A little while back I had a set of bucket decals made up by the boys over at @customdecals.yyc They made me three sets, actually. Since I only needed one, I did a little giveaway contents on Instagram. Here's a quick video revealing the two winners! 

I was stoked to put my touch on an Azores Orange McLaren 720S yesterday. Washing a machine of this caliber was exciting, but I also realized how intricate a job it was once I got rolling on it. There are so many tricky nooks and crannies that just don't exist on a "normal" car. I put six hours of passion into it and to say it looked amazing is an understatement. Once it was clean, I applied a layer of Adam's Polishes Ceramic Spray Coating. I look forward to its return in the Fall, or possibly sooner. Here's a video I put together along with a slideshow of images captured on my DSLR. Enjoy. 

I finally mounted my summer wheels. This is an annual process that usually happens in early to mid-May, but this year I ended up putting it off to June for the first time ever. My Quickjack makes the process quick and easy, but I inevitably spend hours detailing the winter wheels which involves prying each and every stone out of the treads. It is a painstaking process that leaves me with blisters every year, but it simply must be done. 

I enjoyed a few magical hours on Father's Day pampering my SQ5. It is currently coated with Gyeon ceramic coating and I have been trying to find the time to polish it off so I can apply a fresh coat of Adam's. I decided to layer the Adam's atop the Gyeon and see how it goes. The application process was very easy and the results are absolutely stunning. The shine coming off the Daytona Grey Pearl paint is unreal.

That evening, my family and I went out for dinner and I was very proud to roll up in my Adam's coated SQ5. 

I had the pleasure of detailing a 2013 Audi RS5 last weekend. I spent around 8 hours performing an interior/exterior detail on this remarkable machine. I picked it up from the owner's house after work on Friday and drove it back to my place. I enjoyed every second of that trip. Once in my garage, I began returning it to showroom condition, which wasn't too hard considering how well this car is maintained. Although it sees regular winter usage, the owner is meticulous in the maintenance of this car. I encountered some hardened tar deposits in the wheel barrels and some mild salt staining on the carpets, but I have the tools and products to solve both of those issues. After a very thorough wash, I spent a bit of time working out some scratches in the clear with a one-step Adam's polish and their orange foam pad. I was impressed with the results and I enjoyed this project from start to finish. The owner swung by in his R8  Saturday night to pick the car up which was quite an awesome sight. The Miltek exhaust on the RS5 rivaled the sound of the R8. 

You have to check out this video released by the media team at Crown Rally. It is amazing in so many ways. I am thrilled that I was able to experience an event such as this. 

Followers of my Instagram will know that I recently participated in Crown Rally 8. This was an exciting event that saw 101 awesome cars drive from Chicago to a stretch of highway along the Tennessee/North Carolina border known as the "Tail of the Dragon".  This event kicked off with a launch party at a car collectors' garage in Chicago on Thursday, May 30th. 

I was invited to be a co-pilot by a fellow Audi enthusiast by the name of Jason. Jason resides in Chicago and is the proud owner of a 2015 Audi R8. He extended this invitation to me some time ago and I decided to take the plunge and accept his generous offer. I flew to Chicago on Thursday, May 30th to meet up with Jason and meet the rest of the rally teams and begin an 800-mile trek South to a stretch of highway known as "Tail of the Dragon".

In typical RAD Garage style, I put some videos together that will showcase all the amazing times I had while chasing the dragon! I also constructed a webpage called "Crown Rally" that dives into my impressions of this experience a bit. I hope you enjoy the videos and visit the Crown Rally page. 

Here's a project I have been anticipating for a long time and finally got around to tackling. I ordered two slabs of Kaizen foam made by Fastway. I don't have an extensive collection of exotic tools, but the tools I have are now super organized. Here's a breakdown of the three drawers I customized using this innovative and easy-to-work-with layered foam. 

This is the big drawer in my 56" Craftsman rolling chest. There is an awkward channel that runs along the middle of the base to strengthens the structure, so I was able to carve out a niche so the slab of foam sits flush on the base of the shelf. I burrowed out cavities for all my main tools. Because Kaizen comes in 48" lengths, I had to add a portion on the left side to fill the entire space. It came out great. 

