ArmyofOne

Excuse me? Wash and vac? This is a business that I make ALOT of money with. How dare you. You have NO idea the amount of time/effort I put into the jobs I do. I have pulled off jobs like the Toyota Century. Problem is, look where I reside. NOBODY has nice/expensive cars up here, because the salt eats them alive. So I post the jobs I do, because people have questions as to what to use and what not to use. These are what people in my area drive. You dont like it? that sucks. Put it in the rules that it isnt allowed and I will stop. And while you are at it, maybe you should just ban every non-lexus owner from posting altogether. Seems to be the correct course of action in this situation anyway. I have been a member here a LONG time. And I deeply enjoy the forums. I contribute in more ways than just "blog posts". If you dont see it that way, sorry. Nothing I can do about it.

So yesterday afternoon, I arrived at my company (I am a soldier for those that do not know) and prepped for one of the most difficult events of my career: a 25 mile, kick-you-in-the-!Removed!, "Road" march. I say "road" march because...well...you will see shortly. We packed our gear, got some food, and stepped off at 1900hrs (7pm). I am in my custom-made Desert Tan Combat Boots (Specifically tailored to my feet, I had to come out of pocket $250 for this, but it was worth it), ACU's (Army Combat Uniform), Full Body Armor, an M-4 Carbine, 210 rounds of ammunition and a 50 lb. Pack on my back (roughly 150 lbs of gear total). The first 3 miles went great. We were on pavement moving at a good pace (roughly 5 miles per hour). Keep in mind though as you continue reading...I am not a lightweight person. All 230lbs of my body weight slammed onto the soles of my feet with every step. At about 3.5 miles, we went from Hardball (pavement) to gravel...This is where the "fun" begins. We hit the 5 mile mark, and we stopped to rest for about 10 mins. Take a bathroom break, eat an apple or granola bar (energy). By this time, my feet had some hotspots, but other than that I was ok. I didnt take off any my gear, cause I knew if i did I wouldnt want to put it back on. Anyways, I was comfortable, so I just left my gear on. We stepped off again, moving at a very brisk pace this time. I started feel an extreme burning sensation in my boots. I knew this feeling...Blisters were beginning to form on the soles of my feet at about mile 10. I tried not to think about it. Then at mile 11, we stopped again for a water refill, and a short rest. When we stepped off again, I felt it. It started getting bad. I slowed down a bit, and fell back about 50 yards. Then suddenly, I found myself surrounded by my platoon again. Finally...The turn around point, Mile 12.5. at mile 14, Every single agonizing step felt like I was stepping on a bed of nails. In point of fact, I would rather have been stepping on a bed of nails. Every step I took, I could feel each individual piece of gravel under my feet. I kept going, at my own pace, no longer with the formation. Still moving at about 4 mph, I could see the rest of the Platoon about 100 yards into the distance by mile 16. Step, By agonizing, painful, tearful step, I kept putting one foot in front of the other, knowing each step was one closer to the place where I could sit down and relax. I hit a pothole at mile 18 and rolled my ankle. I heard it crunch, but continued walking. I felt little pain at that point, except for the soles of my feet. Then suddenly, i felt a slight pop on the bottom of my foot. Blister #1 had popped. Mile 19 was bad, but the road was getting better. I felt a digging in the heel of my foot, right on my achilles tendon. It was my boots. They had creased to the point of irritation, clearly not designed for this kind of heavy duty use. I slowed down even more. Now only making about 3 mph, the platoon was slowing too, so they were still within sight. Having slowed down, I had a chance to feel my feet. This was getting bad. My socks were soggy. Really soggy, to the point where I was worried. It was mile 23. I stopped for a quick second, and I could feel my feet throbbing with every beat of my exhausted heart. I looked behind me, and I saw wet footprints. I didnt think anything of it, I must have walked through a puddle. I stepped off again, my feet were SOAKED...something wasnt right, this was not sweat. I looked down at the bottoms of my feet as they contacted the ground....Blood was coming out of the vent holes of my boots, and those foot prints were !Removed!. Well...the damage is done and I am almost home. So I pressed on. I went to turn the final corner by our company. The last 1/2 mile. Soggy feet...numb again, but soggy. I walked into my company parking lot, got to my car, opened the door and fell over into the car, dropped my bags, and my gear and laid on the ground. My Platoon Sergeant called for the medic. The medic asked if I could take off my boots, I couldnt, so he cut my laces and removed them. The socks that started out green, were now a dark red (soaked with blood) and dripping. I asked how bad it was, he said I would be fine but my feet looked like they went through a meet grinder. They set me in the back seat of my car, I called my wife and asked her to get a ride to come get me, as I wasnt about to drive home. Now, sitting here...with my feet in bloddy bandages...I (and many of you) wonder why I put myself through this. And to be honest, I dont know. I guess it was just to say...I did it. This is the hardest test the army has...and I did it, in 7 hrs and 44 mins (typical time is 12 hrs, time limit is 14).

