clay bar detailing of a 116

[nathan]

hi guys,
one of the things I've wanted to try for a while was to clay bar the cars.  if you haven't come across these, you wash the car normally first, clay bar, then wax.  basically you get this 10cm square of 'clay', and after applying the makers lubricant to the paint, your run the clay bar back and forward over the paint (always keep moist).  it reportedly picks up the adherent debris which inserts into your clear coat.  supposedly even new cars should be clay barred when you pick them up!  so i did this today, and followed it by the manufacturers recommendation of carnauba wax.  damn the 6.9 could be the smoothest ever! and my paint is original paint. i like to keep my car clean and am used to autoglym smoothness, but this went pretty far beyond this!  so i can recommend this stuff. the mothers kit i bought was only 30 AUD/USD from local car place.  some sites suggest all clay bars are the same so don't pay big bucks.  again i stress, always use enough lubricant or it can damage your paint. i attach a vid, the first  two throws of the towel are pre'clay bar and followed by the clay and wax.
http://youtu.be/Meadf1nhsnk

[oversize]

I've heard this stuff is great, but I haven't tried it myself.  I'd love to see the results of your efforts Nathan but the video is private and I can't get access!!   

[nathan]

oops sorry. think its now public
http://youtu.be/Meadf1nhsnk

[giles]

Been clay baring my cars for a few years now. It's the best final pre wax your car will ever have. It strips the road grime and any build up of wax and polish. Can't recommend it enough.

If you run your fingers across your paint work and there's any friction or noise clay bar it. Once to have you will have a friction free surface. Then wax, wax and more wax and your paint work will be forever grateful.

The process takes less time than a cut and polish. Takes about 30 minutes to do a car and cost around $30-40. Cheaper than chips.

Regards,

Giles

[TJ 450]

Wow,

I know what I need to do now!

Tim

[adamb]

After my car was resprayed I Supagarded it. The effect seems to be similar.

[Tony66_au]

The beauty of clay barring is that unlike cut and polish you cant really rub through the paint if you do it right AND it smooths the surface correctly before adding wax where the combined cut and polish tends adds wax as you cut which is less than desirable if your paintwork isnt in very good condition.

[oversize]

oops sorry. think its now public
http://youtu.be/Meadf1nhsnk

Hahahahaha!!!  LMAO!  That was hilarious!!!  I'd have never thought of that standardized testing method; brilliant!   

[jbrasile]

Yep, this stuff is amazing... About 2 months ago the 78 450SEL was back in the body shop to correct some cracking paint issues on the black portion of the door sills. When I picked it up it had this fine mist of over spray all over it, I was not happy. Did a little research and bought a 3M cleaning clay bar to try it out. Used some Mother's instant detail as lube and in 1 hour the car was as smooth as glass!!! Just incredible and so easy to do!

Followed with a coat of Auto Glym Super Resin Polish and it just looks superb, oh and BTW you can use it on glass and all your chrome, just remember to always keep the area well lubed.

Tks for sharing Nathan

Joe

[Tony66_au]

The Towel chuck?

Standard old school test mate, and it doesnt leave grubby paw prints lol

[gf]

 Im going to give this stuff a go! sounds good!- " smooth as a s...t from a ducks a..s" to quote from that movie- cant remember what it was called?

[nathan]

U haters hatin on my towel test. Only jb knows where it's at!
Ha ha. Joe, so u super resin after the clay? I had super resin as my standard after a wash, but I gotta say the carnauba after the claybar topped it.  I wonder should I resin after clay and carnauba!!
Nathan "towelly" v

[jbrasile]

Nathan, I actually bought the clay by mistake thinking I was getting a rubbing compound (the description on the package was poorly translated into Portuguese...) and decided to try it just for fun. The results were so amazing and it was so easy to do that I used what I had afterwards, your approach is correct using carnauba, but if you use both Super Resin then carnauba, I am sure  the outcome will be even more  astonishing.


Tks,

Joe

[CraigS]

I imported about 100 of these clay bars some years ago. What I learnt was that you DO NOT need to buy the lube - that is a marketing exercise. All you need is some good detergent in a bucket. What you have to do is keep the surface wet all the time and the detergent makes the clay bar slip on the surface and pick up the particles. Just don't drop the clay bar on the ground. If you do, throw it away !

[jbrasile]

Agree with Craig, a spry bottle with some detergent mixed with water will do the trick. I used Mother's instant detailer and it works great  too.

Tks,

Joe