pistonbroke2 Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 (edited) After seeing Scoobyhoo's car parked next to mine, I've taken his advice and gone out and purchased a Meguiars clay kit. It says on the box that its a quick process, however I'm pretty sure its not going to be. How long should I set aside to get this done? Should I start doing it this evening, or will I be out there until the early hours. I'll be doing some before and after pics to show people what kind of difference to expect. I thought my car was shiny until I saw scoobyhoo's one. I'm hoping for similar (if not better ) results on mine. UPDATE :- finally finished. been down to Bluewater to take some pics in the car park, found that my camera is a bit ****y but you get the impression anyway. First off, you can see the car here pre claying. As you can see, she was no minger to begin with this picture shows her with about 3 coats of recent wax over the past month. I was trying to get the desired look by just polishing and waxing, but to no avail. Then, after claying, you can see the difference with no wax or polish. then, after another wash, three coats of autoglym polish, followed by a coat of gold class meguiars. (these pics do not do it justice. She seems to be a much deeper blue now along with being considerably more reflective, happy days. Edited July 31, 2008 by Pistonbroke2
20withascooby Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 need mine doing badly feels so rough and not shiny
mikkers Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 Pistonbroke2 said: After seeing Scoobyhoo's car parked next to mine, I've taken his advice and gone out and purchased a Meguiars clay kit. It says on the box that its a quick process, however I'm pretty sure its not going to be.How long should I set aside to get this done? Should I start doing it this evening, or will I be out there until the early hours. I'll be doing some before and after pics to show people what kind of difference to expect. I thought my car was shiny until I saw scoobyhoo's one. I'm hoping for similar (if not better ) results on mine. When I first did mine it took hours, mainly due to terrible technique. Use loads of "lube" (the detailing spray) or bits of the bar will get stuck to your paintwork - dont worry, it will come off (eventually) if this happens, but not with normal washing. Best bet is to wash it first and then see how your shoulders feel. If you doubt your stamina do it the day after! Remember you are going to drag something with a surface of about 40cm squared over your entire bodywork and you need to go over the same bit again and again till it feels totally smooth. When you do it you can feel the contaminants coming off and see it on the bar so you know its working. When i finished mine it looked like loads of residue was left on the paint, again, down to dire technique so i washed it again it came up ok, but it wasnt till i washed and waxed it the week after it looked really clean ( i used meguiars nxt gen tech wax which i rate quite highly). Remember do not drop the bar, cos it will pick up every little bit of grit in a 10 mile radius and you dont need to be a rocket scientist to work out what will happen if you try to use it. Also not really meant to use the same bar twice although some people use it on their wheel after but i am about to try and use mine for a second time.
scoobypaul Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 (edited) as mikkers says, it's a pretty long winded process! it's not going to make your car rust away in front of you but bear in mind it'll strip pretty much all wax/paint protection you have on the car, so personally i'd set aside a full day for claying then rewaxing i think the main purpose of claying is to get your paint back to a good starting point, so it's not a cleaner as such. saying that i do find it's a bit of a 'deep clean' for my car as the lube does get a bit dirty as i'm going along. the sealer i use doesn't seem to have any 'cut' to it so it's something i do about 3 times a year. Edited July 29, 2008 by hoskib
Scooby Hoo? Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 Pistonbroke2 said: After seeing Scoobyhoo's car parked next to mine, I've taken his advice and gone out and purchased a Meguiars clay kit. It says on the box that its a quick process, however I'm pretty sure its not going to be.How long should I set aside to get this done? Should I start doing it this evening, or will I be out there until the early hours. I'll be doing some before and after pics to show people what kind of difference to expect. I thought my car was shiny until I saw scoobyhoo's one. I'm hoping for similar (if not better ) results on mine. I think that both Daz and I would agree that the build up on your car has taken place over many years and is quite heavy. I would expect the roof to take about two hours just to bar. So it could take allday (sorry mate) You must wash the paint work first, and then foamwash if you can and wash with clean warm water. After barring you have to wash the paintwork again. Once this is done the paint will be stripped of all polish/tar/grim and will need sealing with say Sonus Gloss Enhancing Pre-wax Polish which will help to remove fine swirl marks. Then finish off with Victorian Wax applied with your fingers or balm, not a cloth. Allow to dry and buff with a microfiber detailing cloth. It might be a case of start with a small area first, say the boot lid, just under the spoiler. YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL as the clay bar is an abrasive and you must have enough oil on the paint and bar to allow the clay bar to slide over the paint. Do a trial area, say low down on the bumper. What we need is a workshop day.