Interior: (no before shots, you dont wanna know...believe me). Thoughts?

Wow, this was a nice little car. It belonged to a co-worker. Wash: -Meguiars Deep Cyrstal Shampoo -P21S Paintwork Cleaner Clay: -Mothers Aggressive Clay system -Hot, soapy (dawn) water for lube. Polish: -Optimum Polish II -Glaze: Megs #7 Show Car Mirror Glaze Wax: -Megs #26 Sealant: -Jetseal 109 Interior: -OxyClean Laundry Stain remover (carpet) -Megs Dash/Trim Foam Conditioner -Wet/dry vac. Before: After:

To put it into perspective: this guy has been to the moon, and is halfway back...

**Updated!**

Wow dude...Here's your sign. I tell ya, we are all screwed. <_<

I asked him if there was any way for me to make their job easier. Thats what they told me, they are going to do it anyway, just to be sure. Thanks LOL.

Hello LOC. I detailed the civic today (well kind of), did some new mods as well: ^blue plate frame... ^flaky! Brake upgrade! I know its not a BBK, but I like em. ^front plate flip :) It was on the bumper, now its on the grill! (took before i detailed)...More Blue! Comments? Questions? I am still not sure about the Blue plate frame on the back, I may take it off and go back to chrome. Also I did Blue LED lighting in the footwells, but its daytime so pix wont work till later. What you guys are seeing is the car completely BARE. No wax, no glaze, no Nothing. Only the clearcoat separates my paint from the elements now. I was instructed to strip the wax by the owner of the body shop thats painting my car. They said wax can cause adhesion problems, so just to be safe, I should strip it. I hit it with clay, then rubbing alch. and then just did Megs QD to give it a minimum of protection. July 4th weekend, I will Redo the process, Clay, polish, glaze, seal and wax. Goes in for paint on Monday under warranty.

from Iowa to WV to Kentucky to Indiana, Illinois and back to Iowa. He does this at least once a month. That was an inaccurate statement, he doesnt average a thousand miles a day, but he does put a thousand miles on his car some days, sometimes more.

Well steve, I ended up getting the rust off with the claybar system. Whats to say it wont return. Those rust spots arent from scratches nessecarily, most of them are plain old poor craftsmanship. My civic is about 6 months older and doesnt look like this. she is having it repaired by Dodge under their corrosion warranty (10 years, no mileage limit). As far as the truck, it doesnt drive in NYC, im 6 hrs away from there, its a local truck. And for the wheels I couldnt get them clean to wax them.

Dude, do the math, its 342 miles a day bro. That isnt that bad. 8hrs or so a day, 6 days a week.

umm...no? it isnt illegal. Not in the states unless you are a commercial truck driver.

Oh God...LOL Looks like you have a contender Blake! This guy (friend of mine) is an Inter-state courier for a medical supply company. Racks up a thousand miles a day, sometimes more. Way to go! Same car/same engine as mine, just a different color.

It doesnt get any better than this guys! So Like the title says, my Civic is getting repainted. They are using DuPont paint, at an independent shop of my choice, and Honda is also paying to have the ding removed from my door. I just asked them to add that in there, and they agreed. But hey, cool with me! The color will be the same, and the reason for the repaint is Premature clearcoat failure. Basically, there were "crows feet" in the paint on the hood/fenders/roof and it is a common problem, as seen here: http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/mecha...hood-pics.html Thank GOD for small favors, all I had to do was get an estimate. It goes in for paint monday the 18th of may, and should come out that friday. During that time I will have a free car to drive (more than likely a leftover 08 Si sedan). The entire car is getting painted, because i have CC failure on the hood, both fenders, and the roof. The only things not getting painted are the front and rear bumpers. **Update** Well Folks, a little update on the progress of my project. She went in for a major paint overhaul (under warranty of course) and is now fit as a fiddle. I even took out the ding (that golf ball sized one that has been bugging me for a year now! Before: After! Flake shots: Before final reassembly: I am very impressed. Not only did they do it at no charge to my wife and I, but the body shop the honda dealer contracted to gave me ALL of the leftover paint, and called me before they did final reassembly to come look at the car and ensure it was to my standards. They even let me look in on them during the whole process. Now THAT is service.

