Detail tip for your car

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December 02, 2008, 10:53:14 PM

I had today off and was getting the Road Chicken cleaned up for a car show this Saturday. A freind on mine stopped by and recommended that I get some "Paint Cleaning Clay" for the paint. I told him that my car doesn't need it cause it never sees rain and I use detail spray once every few weeks. Plus the paint looks awesome. The car has been filled and blocked and there is no orange peel.

He won a best of show with over 400 rides last year and told me to trust him so we went down to a high end car detail shop. I bought some clay. Here is what it looks like. It feels like the silly putty that we played with as kids.

What you do is wet your car down with a detail spray like Mother's or Meguire's. Griot's recommends that you use their detail spray called Speed Shine.

You flatten the putty out and slide it along your paint using the detail spray as a lubricant. They say the clay will pick up any dirt, tar, tree pitch, fresh paint overspray, carbon from your over cammed Dart, etc... Of course you don't want to have any visible dirt on your car for fear of scratches.

My paint looked perfectly clean. The clay had visible dirt after doing a door and fender. It's not much but it is there.

This is what a section looked like on a partly sunny day.

Next put a coat of polymer based wax, no silicone. Griot sells a "Best of Show" polish and wax. If you are interested in their clay call 800-345-5789 for the nearest Griot's distributor. I not trying to push their stuff and don't get any perks, just sharing something new to me.

Tom

was wondering about that stuff, now i know, thanks for the info. will be quite awhile before mine sees paint again. oh well.

I guess that's kind of like clay magic. How long did it take to do your whole car?

i love clay bars they work great,really makes a difference.i was apprehensive at first because i thought it was like wet sanding and wasnt sure if i'd mess up my paint,but its not hard to do at all in fact is was kinda fun.they said a bar would last for three cars,it was toast by the time i was done with one car,(daily driver)and the results were a much smoother cleaner surface.one thing to note,make sure you clean your car immed. after use,the speed shine type products leave a filmy residue thats easier to clean off when still wet.

Mopowers; it only took about 1/2 hour to do. Don't do it in the sun 'cause your lube dries. You just want to apply a light pressure and glide it over your painted areas. You want the clay to be able to slide. And Stu is right on about the smooth thing. I thought it would be like sanding but it is not.

The clay was about $25 and the gallon of speed shine was $30. I did my 2000 deisel truck, the RR, my wifes econobox, and it looks like I will have enough to get the Olds tomorrow. The Dart will also have to wait.

Tom

I just finished the RR

Tom

also,you want to wash the car really well before using the bar,although its designed to pick up debris it can also spread it around and scratch the paint.so start with the car as clean as possible.

Tom, I don't think I've ever seen a picture of your car. It looks friggin awesome!!! I love those red lines too. Beautiful car man!

Thanks mopowers. It's pretty much just a show car. It does fairly well for what it is. I'll be back on the Dart at the end of July. Here's a few more for you.

Tom

the clay kicks butt.......easiest way to remove overspray.......hey Tom......you missed a spot! taunt

I used the clay magic bar and some lubricant,and did my entire Dart. By the way it is also the first thing you want to do before applying any vinyle stripes or decals such as the bumble bee stripe on my Dart. Yes I used it before putting the stripe on. It works great!! 4 speed