Mequiars Clay Bar

[asburydan]

I just tried Mequiars Smooth Surface Clay Kit. It is fantastic. When I traded for my Vibe just before Christmas, it looked good, but had a rough feeling on the surface (especially hood and roof) even after I used a 3M cleaner wax. The clay bar and following wax did everything I had read and been told it would do. It was also surprisingly easy to apply and remove residue. It's almost like my wife's new Hyundai Azera. (great car by the way)Clay Bar kit is an A+ product.

[kevera]

Mequiars FTW.

[northvibe]

yup loved it when i did it last year....got to busy to do it before winter but this is forsure getting done when it gets nice outside again

[Sublimewind]

Yeah, good stuff.... It still didn't get all of the paint contaminents out of my frosty paint, but a little bit of pre-wax cleaner (chemical more than physical) got most if it out... Only with my paint being etched so bad from the acid rain, EVEN AFTER WAX, I STILL had a semi-gloss finish..!!So it doesn't fix everything... lol

[Whelan]

The clay bar is more of a resurfacer. It takes out the very top layers of surface chemicals such as acid rain, industrial fallout, spores, etc. Leaving your paint with a smooth finish so that product can be applied evenly and not leave your car finish streaky and discolored in some areas.Hence it is the very first step after a proper washing.Try it out on a dark car. Do a wax job without using a clay bar and you can see streaks and darker lines in the paint. Due to the uneven-ness. So using a pre-wax or even a product like #80 or #83 from Meg's professional line will do wonders for bringing back that deep color, as well as remove the deeper stuff in the clearcoat. Lesson Time:Think of your clearcoat after its been unwaxed for a period of time, even if it's been washed. If you looked at it sideways in a microscope it would appear to look like a knife edge, all jagged and rough. Some of those go fairly deep which is why it passes through the clearcoat and into the paint creating a deep scratch that needs cosmetics to repair. A clay bar removes the stuff on the very surface of the knife edge. Kinda like running a knife under hot water to clean it off. Works good but doesn't get everything. Know using products like ones mentioned above is like taking a sponge or scrub pad to the knife and really getting all the crud out. Except these products also smooth out the clearcoat and get rid of the said swirls, lines, and haze. Basically making the car reflect more evenly as it should.That is why there are different levels of product. #83 is for fairly sever jobs, like the one I'm gonna have this Spring as I missed my fall detail. For something done mid summer a #80 is more than sufficient. Either way you are cutting into the clearcoat a little bit to level it off. Hence people call some buffer pads cutting pads. Cause you are holding the machine at such an angle you are literally cutting into the clearcoat to get it back to new. And when you burn the paint, you are going to deep and blemishing the actual paint, removing the said clear coat, or possibly just staying on the clear so long it defects it. This is typically done with one or two speed machines that use wool pads. A orbital buffer pretty much saves you from that possible threat as they do not spin fast enough and have safety stops where you push too hard and the machine stops.

[asburydan]

Are 80 and 83 product numbers in Meguiars professional line?Thanks for tips.

[Whelan]

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=29375 Most of the products in their lineup use a numerical code. The Professional line comes in tan colored bottles that you can't get at your local autozone or pep boys. Typically you need to order them online from places like http://www.autodetailingsolutions.com My favorite place. http://www.autogeek.net also has a good offering. On the side of the bottles for professional there is a scale that shows the abrasiveness and cleaning power of the product. Typically the higher the # the more power you get. You may have heard of Meguiar's NXT Gen Tech Wax. Well I refer to it as #26, cause that's its Meg's #.