This drawer houses my collection of drivers. The most fun part of this project is laying out your tools in a pattern prior to tracing. I am looking forward to having much more organized tool drawers now. 

This drawer houses a variety of useful tools including my sockets. This gallery illustrates the process you use to trace, cut, and burrow out the cavities for each of the tools. I found the entire process very satisfying and the results are highly pleasing. 

After an extremely cold and busy two weeks, I was able to spend some quality time in the garage. My car was absolutely caked in dirt and grime so it was cathartic to finally perform a proper wash. When temperatures are below zero, I cannot perform a 2-bucket wash because the water freezes on my driveway creating a dangerous situation, but the weather has been much more cooperative lately. So, a number of  hours was spent removing the last two weeks of winter build up. This wash took longer than I anticipated, so I ended up finishing with a quick and easy application of detail spray. Had I had a bit more time, I would have applied a coating of "Ceramic Boost" by Adam's, but I needed to go get coffee.  

Before/After

At this point, the car is already dirty again, but with continued cooperation on Mother Nature's part, hopefully I will be able to perform more routine washes so it doesn't get as bad as it was. ​

I gave my new "Foam Gun" by Adam's a try. It was quick and convenient, but in no way does it rival a foam gun that attaches to an actual pressure washer. But, since my family was asleep, using a hose attached foam system was great since it didn't make any noise. I did not use nearly enough soap, though. I had to shake it as I was spraying it to get the suds going. For what it is, it works.  

I had my first opportunity to apply Adam's Tire Armor and I loved it. I sprayed the product onto the tire and then an applicator to spread evenly. It was incredibly easy to apply and the tires looked great. Because we are in the midst of a major "melt", I don't anticipate the tires looking good for very long, but I am thinking Tire Armor is going to be my new "go to" tire dressing. 

I'm excited to be featured on the second in a series of videos produced by YouTube sensation, Pan the Organizer! His "Pan & the Organizers" series features viewers touring people through their detailing themed garage spaces. I am enjoying reading through the comments left by Pan's viewers and feel very proud that people seem to dig what I have created. 

The best part of being featured on Pan's channel is the amount of feedback from his viewers. I will admit to reading each and every comment and I am so impressed with the amount of positive feedback my garage has received.  Here's a sampling. Click image to enlarge. 

Let me explain to you how cold and miserable February has been in these parts. The average daily temperature for last month was minus-19 and we had snow on 25 of 28 days. The mercury dipped below minus-30 on 14 occasions. This has made keeping the garage clean very challenging. I spent a few hours in there today cleaning up the mud and rocks that have accumulated over the past week or two. I am really hoping March will bring milder weather, because I don't know how much more of this I can take. At any rate, here's a video demonstrating the process I went through to bring things back to a tidy state.

Brandon Burrell is a remarkable dude. He says he enjoys "tinkering" in his garage, but what he does is so much more than tinkering. He has created a number of amazing custom vehicles over the years and maintains a strong social media presence that allows him to showcase his passion for everything custom with thousands, perhaps millions of followers. I was humbled when Brandon mentioned my garage was part of the inspiration behind his own garage. As you will see, he has created a space that is truly special and unique, and is the perfect environment to create and play with his toys. It has been cool getting to know Brandon and I am really enjoying following along with all his amazing projects, especially his current "cRAMbury" build featuring a 2019 Ram. I am confident you will enjoy his story as much as I have. 

Name: Brandon Burrell
Location: Asheville, NC
Type: 2-car attached
Dimensions: 19' x 22' 
Date of construction: Late-2014

Brandon refers to his garage as a "two civic" garage because of its modest size, but lack of acreage hasn't stopped him from accomplishing some remarkable custom builds. Located in a suburban area consisting of 600 homes, this garage is currently home to Brandon's #cRAMbury build which promises to snap necks at this year's SEMA show. He enjoys tinkering on his and friends' vehicles, detailing, and displaying various automobile paraphernalia along with his extensive array of Adam's Polishes products. I am pleased that Brandon agreed to this blog feature. I haven't known him for a long time, but in our conversations I have found him to be an incredibly down-to-earth car guy with an incredible eye for detail and his "automotive portfolio" demonstrates a ridiculously high level of vision, creativity and execution.   

