Just got done with the interior on the 74 car. Pulled it all out and completely cleaned it. Car has been buffed with a combination of PS21 cleaner and Mequire's scratch
remover. Really turned out nice. I picked up the Mequire's clay bar system too. What has been your experiences using them? Is it worth the effort? I gather once it's cleaned with the bar, you just apply wax or does other prep work need to be done to get the clay residue off (if any)?

Thanks

Tod

Just don't use the clay bar when it's hot.

Just wash the car, clay bar and then wax. Works great, You will be amazed.

The bars work very well. However, be sure to use them on cool paint and make sure to keep it wet. It's basically like wet sanding so don't press hard. I have all black cars... other than my 914... and the bars help with my damn cats tracks.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot and see how it turns out. Just deciding on a good wax now. The PS21 is very good, but doesn't last long. Trying to find a clear/white
wax so it doesn't tint the paint.

I clay bared my car last year, after reading a lot about it and how important it was to do, the results weren't as dramatic as I had hoped. I may do it again this year and see how it turns out.

For wax, I've always liked Zymol. After you apply it and buff it out, spray it with a mist of cool water and buff it again. It really brings out a great shine.

Where do you get the clay bars, and what price do you pay. Can't seem to find them locally.

When I bought my 911 the front fenders had overspray on them from a cheap paint job the seller had done for the front bumper. You couldn't see anything but you could feel it with your hand. Clay barred the fenders and they came out shiny and smooth. I get my stuff from Griot's Garage.com.

I second that comment. Superb customer service.

will the bars affect the paint if it isnt completly smooth? I havnt color sanded the car yet so the paint isnt perfect.

should i colorsand the car first, or would claybar still be ok?

I'm no expert, but I think the clay bars are for finished paint surfaces only. Without a finished surface you might have trouble sliding the bar around even with lubricant. Never tried it so I could be wrong.

Griot's Clay bar & Speed shine, worth the dollars as it works the way he says it will. The others I have had mixed results with. I have found it is cheaper in the long run to get the better product and use it right than , be driven by the price point and have frustrations with the end results.

Keep it all of them lubed otherwise they will stick and leave behind a film that is almost impossible to get off. the cheap stuff does it way faster than a pro-product.

Clay will work on all painted finishes. I would not use it on a pebbled finish or something like that, but a standard auto-top coat will be fine. You will notice a difference one you are done.

Should I return the Mequires and go with Griots do you think?

You are now entering the realm of opinion.....I stick with Griot's for all the reasons mentioned above, I'm still using a bar I bought years ago so if you keep the Meguires you may be stuck with it for a while.

Ted K

Concur (no pun) with Zymol. Except I follow up with Meguiars Final Inspection, but that's just my witches brew.

I've been "into" cars since the mid 60's (the Simoniz days), and everyone had a distinct "thing" after polishing/waxing. On my very first "my own" car, a 1960 Dodge 318, I sprayed it (a very big car) with ice water immediately after waxing a panel. Seemed to work nicely with the waxes of the time. Everyone has a tale.
Pat

Do not use clay on painted wheels.

biz

Why?

I've done it with no negative effect.
Pat

After doing the clay bar and waxing, I was DONE! I was hot, sweaty, and my arm hurt.

I saw recently on a Meguiars Car Care commercial, that you should clay bar, use a cleaner, and then I final coat of wax. Sounds right, but a lot of work.

I used the Meguiars clay bar which can be found at any local FLAPS.

Seems like a real lot of work. I only want to do it once. I'll try the Mequires in
a small section and see what kind of results I get and go from there. Car is comming along nicely. I'll post some pics when I get a chance of the progress.

Thanks for the tips fellers

Meguires is a very well respected company for DIYers. There are better products out there, but you really need to know what you're doing when you use it. Zymol is about the best wax you can buy. Griots is okay if you like paying more for a relabled product. They do have some nice things and they make redily available car care tools that are hard to get at a local flaps. But it is just Mothers relabled. Mothers is a good product as well, but I like maguires better.

Just did this last night on the 911, with Meguiars.

The car was recently (well 3 years ago) completely painted, but I suspect it sat at the shop, as all the top surfaces had what feels like overspray. You could not see anything just feel it...

I did two complete clay applications, and a ton of "stuff" ended up on the bar. Paint is baby butt smooth now.

Ran out of time for wax, but plan on the Meguairs cleaner wax and then a final coat of their Tech Wax. (Not used it yet, figured I'd give it a shot).

Ferg

hmmmm. I haven't waxed my car this year, so maybe I'll clay bar it again next weekend and then put a nice coat of Zymol on it. This thread is inspiring me.

I've been trying to learn more and more about car detailing this year.

Griots just makes the best stuff. Others work but if you just want to buy the best all around stuff then griots is kinda a buy and don't think to much choice cause it works.

Griots also has the cheapest clay bar since they sell it in a larger tub.



To me clay baring a car is just taking it that one step further and you are also less likely to cause any swirl or haze when you begin to polish and wax the car.

May as well let the cat out of the bag......

Do do not need to wax your car. For the most part companies still sell wax because when we think of car care we automatically think of waxing.

Wax doesn't do much to protect the car and cleaner waxes are even worse. A cleaner wax will last about one month. In extreme heat it won't last a week.

What you would be better off using is a paint sealant. Now they say you lose some of the shine with a paint sealant. Anyone who can tell the difference between a paint sealant and a wax as far as the shine must have some sort of light reflecting meter in there eyeballs.

A paint selaant apllied every 6 months should always leave your car protected and looking good.

