to it by now, but I'm not. I parked the car outside on the driveway for an hour so my son could work on his stick handling, and this is what I returned to. I title this photograph, "Isolation". I hope the weather is treating you better wherever you are.
I've posted four episodes of my new series called, "Wash & Chat". It's a fun way to connect with viewers. I will still produce artsy videos with chill music, but this is another way for me to enjoy sharing my garage and the projects I complete with viewers. Feel free to check them out when you have the time. I will warn you, they are around the thirty-minute mark in length. One of the best ways I have to manage stress in my life is to clean my car. That's what I did yesterday: I added some graphics at the end of this video showcasing the various Adam's Polishes products I used in this maintenance wash. We have endured two solid days of blizzard weather here. The temps have dipped down to minus double-digits so performing bucket washes is not practical. It has been a stressful week due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus and I like to deal with my stress by detailing my car, so I will performing a rinseless wash tonight to sooth my frazzled nerves. If all goes well, I will be doing a video. I'm sure the project will look identical to this one, but people love videos and I could use some self therapy. I hope you are all finding ways to stay centered and relaxed during these challenging times.
Here are some "before" shots of the SQ5: A buddy of mine hadn't mounted his winter wheels all winter, but we had a pretty brutal blizzard hit this weekend. He brought his car over and we did the swap using my QuickJack portable lift system. Due to the snow he tracked in under his car and in the wheel wells, I was left with a bit of a tidying up once the job was complete. No worries.
Friends of mine are just too busy to clean the interior of the family hauler, so I gave them five hours of my time. This Murano was brought back from the dead. I don't mind doing interiors, in fact I find them highly satisfying, especially in the winter.
I wish I had enough time to convert each of my detailing projects into videos, but it just isn't always possible. A few months back, a YouTube subscriber approached me about polishing the black paint on his Macan GTS. Here's some photos showing the results.
I was able to attend the 2020 Calgary International Auto & Truck Show this past Wednesday evening. I was hoping to return on Friday for a second look, but no such luck since the show has been cancelled due to Covid-19 concerns. The show was one of the best I have seen in a long time despite the fact the big 3 German brands bowed out. I didn't take enough photos, but here's a couple. I was really impressed with the Genesis GV80. It felt like a Bentley. It is my hope that Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW recognize the value in their involvement in this show and decide to join for next year.
What is a better way to unwind after a busy work week than spending time in your garage detailing the interior and exterior of your daily driver? I worked late into the night on this one and finished off the finer details on Saturday morning. I even was able to catch the Flames game. This video features some new title animations I put together using Keynote. I am looking forward to playing around with the design of the animations in future projects. Enjoy: Thursday was an exciting night out for this sedate suburban dad. A friend from work and I attended the official launch party for the new electrified Porsche Taycan. Here are some photos from what was an amazing evening! |
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.
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.
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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