claybar your car

[djomlas]

i clayed my car when i bought it, it was pretty good, not much at all, so i was happy.
detailed the car today fully, interior, carpet, floormats,under the car, exhaust tip,dressed bumperettes and windshield thing by windshield wipers with back to black, tires, wheel wells,leather, polished the car with meguiars products with random orbital, and sealed with zaino. love the final results, it was never better looking.
but just take a look at what the claybar looked like after i was done
so no matter how clean you think your car is, think again.

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

WOW! Your Clay should never look like that. About 10% of the way to that, you should throw it out or else you're just using pliable sandpaper. It will scratch the paint like crazy...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[eslai]

...did you NEVER fold that piece of clay or something?

[fab]

dj-
OMG....poor thing...this is your daily driver car and those cold/snowy winter months she's been thru. Get rid of that bar....

Not to hijack your thread but how long should someone wait to clay his or her car after it's been resprayed from the autobody shop?

[blinkwatt]

What in the world?! That's the dirtiest clay bar I have ever seen!

MN and eslai, my thoughts exactly. That better have been from a tail pipe and not used on paint. Looks like a steak. lol

[2000SoCalBoxsterS]

I just bought a claybar over the weekend. Going to try it out for the first time this week. I've heard of Zaino but never used it.

Is it a lot better than say Mothers or Maguiars? Any cleaning and polishing tips are very much appreciated.

[SC986]

Originally Posted by 2000SoCalBoxsterS

I just bought a claybar over the weekend. Going to try it out for the first time this week. I've heard of Zaino but never used it.

Is it a lot better than say Mothers or Maguiars? Any cleaning and polishing tips are very much appreciated.

Here's a great site, Charles has alot of good info.

http://melncal.com/detailing/

[2000SoCalBoxsterS]

I just finished a six step detailing process (marathon) on my car.

1. Washed with Mr. Clean filtered water/Ionized water no spots system
2. Turtle wax white polishing paste to remove oxidation (cloth looked clean the whole time. Didn't seem to pickup any contaminants or paint pigment.
3. Meguiars Clay bar w/Detailing spray for lubricant. Again, clay bar stayed clean. I guess my finish was in excellent condition from not being a daily driver and always garaged.
Then I used Meguiars 3 step system:

1. Paint cleaner
2. Paint Polish (boosts color vibrance and adds oils back to moisturized paint)
3. Carnuba wax

Did the wheels including my Red Caliper
Did the interior with Lexol leather cleaner and also the conditioner.
All rubber & plastic trim with Armor All.

This was a labor of love

[djomlas]

Originally Posted by 2000SoCalBoxsterS

I just finished a six step detailing process (marathon) on my car.

1. Washed with Mr. Clean filtered water/Ionized water no spots system
2. Turtle wax white polishing paste to remove oxidation (cloth looked clean the whole time. Didn't seem to pickup any contaminants or paint pigment.
3. Meguiars Clay bar w/Detailing spray for lubricant. Again, clay bar stayed clean. I guess my finish was in excellent condition from not being a daily driver and always garaged.
Then I used Meguiars 3 step system:

1. Paint cleaner
2. Paint Polish (boosts color vibrance and adds oils back to moisturized paint)
3. Carnuba wax

Did the wheels including my Red Caliper
Did the interior with Lexol leather cleaner and also the conditioner.
All rubber & plastic trim with Armor All.

sweet man, that shows dedication
how did you like the 3-step meguiars?

This was a labor of love

very nice man, that shows dedication
how did you like the 3 stp meguiars process?

[Perfectlap]

Turtle Wax? OLD SCHOOL

Ahh brings back memories of the Bomb my father would not sell 1970 something Pontiac Catalina. That thing was big enough for all the bad news bears and the coach.

All these waxes Meguiars, Zaino, Klasse, Werkstatt Prime strong (my choice), Mothers, Clear Kote, 3M...they all produce nearly identical results. Just takes a bit more elbow grease with the cheaper ones and they don't last as long as the more expensive ones.

I think its always a good idea to use a light swirl remover like Poorboys SSR1 or Meg's Scratch X before getting out the polish.
If you are polishing you will probably doing several steps after that so its a good idea to tackle light micromarring before all that stuff gets layered.

[djomlas]

SoCalBoxster,
zaino will give you much better results than Meguiars, and will last longer (coming from a person who is sponsored by meguiars), it will give it that nice shine.
although i use everything meguiars and then top it off with zaino z2.
zaino goes on soooo easy, its instructed to put light coats, lighter the better, and it whipes of so easy as well, no effort whatsoever. that is why people end up with crazy amount of zaino layers (ask Bmussat how many he has), and i did have about 8 or so on mine, but when using a claybar, you would want to wash the car with Dawn, it will strip all the wax and protection off it, giving you a good start on claying the car, after that you want to polish and seal it.

unklekraker,
i used the griots garage one, with pretty much every single meguiars product.
i was suprised how long it took me, and kinda forgot how small a boxster is compared to a full out 4 door saloon mercedes i recently did, phew.
so pretty much i went over the car with diff pads and diff chemicals/products 6 times, then zaino by hand

[eslai]

I haven't claybar'd my car in over a year. I are a bad owner.

Actually, somehow I've managed to get swirl marks all over the car so it needs more than a clay bar. I'm lazy so I'll have to have it detailed.

I have three chinchillas that live in my garage and if anyone knows chinchillas, they'll be familiar with the volcanic dust bath that you have to let them have. My car gets covered in very very fine dust every day. *sigh*

[Perfectlap]

^ Chinchillas and a BOXSTER!!!
That's not a good combination. Like peanutbutter in your engine oil.
You might be better off parking outside. That's one deluxe and expensive cage!
I guess if you aren't claying you arent using that FK1 425 either. The dust would just slide off the paint with a quick rinse. Now that the grass is growing again the landscapers have been out in my complex and I noticed the clippings all over the next guys cars but not mine

[eslai]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

^ Chinchillas and a BOXSTER!!!
That's not a good combination. Like peanutbutter in your engine oil.
You might be better off parking outside. That's one deluxe and expensive cage!
I guess if you aren't claying you arent using that FK1 425 either. The dust would just slide off the paint with a quick rinse. Now that the grass is growing again the landscapers have been out in my complex and I noticed the clippings all over the next guys cars but not mine

Oh, no no, I DO use that stuff, a LOT, but it can't hide the fact that my paint needs help.

[Dohertycm]

Just had mine done and its smooth as glass...!