What projects have you tackled in your garage? 
I currently park my #cRAMbury build in it. I use the garage to tinker on mine and friends' custom vehicles, detail my vehicles and some others from time to time. We have built three full custom Honda Groms, a custom motorcycle trailer (with speakers, lighting, etc), a Subaru WRX that was at the 2016 and 2017 SEMA shows, a 2015 Tundra that was at the 2017 SEMA show and a custom lifted golf cart in this garage.  ​

Like most Canadians, I have a love-hate affair with Canadian Tire. On one hand, it is so convenient to drop by the local store and browse the aisles for whatever you may need. On the other hand, they have been known to stock their shelves with products of questionable quality. Whatever the case may be, I cannot help but get nostalgic when I stroll my way past the wall of car cleaning products at my local store. I remember scouring this wall as a young lad in search of the latest, greatest product that was going to help me perfect my car's finish. In fact, it wasn't until about six or seven years ago, when my obsession began to take hold, that I began sourcing products from other stores and sites on the Internet.

​That means the Canadian Tire automotive cleaning products aisle has been a part of my life for the better part of 30 years. For that, it still gets my respect. 

If you take a close look at these two photos, you will see some pretty decent products for sale. And, you'll see some not-so-good ones as well. 

A few weeks back, an order of Adam's products arrived on my doorstep frozen solid. I contacted the team at Adam's and they put together this care package of replacement items along with some other goodies. They do know how to treat their customers. Here's a look at what I came home to last Tuesday. 

Order contents: 

I still have to follow up with the staff at Adam's to ensure the other items that I received in my frozen order escaped physical and chemical damage. I'm assuming that they are fine since the team at Adam's didn't send replacements for those products but I will double check. At any rate, I am fortunate to have the support of Adam's behind me and I know these products will find a lot of use once I get back to my regular detailing routine. 

Cleaning floor mats is something I take pride in. Because winters in my world make it virtually impossible to maintain a clean exterior, I take solace in the tidiness of my car's interior. I heard it once said that the floor mats are the windows to a car's soul, so I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the floors of my SQ5. Here's the process I follow when my mats and carpet need some cleaning. 

As you can see, there is a significant amount of salt residue that has hardened to my floor mats. When snow melts on my mats, the salty run-off can leak out on the front corners of the mats. I have some strips of microfiber towels positioned to combat that run-off which prevents the salt from penetrating my carpets. The mats and the microfiber needed a good clean. 

Using my long blue bucket as a catch basin, I spray the mats down with warm water. This results in a bucket of very dirty water. Next, I spray the mats with a couple squirts of Adam's Rubber Mat & Liner Cleaner. This is a highly effective spray liquid that, in combination with a green medium-bristle brush, made quick work of the leftover residue and buildup. A final rinse in the blue bucket and the mats are hung to dry on my "mat wall". 

This city has been caught in the icy clench of a nasty cold spell for two weeks and counting. There has been no opportunity for me to do any major cleaning of my garage floor. Day after day, I track mud, rocks, salt, and all kinds of debris into the garage where it falls onto the floor, dries out and creates an unsightly mess. Today, I finally found the inspiration to tackle the job. 

I have been an admirer of this garage for years, so I was pumped when the owner agreed to having it featured on my humble blog. This is a true car lover's dream garage that I really hope to one day see in the flesh. Everything you see here was created by the owner with the help of his family. I have followed each evolutionary change that he has made and the level of execution is simply amazing. You can learn a lot more about the history of this garage by checking out the build thread on garagejournal.com or his photo album on Photobucket. It's amazing to see how Chad and his family transformed this regular garage into something truly special and unique. 

I have been going through some old car related photos, and I stumbled upon this beauty. This photo features a red Dodge Viper belonging to Tim Horton's co-founder, Ron Joyce. I was working as a counselor at Tim Horton's Children's Ranch during the summer of '96 when Ron and Bobby Hull came out to visit and drove this sweet Viper. Imagine my delight when Ron threw me the keys and let Steve and I take it for a quick rip up Highway 40 in Kananaskis Country. It is still one of the most insane cars I have ever had the pleasure of driving. The boss of the camp had a fit, but I didn't care then, and I definitely don't care now. When someone lets you drive a Viper, you drive it. 

