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It's an ongoing battle keeping the garage clean, but I enjoy the process. I was able to do a full wash of the floor yesterday and then my son and I filmed a guided tour video. Check them out:
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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.  My son and I braved the elements to make the cross-town trek to Carzilla. I picked up a few supplies to help ease my anxiety about all that is going on in the world. It's always nice to pop in the shop to see what's new. It doesn't seem like Spring is on the way, but I am starting to get amped up for the projects that come with the end of winter. I picked up a gallon of Adam's Polishes Mega Foam, a can of Adam's Multi-Use Foaming Cleaner, an Adam's Interior Scrub Mitt, a new pressurized IK sprayer and a bottle of my favorite detail spray, "Cars 'n Cocoa" by Adam's. Not a massive haul but it helped relieve a bit of the pressure I've been feeling these past few days. 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: 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! I will be feasting my eyes on it tonight at the Porsche Centre Calgary launch event. I'll be sure to post some pics from what promises to be an awesome evening of cars, food and schmoozing. I'm going with my teaching partner. We are both very excited.  This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Calgary International Auto & Truck Show. I've been to many of them, including the first twenty! I moved overseas in the late-90's so I missed a few, but I've attended this show every year I have lived in Calgary. This year, there's a bit of a disappointment for me. Some of the prestige brands have pulled out of the show and I guess that's a sign of the times. When I spoke with a guy I know at Audi, he said the Internet has changed the way people view and research cars. Audi, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are all sitting this one out. Regardless, I will be attending this Friday evening with my buddy. It's our annual meet-up and I hope it isn't the last time we share a mediocre burger while talking cars for hours on end.  Of the manufacturers that will be represented at the show, I'm probably most excited about the Genesis exhibit. The new GV80 looks like an amazing luxury SUV. I'm also hoping I will run into Carlo over at Ferrari and convince him to give my school's "Car Club" another epic tour of his amazing facility. I'll be sure to update the blog with some pics and stories from the 2020 Calgary International Auto & Truck Show!
Vanguard Motor Sales is a used car dealership down in Plymouth, Michigan that specializes in selling pristine, low mileage vehicles. They have a steady stream of cars from my childhood coming in and out their doors. I have been following them on YouTube for a while now and they never cease to amaze me with the quality survivor cars they find and sell. I honestly don't know where they find them, but here are some of my absolute favorites. As you will see in their videos, they do a wonderful job of showcasing the overall condition of each car. They take them for test drives as well as put them on the lift to show the condition of the undercarriage. Check them out on YouTube or visit their website to see if they have your dream car for sale!
Leave a comment below telling me which one of their videos brings your childhood memories rushing back!
I have washed my SQ5 countless times. I have documented many of them through the creation of videos, but I feel my most recent wash is as close to perfection as I have ever come. Here's the video: Recently, my YouTube channel eclipsed the 6000-subscriber mark. I celebrated by addressing my followers and sharing my appreciation for their support and inspiration. I also explain how the channel has enriched my life and afforded me amazing opportunities to connect with people from all over the world. Here's the video: To say it has.been a while since I updated my blog is a massive understatement. I have no excuse other than I have been busy with other aspects of life. But, I am back and I wanted to update readers on what has been going on in my "car and garage life". Project: Audi A6 Full DetailThis project involved a friend's 2012 Audi A6 that was in serious need of a thorough interior/exterior detail. We agreed on an 8-hour timeline and I set to work. The video does a nice job of demonstrating the various processes I went through returning this car to extremely clean condition. The paint remains in need of correction,. but I am hopeful I can take a crack at that in the Spring. This video has been my most popular post to date with over 120k views! Cleaning Swisstrax FloorPrior to the arrival of winter, I was able to perform one last thorough clean of my garage floor. I have developed my own floor-cleaning process over the past decade and I am quite happy with the process. Since we are in the middle of winter here, there is little opportunity to perform such a cleaning job. For now, I am relegated to performing vacuum and mops of the floor. I look forward to performing a very through Spring clean in a few months. Ceramic coating my SQ5Back in the Fall, I had a lot of fun re-coating my SQ5. I used Adam's Ceramic Coating and the process was highly satisfying and enjoyable. It is a few months into winter and I am very pleased with the performance of the coating to date. This video demonstrates all the stages I went through to get the SQ5 re-coated.
I am amazed by the number of amazing supercars that are out there in the world today. When I was a kid, I clamored for recently released books and magazines that featured the radical supercars of the day. I was often disappointed with the cars featured, as there just wasn't much in the way of exotics in the early to mid-80's. In fact, some of the cars publishers tried to pass off as "supercars" were downright hideous. Here's a good sampling of what I had to deal with growing up. As you'll see, there were some cool rides that have definitely stood the test of time, but the list quickly devolves into ridiculousness. What was you favorite "supercar" of the 80's, and what was your least favorite? Comment below:  The only thing more destructive to a car's interior than a dog is two dogs. The owners of this car love their dogs and take them to the dog park daily, so it takes a toll on the interior. I spent some time bringing this A4 back to life recently, and the results were highly satisfying. I snapped these pics close to the end, so you might see a few hair fibers, but I think I removed them all by the time the job was complete. Before and afterMore after pics 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. 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.  In 1986, I was 14 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 1986 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(! 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.   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: 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. 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.  It took me an hour to haul the centre section of my Swisstrax floor onto the driveway, clean the garage floor and then set things up again. I used to "snake" the floor in long sections, but the Swisstrax doesn't have the flex or strong connections for that, so I have to break it up into 3x4 or 4x4 sections and stand those sections up against a garbage bin to power wash both sides. Here is a little photo gallery that demonstrates the various steps in my floor tile cleaning process. |
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