darryl_martin Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 Agree with the above. Also you don't have to rub the paintwork or apply too much pressure. Paintwork could well look worse initially as you'll get the QD drying in streaks etc so another wash afterwards is imperative. It'll also get rid of any little bits left on the surface, don't go straight into polishing after claying, wash again first! You could also break the bar into two pieces, then should you drop a piece you've got another and I've also found it helps if the clay is warmed a bit, so I keep a piece on the dashboard in a bag in the sun while I use the other piece, and then swap every once in a while. FInally store the clay in an airtight container or sandwich bag after use or it'll go like a rock lol!! Needless to say, if you drop it throw it away.
luke_clifton Posted July 29, 2008 Posted July 29, 2008 Claying mine never took too long, but then there really wasen't a huge amount of tar on there. The smoothness of the paint was incredible after all the hard work though. I normally set aside a whole say when claying my car, as i like to give it a 3 stage afterwards. Along with the normal polish of the exhaust
baser999 Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 . . . . .or you could take a short cut - 20 minutes
shaun_at_tdi Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 I gave my car the full works on Sunday. 9:00am start 4:30pm finish This included a G3 mop on any areas i didnt really like the look of, a total once over with the Meguirs clay bar kit, 3 coats of Autoglym HD wax and a good finishing solution. It looked amazing by the time i'd finished and the paint felt like glass.
pistonbroke2 Posted July 30, 2008 Author Posted July 30, 2008 shaun_at_tdi said: I gave my car the full works on Sunday. 9:00am start 4:30pm finish This included a G3 mop on any areas i didnt really like the look of, a total once over with the Meguirs clay bar kit, 3 coats of Autoglym HD wax and a good finishing solution. It looked amazing by the time i'd finished and the paint felt like glass. Pics please mate
shaun_at_tdi Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 Just popped out to take these. They're not the best pics in the world - two reason's, crap camera (or it could be the photographer - hehe) and we had a brief shower earlier and our car park is pretty dusty. I think that the reflections on the bonnet are the best indecation of the overall finish.
granby Posted July 30, 2008 Posted July 30, 2008 shaun_at_tdi said: I think that the reflections on the bonnet are the best indecation of the overall finish. looks lovely and shiny
pistonbroke2 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Posted July 31, 2008 Out of interest and slightly off topic, in the second pic in the background, is that the toyota pickup with the supra engine in?
shaun_at_tdi Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 Yes it is. We actually finished the second stage of the fuelling and the engine management at the weekend. Bloody thing pulls like a train now. 471bhp @ 1.0 bar & 534bhp @ 1.3 bar > all wheel figures! Scares the crap out of me...
pistonbroke2 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Posted July 31, 2008 Lol, I remember seeing that down bluewater when the guy had just put the lump in, the bodywork was still all 'pickupy' and looked like nothing more than a knackered workhorse Then I saw it down the ace cafe meet in jan 07 when he kerbed the wheels when he parked it, I was standing next to it at the time going "oooooohh, you didn't want to do that". Seems like its come on leaps and bounds now though.
granby Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 shaun_at_tdi said: Yes it is.We actually finished the second stage of the fuelling and the engine management at the weekend. Bloody thing pulls like a train now. 471bhp @ 1.0 bar & 534bhp @ 1.3 bar > all wheel figures! Scares the crap out of me... Sounds like fun
shaun_at_tdi Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 you dont know the half of it. so much power but no weight over the rear wheels means that it spends 99.9% of its time driving down the road sideways in a cloud of its own tyresmoke!
granby Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 shaun_at_tdi said: you dont know the half of it. so much power but no weight over the rear wheels means that it spends 99.9% of its time driving down the road sideways in a cloud of its own tyresmoke! Wish i could do that in the scooby
shaun_at_tdi Posted July 31, 2008 Posted July 31, 2008 You can! The one that was here on the dyno day that was covered in our decals does that anyway! In the dry, 1st and 2nd were useless... In the wet, it was a deathwish!! but then again it does run on Toyo R888's and they're not exactly friendly for wet driving conditions.
pistonbroke2 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Posted July 31, 2008 (edited) Right, back on topic, I've clayed the car this afternoon and managed to get one coat of autoglym polish onto her, rain however has decided to halt proceedings for the time being. I have taken pictures of each stage so far, pre clay, post clay, then once I get the rest of the coats on I'll post the results. I intend to put 3 coats of autoglym polish on it, followed by a coat of meguiars gold class wax. Progress update wise, the paint os seriously smooth now, scoobyhoo, you'd be proud Edited July 31, 2008 by Pistonbroke2
pistonbroke2 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Posted July 31, 2008 All done, I'll be heading down bluewater later to get some pics. If anyone fancy's meeting for a little photoshoot session, I'll be in the middle level carpark where the old meet used to be
pistonbroke2 Posted July 31, 2008 Author Posted July 31, 2008 All done, see editted first post for results
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