Used a clay bar for the first time today.....

[JaysGreenLX]

I finally got the Mustang out of storage for the summer. epper:

I bought a clay bar kit on the way home just to give it a try and see what all the deal is with them. WOW...I could't believe it. My paint has never been so smooth and clean feeling. It wasn't nearly as dirty as I had thought it would be (with the exception of the back bumper) but you could definately tell a difference. I then waxed my car with some kind of wax my Uncle bought me for Christmas. I guess he uses it on his race car and it works great. It seemed like good stuff from what I could tell.
Anway....if you haven't used a clay bar on your car GO GET ONE. I was very pleased with the results. It certainly made this 14 year old paint look and feel better. Factory orange peel never looked so good.

Here are a few post cleaning pics......

 

[BmoseleyINC]

Oh yeah looking very good. My rims look the best on foxes...I turned all of my mustang buddies onto clay bars.. I clayed like 4 mustang friends' cars, they were all like holy shit!! when I was done. Makes paint look twice as good when it's finished. :beer:

 

[ROADKILL]

How do you apply it? Do you do it by hand or with a buffer? Is it easy to get off? Your car looks great by the way.

 

[play23]

Just follow the directions on the box. I did this to my Focus and waxed afterwards. My paint looked brand new. Clar bar is definitely worth it. :coolman:

 

[BmoseleyINC]

How do you apply it? Do you do it by hand or with a buffer? Is it easy to get off? Your car looks great by the way.

When I was a detailer for Ford in high school, I learned the best way...Wash the car very good, rinse, then clay with the clean water. It's just a bar of automotive clay that you rub on the car by hand until it's smoooth, and no more imbedded crap is coming off.Then wash good again..it goes very well with wax too.

THe worst part of the car will be the back bumper below the license plate, and the spoiler. THe paint will look amazing.

 

[JaysGreenLX]

How do you apply it? Do you do it by hand or with a buffer? Is it easy to get off? Your car looks great by the way.

You don't really apply it.
Its literally a bar of clay with very very small abrasives in it.
You spray on some detail spray for lubrication because the clay is sticky and rub the clay on the paint. Then you wipe off the excess detail spray with a dry terry cloth towel.
The clay lifts off all kinds of crap from your paint.
Ever since I bought my car 5 years ago, there was a white paint scuff on my rocker panel on the driver side. I used the clay bar on it and it came right off. Nothing else ever took that scuff off the car.

And thank you.

 

[engine281]

heard you can use it on the windshield too, gives it show quality.

 

[ROADKILL]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will have to look into getting one of those. :beer:

 

[Allen2001GT]

looking good!

 

[DBK]

Agreed. I used that same Mguiauariuararirs kit last week on my car last week, and it looks the best it's looked in 3 years, especially the front fascia. The amount of shit that comes off is unbelievable.

Your paint looks excellent. :cheers:

 

[fuelonempty]

wow, thats the factory paint job!? damn man.. I love it and that is clean as hell.

 

[JaysGreenLX]

wow, thats the factory paint job!? damn man.. I love it and that is clean as hell.

Thanks man. Yeah factory paint. It is getting pretty tired though. Lots of stone chips on the hood and some scuffs where the previous owner had some kind of upper hatch spoiler :kaboom:. But as far as being glossy, I think it still holds up. I can't wait to get it painted though.

 

[AzDropTop]

Clay bars rule! Sweet how soft the paint is afterwords! Car looks great!

 

[fuelonempty]

Thanks man. Yeah factory paint. It is getting pretty tired though. Lots of stone chips on the hood and some scuffs where the previous owner had some kind of upper hatch spoiler :kaboom:. But as far as being glossy, I think it still holds up. I can't wait to get it painted though.

what color you goin with?

 

[JaysGreenLX]

what color you goin with?

The same thing. I thought about going Sonic Blue or DSG but it seems like everyone is doing that. Plus I really like the green. You don't see it everyday.

 

[Cahill00SS]

wash your car with dawn before hand to strip the wax off, waxing after words is a MUST, since the dawn, and clay will take all the wax off your car

 

[Slow350Z]

I swear by meguiars deep crystal, great wash.

I use Meguiars pro overspray clay, does a good job too. But everybody I hear about uses mothers, and it seems to work well as your car looks great!

 

[Ace5Oh]

wow. looks nice.

 

[Teal94BirdV8]

will it take off non-celar coated paint?

 

[JaysGreenLX]

will it take off non-celar coated paint?

It is said to be safe for all paints.

As far as using Dawn on paint, I have heard of doing that but I have also heard that it dries your paint making it brittle. I don't know how true that is but I would rather not use it.