So, I'm trying to clean up one of my older cars, a 95 Civic so I can get it sold. The car lives outside, and gets washed every now and then, but never really wax care, etc.

So I have a clay bar kit from Pinnacle which I haven't tried yet.. so I figure this would be a good test piggie before I use it on my Z.

Wash the car, get it dried.. then started with the clay kit. I was using the Pinnacle lube which did a good job of keeping the clay from sticking at all.

So Working around, some of the car did definatly feel gritty, and did feel less after the clay, but not perfect. I'm not sure how much of the improvement was from the clay.. or just the quick detail spray.

The clay was getting some stuff in it, but more dirt was showing up in my MF towel I was using to clean up the lube.

After doing the whole car.. my MF towel was filthy.. and I really feel good that I got that much dirt/grime out of the car prior to polishing.. but I don't know how much was due to clay.. or from QD'ing the entire car like that.

Overall, I'd say it wasn't worth the effort. I'd rather just wash then polish and get a similiar effect. And for people who have said its easy and got it done in 20mins.. yes its easy.. but 20mins is a farce. You can QD a car in 15 mins or so.. but claying the entire car probably took me about an hour or so.

 

You're definitely not the norm. Maybe the civic was just beat to hell and wasn't ready for the clay bar yet. If your towel was filthy after cleaning the car, maybe you should have washed it again.

 

The car was properly washed... I just think the improvement from the clay was no better (actually much less) then when I polish with my orbital.

I followed up on the civic with a polish of 3M with my portal cable and topped it with a coat of blitz. It looks great, but I'll be skipping the clay step for awhile on my Z. So far, polish+wax has done my SB well. I may try blackfire here soon tho.

 

I have used several different kinds of clay and if the clay is too soft it will not pickup correctly.

The Zaino Clay bars have worked very well for me. They are a much harder clay than most bars and pick up the grit out of the paint VERY well.

I'm not sure about the 350Zs but my TA had a TON of raildust from transporting and the clay bar took it off very well.

Try a different clay would be my suggestion.

 

I think Pinnacle has the same clay as Zaino. The Pinnacle Clay Kit is an excellent package as it has plenty of goodies in it.

The best way to check what is happening when you're claying, and to check your work is to take the cellophane wrapper from a cigarette pack, put two fingers in it and gently glide it across the surface. The cellophane will act as a magnifying glass on your paint that you can feel with your fingers. You'll feel EVERY little bit of dirt and what not on your paint.

 

did my wifes jetta in about 30 min and my Z in about 20 min, why you so slow????

btw, the Jetta sits out side (the past 2 months) and is 3 years old, GOT tons of stuff of that, not much on the Z though, it was pretty clean stock, BUT the surface is MUCH smoother to touch.

 

You don't want a hard claybar.. you run the risk of doing more damage. I recommend talking to Paul at AvalonRacing.net or checking out their site once it's up regarding the hardness/softness of a claybar and it's abilities.

 

You've figured it out. If a customer brought me a 95 Civic that sat outside, and asked me to detail it, I would NOT use clay. I'd wash it, then use an orbital and some 3M Perfectit. The Perfectit will get off anything that washing won't, and then I can lay down some polish and make it shine.

If you bring me a new car, I don't want to hit it with Perfectit, because that stuff is abrasive. However, washing alone won't get off the rail dust and other contaminants that I want to remove, so I would hit it with clay before polishing. It's not as aggressive as Perfectit, but for a new car I don't need to be aggressive. If I used clay on your '95, I'd be at it all day, so the Perfectit is a better answer.

Oh yeah, you want to clay in 20 minutes? You need an old-fashioned pasta roller. That's what I use to re-shape the clay. It cut my claying time down from way over an hour to around 30 minutes (I could hurry and do it in 20, but my customers like me to take my time).