This was a job that I had been putting off for years. I painted the entire garage with a white primer back when I first took possession of our house in 2010. Since then, I have been meaning to put a proper coat of paint up there, but I just never seemed to find the time or desire. When I ripped up the RaceDeck floor to sell, I took advantage and got 'er done. Capturing the results is tricky with my iPhone, but hopefully these pics will give you an idea of how things turned out. I like how the paint added a reflective effect to the ceiling. 

Here is a link to the paint I used. It is a "semi-gloss finish" interior acrylic latex paint from Rona. 

Our friend came by last weekend to photograph my garage. Heather is super talented and I am very pleased with the final results of her work. Here's a little gallery highlighting her talent and the beauty of my place!

I have met a lot of guys through the garage and Audi worlds and while everyone has their own unique personality and story, everyone I have come to know demonstrates a high degree of attention to detail. This garage story is no exception. Located approximately 40 km southwest of Chicago, this Orland Park triple garage demonstrates how a well organized and executed garage can enhance life in the 'burbs, and support the activities that come with raising three active kids. My thanks to this garage owner for allowing me to share his garage story with my audience and for approaching my questions with such attention to detail. 

I was expecting an Adam's order to arrive on January 24th, but FedEx lost track of the package on the 21st and didn't recover it until the other day. In that time, the weather took a drastic turn for the worse. Had this package arrived on the 24th, everything would have been fine, but the package arrived on my doorstep frozen solid. I put the various items in a warm bath to thaw them out. The All Purpose Cleaner bottle burst, but I was able to salvage 80% of the contents and use an extra bottle I had laying around. The label on the aerosol Window Cleaner was ruined due to the spillage, but it works. The worst part of all involves the Ceramic Spray Coating bottle. I thought everything was fine, but when I awoke this morning, I was shocked to discover that the entire contents of the bottle had leaked through a tiny crack and completely saturated my workbench (no pics - too dramatic!). I have contacted the team at Adam's to see what they can do to help me get my life back on track. I'm afraid that the chemical integrity of some liquids has been compromised by the freeze/thaw cycle. I'll let you know how it goes...

Which of these products do you think have been compromised by the freeze/thaw cycle?

I uploaded a new tour video to my YouTube channel. It had been a couple of years since I posted the last one and there have been a number of changes and updates in that time. I am hopeful that my garage will be chosen for inclusion in Pan the Organizer's series, "Pan & the Organizers".  I sent him a 90-second video and I have my fingers crossed he will choose to feature it in his next video in the series. I'll post a link to the first episode he posted along with a link to my new tour video. Enjoy. 

Last weekend, a good friend came by to snap some photographs. She is quite talented so I am very eager to see how they turned out. She sent a few teaser pics and they look great. I even convinced my family to pose for a few. My plan is to use her shots to update my website. Since I had the garage tidied up, I did a new tour video because the last tour video is a couple of years old and things have changed a bit since then. 

Because my home has a north-facing front, the driveway gets no sun. Ever. That means the driveway ices up pretty quick if I try to clean my floor with my pressure washer. But, when the weather throws me a bone, like it did today, I feel guilty if I don't take advantage and perform a complete clean of the garage floor and driveway. Here's a little look at how I deal with the floor in the winter. 

The first step is to disconnect the middle portion (slate grey colour) of the floor. Since I have one car, and I park in the center of the garage, filth only accumulates in the middle of the garage. I unfasten the connectors with a paint lid removal tool and drag it out to the driveway in two equal sections. I use my pressure washer to wash the debris that has accumulated under the floor to the front of the garage, but not quite onto the driveway. Once I have the bulk of the muck at the apron, I use a squeegee to push it into a pile. The thick mud and rocks then get sucked up in my Shop-Vac. I rinse any leftover dirt and residue into the gap between the slab and the driveway and do a final sweep of the concrete floor with my pressure washer and squeegee it dry.