^The best wheel on the truck...The others were too badly corroded and stained to put in pix. ^reflections...NOICE! ^more :) ^there comes a point for black trim,w hen its just too badly faded to recover...Mothers Back to Black+Aerospace 303 wouldnt even bring it back... ^Stripes in the carpet. More cheap plastic, but at least its clean... Thats all...till next time...

^more rust...wow... ^still more... ^Clay! Annnnnnnd Polish, Glaze, wax, and sealant Prep work! \ ^Meguiars #26 on and curing...30 mins oughtta do it, it was humid. And after: ^Like I said, wheels are ruined...I tried Klasse AIO and the paint cleaner...nothing worked. I even tried clay. ^see...told ya

^more crap ^the inside was nowhere NEAR as bad ^cupholders EWW!!! ^HUGE expanse of plastic...nice... ^rust on the hood, on a 2006? ^Paint peeling under trim... ^more rust... ^The reason for the rust on the tailgate... More to come...

Ok, so a friend of my sister-in-law calls me and asks me if I can detail her durango. I said sure, she drops by, and I gave her an estimate. By the time it was all said and done it came to $500. You shall soon see why. The supplies used are as follows: Exterior Wash: -Plain old DAWN. this truck was nasty, it got treated as such. -P21S Paintwork Cleaner Clay: -Mothers Aggressive Clay system -Hot, soapy (dawn) water for lube. Polish: -Optimum Polish II -Glaze: Megs #7 Show Car Mirror Glaze Wax: -Megs #26 Sealant: -Jetseal 109 All products were applied by a 10"orbital and removed by hand with microfiber. Interior: OxyClean Laundry Stain remover (carpet) Megs Leather Conditioner Megs Dash/Trim Foam Conditioner Megs Woodgrain Polish Without further ado...the pix...dont cringe: Before: ^Right Rear Door (bottom) ^R/R bumber ^this woman CANNOT drive...its quite evident. ^nor can she maintain her vehicle properly... ^jeez...wrecked at both ends... ^wheels are ruined. Before wash... ^AFTER the wash... ^thats all stuff STUCK to the paint finish. More coming...

i try to use the paste whenever possible steve, as i work mostly by hand, hoever with waxes like gold class luquid and #26 you are right. with darker colors, letting these dry are a no-no. i find on my lighter colored car that if i dont let it dry, i get the same effect the OP is experiencing. BlackOnyx, i own a Black 2003 ES300, same as yours and trust me, everything that these guys have advised you on will get you the look you're looking for. Claying your car is crucial getting that "COTDAMMY!!" reaction. when i first bought my car i was ignorant to claying, polishing, and all the prep work one should do before applying wax. I would just wax my car with Meguires cleaner wax and call it a day. However, one day i went through the entire process, clay, polish, cleaner wax, yadda yadda, and ill tell ya the results were amazing! All that to say, CLAY YOUR CAR!!!! I have moved from OTC products, with the exception of claybars, and meguiars products. I love the clay-magic claybar, and its $13 at Autozone. But I love the poorboys line, as well as the SwissVax products.

Nah, not really the karma bank, I just had nothing else to do with them! Well ya could've sold em' but you didn't. Not in good concience...i didnt pay anything for them...beides, who buys used eyeglasses?

Well since it was free, i wont complain, but TBH, thats what worried me most. A little haziness and pain today. Still light sensitive.

No, Mine was done entirely by laser, except for the forceips needed to take a piece of embedded metal out of my eyeball! :o surgeon said it had been there for awhile! Nah, not really the karma bank, I just had nothing else to do with them!

Wow guys, i gotta say, aside from having to keep eyedrops in my eyes CONSTANTLY. I am EXTREMELY impressed with the surgery results. Imagine my joy, when I woke up this morning and opened up the curtains in my hotel room, and (after putting on sunglasses of course) I was able to read the LICENSE PLATE on a truck ACROSS THE INTERSECTION (roughly 50 feet away...maybe a little more) Honestly, I almost cried. 20 years...TWENTY YEARS I have depended on glasses for my sight. Not anymore. I walked into that Hospital on Thursday with 20/400 vision in one eye, and 20/600 in the other. That means that, at its worst, my vision was so bad that at 20 feet away, a road sign looked like it was 600 feet away for a person with normal vision. OH! Best part of this, was I donated all of my glasses (and I had alot) frames/lenses to be reused/recycled for people in need.

heh, not at this rate :P i cant hardly even see the keyboard...