CLAY BAR surprize!
 

hey guys.... no real reason for posting this other than i was pleasantly surprized.......... here is the scoop,

so i went to the pomona swap meet on sunday and i had been thinking about having my car claybarred or clay-barring it myself, so i am talking to a vendor about the process and i figured i would spring for the 15.00 and would use a lil elbow grease.

so tonight as im cleaning my coupe, i thought i would try the clay,...... wholly ****, it was easy fast and what a difference! now my car is pretty clean and shiny black, but wow wow wow, it was smooth and soft and i couldnt stop running my hands over it.... a 10 minute little test area ended up being a 2 hr job and here i am at midnight finishing up.....

anyone have a similar experience?

i am sold on that lil piece of clay!

Alexander

ya, clay bars have worked great for me too... i was a detailer for a while and with any kind of overspray, sap or other surface imperfections, it worked great...amke sure you wax/polish it afterwards though, they say it doesnt strip wax but i'm not so sure, so i give it a once over...glad it worked so great!

I've heard that the stuff is fantastic, but you must get the technique down w/ the right amount of lube stuff, etc...

Glad that it worked out! :cool:

I use it once a month and it's really easy - works great.

ya same here, i heard it did wonders but i had delayed, simply because my paint looks as good as it did 10 years ago when it was painted, luckily it has been in a warm garage, sooooo i didnt think it would make a difference..... boy was i wrong......

it looks AWESOME......

the technique was minimal,.... keep it nice and lubed and you can actually hear and feel the stuff being lifted off.... it was amazing...

then nothing but soft clean black shiny paint.

thanks for the comments,.......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1106123557.jpg


this is what it looked like before.... now it REALLY looks black

Wait a minute...didn't your car have a tail on it a few months ago?

-Scott

yup,.... the tail is still on there.... that pic is a wee bit old, but it has always looked the same as far as the paint.... so now (with the tail) it looks really black,....... after the clay bar......

you should try it on your blackie.

as a matter a fact,.... i was getting ready for sundays run scott.... how funny you saw my post.

try it on your windshield--does wonders

I've been thinking about trying this and have some questions:
my car is black and the PO had it repainted with cheap paint that isn't very hard. It seems to scratch really easily.
Will the clay bar scratch the paint or will it remove/cover up scratches, or not affect them at all?
Thanks.

Sundays run ?? Recheck your calendar.

Not effect it at all - I had an alfa romeo that was repainted and then clayed it... If you want to remove the scrtaches then hand glaze - the clay just removes all the high bumps...

How does a Black car look under fluorescent lights after being clayed?

yikes..... i didnt mean sunday, i meant saturday mornings run! whew.

sammyg2: my car is black also and as of this morning it seem to scratch at all and looks pretty good, like jeremy said just takes the gritty crap out,.......

rickm,...... not sure havent put it under a fluorescent light. but i dont think i will be doing that at all.

jont: i will do the winshield tonight! hehehe

Where can I get one of these clay bars?

I've had a great experience with clay bars on various cars, single stage paints and two stage (base + clear). I'd highly recommend their use. I was under the impression the clay bar removes old wax and impurities collected on the paint and prepares paint for application of new wax. I believe you should always protect the "stripped" paint with new wax, following the clay bar treatment.

Doug

you can go to any auto parts place..... meguiers makes a packet,...... they run about 15 -20 bucks...... easy to use.

I use 3m perfect-it for dark paint for the scratches now, while it is a time consuming PITA it works well. I was just curious about how the clay bar affects them.
I guess i'm going to have to give it a try now.
Then I'll have to start saving up for a high quality paint job. That won't take long ;)

The real test is to put your hand in a zip lock type sandwich bag and lightly rub across your paint. Do this after you wash your car and then compare before and after the clay bar. It will amaze you how much grit is there and it looks clean. Try it!

sammyg2,.... is the 3m a wax? i have a black car too and i had always used meguires #7, it has maintained my paint wonderfully since i painted it 10 years ago, i still get comments on the 911 paint. but i always wondered if there was something better, and meguires isnt a wax its a "moisturizer" just thinking outloud.....