Use good microfiber towel and polishing cloths to clean. When drying it's real handy to use a leaf blower. Gets most of the car off without you having to touch the paint surface.



You can go to Griots Garage website and they have several videos you can watch. With big orders they throw in there car detailing dvd. I plan to order there machine polishing system really soon.


One huge bonus for me learning how to detail cars really well is I have alot of friends with really nice exotic cars that are to lazy to do it themselves. They give me there car for a weekend if I detail it. Z4 last week, viper 6 weeks ago, 750li next week. Great way to get to try all these different cars out


edit.....

I couldn't think of the name before since I just got it for myself. Wolfgang paint sealant is the best sealant wax I have seen. Protects like a sealant with the shine of a wax.

http://auto-geek.net/video/wolfgang/wolfgang.html

If you enjoy detailing cars become friends with owners of a high end detail shop. You will learn more just sitting there BSing with them than you will ever learn anywhere.

My original steel wheels were repainted; maybe it was the paint used. But the clay brought out a distinctly darker patina so (after only a small area) I stopped.

Paul

Thought it was mequires i purchased, it was actually mother's. I just
did the entire car, and rear trunk. Amazing the amount of particles it
picked up even after I cleaned it with ps21. What a great detailing tool
too Gets into all the nooks and crannies and removes the dirt.
Here's a couple of after shots.. Just need to do the cleaner again, then a
good wax coating. Then onto the little stuff and engine bay.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Tod, that car looks fricken CLEAN!

good job!

Tod,

Gorgeous!

What happened with the white car?
Pat

Thanks for the compliments. Whitey is up for sale Pat.

Here is a shot of mine after all the clay and wax work at this weekends local Concours

Very nice Ferg. What products did you use? Love to trade the teener
in for a 74 Carrea

Meguiers Clay, then Cleaner Wax, followed by the Nxt Tech wax (best smelling wax out there ).

It's a 75, and I loved my 74 2.0, but sold it for this gem.

I'm short on cash now, otherwise your white car would most likely be on it's way to me. Surprised it's still on the market.

Ferg

Cleaner wax is so terrible why did you do it LOL

The clay works fine but you should throw out that cleaner wax it comes with. The Tech Wax is a sealant and should have gone one first. Since you put it on top of a poor quality wax the whole thing will be gone in a matter of weeks. At that point I would apply the tech wax again and leave it to cure overnight in the garage. After that if you want to throw some hot wax on it to give it some real shine put some mothers reflections on top. Then it will really pop.

Just got done claying my car and adding a fresh coat of Zymol. Here's a couple of pics

Looks great! Nice deep finish with the wax. Once my ps21 runs out,
think I'll try the Zymol.

After many people swearing to me the new formula for Meguiars NXT wax looked really good I gave it a try.

It's really nice and I would say comparable to almost any sealant wax you can buy. I finished putting a coat of it on my solstice saturday then sunday put a coat on meguiars gold class on top. Gonna see how the shine looks in the sun today.

Still trying to figure out what waxes give the best look to different types of paint.

John, its beautiful!

Seems I should drop in here more often... I am getting credit for all these nice, shiny 914s!!

I used Silly Putty and spray wax (or Ivory soap) as a lubricant as far back as 1980 for fallout and overspray removal. Stole the idea from a dumb white stoner kid who hated color sanding and polishing overspray off cars.

This dumb kid was caught in the act and when asked where the hell he came up with that idea? He responded "Silly Putty on the funny pages with the Sunday paper when he was a kid"! Duh -didnt everyone do that? After seeing the results, zero swirl marks and zero repaints my first thought was brilliant. Never ever thought he was just a dumb kid anymore. Had my respect.

That kid went on to bake a better version with Plasticine clay, palm oil and corn starch. In 1982 he sold the idea to Humbrol since they made the clay. 3M later bought the rights. Kid never had to work again. Story doesnt end. He went on to make the best detailing products in the industry. Sells in bulk to EVERYONE who re-package's under own brand names. His trademark is every product he makes has a great distinct smell to it. Yep if you have ever waxed your car and said wow that stuff smells good he makes it.

No bullshit!

Clay works and it is easy to use. I have even removed overspray from my eye glass's. From paint, glass,trim it works even removes embedded brake dust from wheel coatings.

Cool story Jeff. After recently trying it, the clay (not the silly putty on the comic strip), I'm sold on it too. Thanks for the responses.

Great discussion. Haven't tried a clay product, but I will now!
Some of you are Griot's fans (is it really Mother's repackaged?)
Would like some feedback from you who have used their buffer.
Have heard that it is a "repackaged" B&D (?).
I'm using a 7" circular buffer which is ok but would llike to go random orbital if it will give a better finish.
TIA
Allen
'74 2.0 in "Super deep red"

finesse-it 2

that is some good stuff. My company uses it to polish fiberglass plugs to a mirror shine, I tried it on my 914 and it works great, even the bumpers/chrome caps polished out like new.

I can't say for sure if griots is repackaged anything. It probably is. Doesn't mean it's not a good product.

Griots is a buy and don't think to much line of products. The owner explains in great detail how things work, the produtcs and polishers are all safe for anyone to use from a professional to a beginner.

I just placed an order for there polishing kit. I think it's worth the $200. I will probably buy there smaller one as well.


I don't think it's the best polisher though. Without question the flex is. It's also very expensive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yht1uHJLNlQ



End of the day I would have to say technique is more important then the products used. They are all pretty good. Meguirs, Mothers, Griots, Pinnacle, Wolfgang, Zaino. It's a matter of what you want your final results to be. Pinnalce wax may look the best but wolggang sealant may last the longest.

We should have a detailing thread really.