I did my Crossfire last weekend and was very impressed. Today I did my son's 2004 Honda Accord which was very dirty and it also came out great. It even took off road paint. The only thing it couldn't take off was some "artillery mold spots". That stuff can be used to hold space shuttle tiles in place...

My son even said, "thanks dad"...

 

Why isn't your son doing his own car???

 

Works full time and finishing his Masters at the same time. So I help him out...

 

What brand clay bar did you use?

 

The Magic Clay bar and spray...

 

I noticed you use Mequiars Gold Class paste. I used the liquid version in the past and must say it works GREAT on black, but the durability isn't so good. When you done with the GC, step up to Griots "Best of Show" or their "Paint Sealant". This is coming from a guy who was 100% Mequiars from the time I was 18 to about 34, its that good. www.griotsgarage.com

 

I'll give it a go...thanks.

 

I just had my Black Dodge Ram with shell painted. The quality is less than marginal & has a dull shine if that (I got what I paid for, but its better than it was).
I received a quote of up to $800 to have it color sanded.
I'd rather use some elbow grease and a clay bar to help it along.
I've used the clay bars in the past to clean paint but not to try to bring up the shine on a dull paint job.
Do you think it would lift the shine at all??? I'm sending the truck down the road soon & would rather not put much more $$$ into it (hence the cheap paint job).
Your experienced input would be greatly appreciated.

 

It seems Clay Bars are designed to remove containments on the paint including over spray. I bet it cant hurt. I'd pick a low spot and test it before I tried it on a high visibility spot. Let us know how you make out...

 

You may want to post this question to the people at Detailcity or autopia.org here are the links.

http://autopia.org/
http://www.detailcity.com/

 

This something that the pros need to take care of, wet sanding by a pro can fix this problem. Once you get it back and they tell you when its ok to rub on it, then go ahead and detail the heck out of it. I'd clay and 3 step it once its ok to do so!

 

I bought the Mother's clay bar kit and all I can say is WOW! I have never seen a shine like that! I tried a little spot on the back fender while I was taking my lunch break and I think I'm going to call in sick for the rest of the day so I can finish the job.

 

Add one more to the clay bar list. I too, used the Mother's kit.

I never used a clay bar before but after reading all the raves, I had to try it for myself and I must say, I'm very impressed. The car is smooth as silk and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

I just wish it could have gotten rid of the acid rain marks. They are only visible from the right angles, but I know they're there.

 

Welcome aboard MidnightMan and remember, you can use any quick detailer for the lube needed to clay and I'd suggest buying it in bulk as you can use it for clay lube as well as wiping your car down for a quick shine. Just another little tip, cut the clay into about 3 pieces because if you drop it your not going to want to use it again as it hit the ground and it would be too time consuming to try and cut off the contaminated area. You should be able to clay about 4-5 times per pieces. Well, depending on how bad your car gets and that varies with where you live, what's in the air and how often you wash/maintain your ride. BTW, what wax/sealant did you apply afterwards.

 

I used the carnauba wax that came with the Mother's clay kit. I'll probably follow it up with another coat of NXT in a week or two.

 

Its cool that they give you something to follow up the clay bar with. The NXT is a good synthetic to use because of the shine it produces and its ease of use, its just that it doesn't last as long. If you car is garage kept you should only have to clay about twice a year, but if it sits outside alot, I'd be lookin' to clay twice that many times. As soon as you fee a fair amount of "grit", pull that bar out and get busy.

 

Garage kept!

 

I got up this morning to wash and try the clay, well I did not think it would make much difference on my garage kept over washed weekend love affair but I'm still chewin those words. I am convinced.