Too late to clay bar? Nope!

[newman27]

This past weekend I decided to finally allocate the hours (and I mean HOURS) needed to do a clay bar on my three year old Solstice. Mind you, I have been washing regularly and using many of the great products available from Perfect Auto Finish - but I never found the time to clay bar the finish. I started by doing a thorough wash and then using the "plastic baggy" test running my hand over the surface. Holy cow, it felt like braille writing! So, I dug in:

1. Wash
2. Clay Bar
3. Wash (Remove Residue)
4. Paint Cleaner
5. Wash (Remove Residue)
6. Paint Sealant
7. Wash (Final Clean Up)

Many hours later (I spread this out over Saturday and Sunday doing yard work in between to break things up) I ended up with a nearly perfectly smooth finish. I figure it is 90% of what it would have been had I done it right when first taking delivery of the car. Anyway, I thought I would post this as encouragement for any of you out there that may have procrastinated on clay-barring their car (like I did for the past three years )! It's never too late!

HTH

Matt

P.S. Photo added a few days later after being driven some but she still looks good - look at that shine!

[LiquidPT]

Originally Posted by newman27 This past weekend I decided to finally allocate the hours (and I mean HOURS) needed to do a clay bar on my three year old Solstice. Mind you, I have been washing regularly and using many of the great products available from Perfect Auto Finish - but I never found the time to clay bar the finish. I started by doing a thorough wash and then using the "plastic baggy" test running my hand over the surface. Holy cow, it felt like braille writing! So, I dug in: Clay Bar Wash Paint Cleaner Wash Polish Wash Many hours later (I spread this out over Saturday and Sunday doing yard work in between to break things up) I ended up with a nearly perfectly smooth finish. I figure it is 90% of what it would have been had I done it right when first taking delivery of the car. Anyway, I thought I would post this as encouragement for any of you out there that may have procrastinated on clay-barring their car (like I did for the past three years )! It's never too late! HTH Matt

Erm, is there a wax/paint sealant on there after the last step? Also, you don't really need to wash between every step (especially if you use quick detailer as a lube for the clay)

[spiky3480]

Where are the pictures of this shiny beauty?

[Morfious]

You do not have to wash it quite that frequently. Get yourself a good detail spray (Poorboy's spray and wipe comes to mind). This is my routine:

Wash (claybar in the wash bucket to get the caked on tar / bug juice)
Detail wheels (not tires)
spray and wipe to get overspray and dust
Polish / Swirl remover
wax / sealant
detail wheels and tires

You should not have to wash in between every step to get stuff clean. Then yo have to dry the car as well , which is a royal pain in the arse!!

[newman27]

Originally Posted by LiquidPT Erm, is there a wax/paint sealant on there after the last step? Also, you don't really need to wash between every step (especially if you use quick detailer as a lube for the clay)

I used the term "polish" but it is actually a paint sealer from Perfect Auto Finish.

Originally Posted by spiky3480 Where are the pictures of this shiny beauty?

I was so glad to be done - I didn't think to take any!

Originally Posted by Morfious You do not have to wash it quite that frequently. Get yourself a good detail spray (Poorboy's spray and wipe comes to mind). This is my routine: Wash (claybar in the wash bucket to get the caked on tar / bug juice) Detail wheels (not tires) spray and wipe to get overspray and dust Polish / Swirl remover wax / sealant detail wheels and tires You should not have to wash in between every step to get stuff clean. Then yo have to dry the car as well , which is a royal pain in the arse!!

I did the second wash to remove the paint cleaner residue. The third wash was a final cleaning step to simply spruce the car up and see all that water beading up nicely! Maybe overkill but washing and drying isn't that time consuming compared to everything else.

[LiquidPT]

Originally Posted by newman27 I used the term "polish" but it is actually a paint sealer from Perfect Auto Finish.

Ah, ya. Those are 2 completely different things. PAF's paint sealer is decent stuff.

[mrshimmy]

I hope you washed before that first clay bar?!?

Originally Posted by newman27 This past weekend I decided to finally allocate the hours (and I mean HOURS) needed to do a clay bar on my three year old Solstice. Mind you, I have been washing regularly and using many of the great products available from Perfect Auto Finish - but I never found the time to clay bar the finish. I started by doing a thorough wash and then using the "plastic baggy" test running my hand over the surface. Holy cow, it felt like braille writing! So, I dug in: Clay Bar Wash Paint Cleaner Wash Polish Wash Many hours later (I spread this out over Saturday and Sunday doing yard work in between to break things up) I ended up with a nearly perfectly smooth finish. I figure it is 90% of what it would have been had I done it right when first taking delivery of the car. Anyway, I thought I would post this as encouragement for any of you out there that may have procrastinated on clay-barring their car (like I did for the past three years )! It's never too late! HTH Matt

[newman27]

Originally Posted by mrshimmy I hope you washed before that first clay bar?!?

Absolutely! I followed the directions on the site here in the detailing forum stickies...